A Year After Treatment

Carpe Diem - Michellie, Melody, Michelle, Morgan

What a whirlwind this past month has been.  On Thursday, March 8th we spent the day at the IWK where Michellie was poked and prodded.  All of her scans were clean and she had a clean bill of health.  What an unusual and grateful feeling to walk the halls with a well child.  It is incredible to think that life is returning to normalcy and the fear of cancer is behind us.  Michellie's curly hair is continuing to grow and at the end of March Michellie is braiding her hair and pulling it back. 



With Greatma and Carson




Never played before!

 On Friday, March 9th we boarded the plane for Alberta and BC.  This was the trip postponed the year before, and it was the first opportunity for Michellie to see Cochrane and friends again.  We began with a trip to BC to visit family and catch up with the cousins.  It was a fun three days with lots of game playing.  A highlight was playing pool with Great Grandma and all the Grandkids. 

Strip the Willow

In Cochrane Michellie caught up with as many friends as possible.  She went to the movies, shopped in Calgary, ate in restaurants, saw the high school production and walked the streets of Cochrane.  We were honored with a special Carpe Diem party at the MacAuley's with lots of great families and friends.  Three cancer survivors were honored with an evening of dance, music, singing and great food.  Although we missed last year's event, we enjoyed the talents of all of those people who gathered for this special St. Patrick's Day. 

Michellie and David flew home on the 19th exhausted but satisfied they had tried their best to take in all the sites and sounds of the "big City".  And, they had Tony's spring rolls on two occasions - definitely a food highlight.  Michelle continued with a few workshops and another trip to BC for some more family time.

Michellie is now involved in completing her projects for school.  She applied for a special program called "Activate Canada" and was accepted.  She will be spending  5 days in May in Ottawa at Carlton University with 20 other Canadian teens networking on how to get more community involvement for teens.  This will be her first opportunity to travel on her own and enjoy life as a healthy teen!  We are so proud of her.

Michellie is very accomplished at driving now.  Those first few weeks after treatment finished she could not even hold the steering wheel.  She is very excited to go for her driver's license and gain some summer freedom.  Thinking about gas money, she is working with her Mom to open a new business selling specialty tea blends for healing purposes.  They are just in the detailing now, and hope to launch this summer project in time for the opening of the farmer's markets. 

Our last trip to the Naturopath was the end of March, and Michellie is at the end of her list of complaints.  Her sleeping patterns have changed and she is now able to get to sleep much easier and for longer stretches of time.  She functions best with a wheat free diet, and she restricts her dairy as well.  She has been bothered by yeast flare ups for the last few months, so this month she is on a yeast cleanse to eradicate this.  Because of her great care with her diet and her minimal sugar intake this is not too big a sacrifice in food choices for a few weeks.  She is continuing with iron supplements, B vitamins and D vitamins.  With the research into teas, she is supporting her system with special tea blends to support her immune system, digestive tract and hormonal challenges.  Wendy's oil blend is her helping hand for mentrual cramps as well as anti-inflammatory herbs.  We are so excited to celebrate these amazing accomplishments. 

This past week we were enlightened with some info on selenium.  There is a link between Hodgkins Lymphoma and selenium deficiency.  As well, many of the symptoms associated with this deficiency are ones that Michellie was exhibiting for the last three years.  Low energy, muscle cramps, tight muscles, pain in the knees, are some of the complaints that were never addressed, but might be with selenium.  This we will explore a little more to see what happens.  We are happy to know that we may have found the final piece to the puzzle that brings everything together.



Breaking in the new Professional Taps - this year's Christmas present



This weekend is Easter.  We are so grateful to everyone for the assistance, love and energy sent our way over this last year of healing.  Everyone's energy and effort helped to lift us up and bring us back to health.  Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) and Make this Life a Great One!





Seize the Day!





The Nine Month Check

Yesterday was an early morning drive to Antigonish.  We had had a snow storm the night before so I was a little worried about what I would wake up to.  Fortunately, the roads were clear and it was so early, there was hardly any traffic.  Michellie had a CAT scan to determine if her thyroid had returned to its original size, and everything looked good there.  Woo Hoo!  The Pediatrician checked Michellie over and determined that there was nothing else needing attention, and that Michellie's brightness and cheer was a welcome addition to her office.  Woo Hoo!  Another great gift today!

The day before we had taken a plaquemount of Michellie's healing poster to her school and thanked the principal, teachers and her guide, Charlotte, who helped her coordinate her schooling last year.  It was great to finally be able to do this.  So, yesterday we visited the 4th Floor Oncology ward and Jeannie.  Everyone recognized Michellie right away, and it was great to leave a poster and card with them as well.  Dr. Ortiz was next, and she even gave Michellie a big hug!  Michellie was not happy to draw attention, but she was happy to be able to give thanks.  It was wonderful to see her bright face enjoying the people who cared for her so deeply.  There are many things that she has blocked out, and the smell of the hospital is hard for her to handle.  It was nice to have her in the hospital to enjoy it and let go of the fear and the illness.  It was nice to see everyone and be able to give them a little sunshine for the success of Michellie's healing.  We hope to get to Halifax in the next few months to do the same visit to the IWK.

Last night David put together a montage of pics about Michellie's hair over the last year.  It really is amazing to see the hair, lack thereof, and the change in the quality of Michellie's expression as well.  You can view these pics at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109481067192625845853/TheYearInMichellieSHair?authkey=Gv1sRgCIuP542R5Oa_Ug#

Enjoy!  And, lastly, take time to look in the mirror and tell yourself you love what you see.  We need to embrace these incredible bodies and all that they do for us to enjoy life.