Passionately Pink for the Cure - Last Treatment - October 23, 2008

We were pink for the day! Lots of people had been asking me how I was going to celebrate going into remission and finishing 20 long weeks of treatment. I had heard about "Passionately Pink for the Cure" during Race for the Cure a few years ago and always thought it would be fun to do. Anyways, I hope any who wore pink that day had fun doing so. We raised $ 400.00 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and looked cute doing it!. My day was great. It began with a knock at the door at 7am. My cute "ladies" (past YW presidency) came with pink cinnamon rolls, pink strawberry milk and had decorated my yard so cute! We all ate breakfast together and took some pictures -yikes- me in a bathrobe! They are the best! I will truly miss them Mondays and Thursdays (thanks for the laundry help!)

Next, Alison Cogswell picked me up for treatment. She was my last chemo buddy. We chatted and laughed with the nurses. Lauren kept Ashton since she is offtrack. My nurses were happy that I was on my last treatment of my final cycle. They asked if we were going to celebrate and I told them it had already begun. They said knowing you, you've got pictures to show us - Yes I did. So Fun. Next Liz and Al took me to lunch. Crazy how life gets so busy that you hardly get to see your backyard friends. Lunch was great.

Finally, Tracie and Anthony (Trav's sister and bro-in-law) had a little end of chemo celebration at their home that evening with both of our families. It was kind of funny because Trav had mentioned that it was at 7pm and with light snacks. We just kind of dinked around our home killing time and then we got a phone call from Tracie wondering where we were and letting us know we were late for our own party! It had started at 6pm. It was fun and very pink! Lauren passed out Passionately Pink pins and the kids all scattered to play with cousins. A special surprise of the night was a DVD that Tracie and Anthony made celebrating making it through these past twenty weeks. It was super touching and lots of tears were shed. I loved it! Tracie also presented the scrapbook that was written along with the wonderful pictures that Jen Dillon took at the Chemo Mocktail Party. It has been so fun to read all the well wishes.

It is strange being done. It hit me at treatment when the nurse congratulated me on finishing the treatments and then said, "see ya next week." It is true, I begin "maintenance" treatments of herceptin every three weeks and every fourth week a quick treatment of zomata. It's not ugly chemo and minimal side effects. It will be a breeze compared to chemo. It is just weird to have this disease be part of my life again. Someone asked me how long do you have to do this and I said the rest of my life. That is so weird to say. Life is strange. I truly look at things different. My eyes rest on things longer. I listen to people better. Relationships mean more now than ever. My prayers are longer, more thoughtful and sometimes I'm exhausted when finished. I love more - in so many ways. Travis is my rock. He rolls with my tears, fears and lame sarcasm. He doesn't let me get too down with the crappy diagnosis. He always says, "We'll deal with the bad when it gets bad." My kids keep make me so happy. Their sweet prayers on my behalf are so touching. Their "normalcy" is reassuring. I appreciate and love Garrett's desire to do good continually. I appreciate and love Lauren's creativity and sweetness. I appreciate and love Ashton's playfulness and charm - he is my "smart baby".

I can't express how thankful I am to everyone. The meals were so helpful. I appreciate the laundry help, baby sitting during treatments, the housekeeper from Utah Cancer Foundation, treats and drinks, amazing encouragement card (see pictures below) most of all the countless prayers and fasts held on my behalf. I know the power of prayer and feel very close to the Lord each and every time I pray. I love the Lord and put all my faith in him and know there is a plan and my life is in his hands.

Much love, Jules