Turkey-less Thanksgiving Week

Since my last post I’ve been grateful to travel to both Florida for my granddaughter’s 1st birthday

and to Northern Illinois to see my family and friends for Thanksgiving! 

When I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in April 2022, I had 3 goals (thanks to the encouragement of my dear friend Brenda Z) and that was to experience my granddaughter’s birth, celebrate my 10 year anniversary to my husband and ride my mountain bike again! Considering the seriousness of the metastasis into my lungs, we all knew that only a miracle would allow that to happen. I was on oxygen and very weak in 2022!

But I was still grateful for every moment God gave me, for however many more days or hours. 

And here I am 19 months later…now celebrating my granddaughter’s 1st birthday,

 coming up on 11 years of marriage

2012

2023
and getting ready to live my life in our WonderVan full time with our Northstar canoe and mountain bikes strapped on for the next adventure!! 

Both John and I flew into Florida’s sunny weather for the party where we thoroughly enjoyed the time with our loved ones and were grateful for the sunshine and 75-80 degrees. What an answer to so many prayers to love and be loved by these treasures! 

Then back in Ohio for one day and we got to sup with some friends and found an excuse for John to wear his new authentic Lochcarron Weavers Scottish kilt! For those of you with curious minds who are wondering, yes, he wears it properly. 😘

Then on to the chilly north where we visited lots of our favorites. We started a new tradition by dressing in black on Black Friday and dining at Rockford’s new fine dining restaurant that provided for us the best dining experience John and I have ever tasted in our lives at my niece’s beau’s restaurant called SALT. 

I also experienced Thanksgiving in a whole new way…Vegan/Whole Food Plant Based. Thanks to everyone for supporting me but especially my mama

who bought lots of organic veggies, my niece Theresa who offered to make me her vegan ratatouille and my sister Melissa who is on the same eating healthy journey as me

and my precious friend Wendy who generously

blessed me with freshly picked garden greens including her delicate and delicious mache… it was an easy and enjoyable, guiltless, life giving weekend of culinary foods and juices! 

Even though I made 3 batches of fudge with my Aunt Ro,

I was very disciplined and had none of the delicious Salted Caramel liquor nor any pieces of the chocolate peppermint, chocolate salted caramel or chocolate peanut butter fudge! Not an easy decision considering how scrumptious this iced holiday beverage is!! 

As for my why? The reasons have been a long time coming. I’ve made many health changes since being diagnosed with breast cancer over the past 6 years. But I have wavered back and forth between healthy food choices and not so healthy ones. However after my last echocardiogram,

I received a call from my oncologist and was informed that my heart is starting to show signs of damage from the medication I am getting in my infusion, particularly the Traztuzumab (Herceptin). While it can be life saving from cancer, it can cause heart damage too. Gratefully, there’s a medication that can help reverse the damage. So although I’m getting yet another infusion tomorrow, I’ll meet my new doctor who is a specialist in this area. Dr Adam Potter will be my oncology cardiologist starting December 6. So that’s what tipped me over the edge of radically changing my eating habits. I think many of us struggle to make changes in our eating lifestyle unless or until we are faced with a diagnosis that scares the bejeebers out of us! Thankfully there are a few others in my life who chose to eat radically and make it easier on me to choose well. Lys H, Wendy T, and Kelly I. for you I am grateful. When I listened to this radiation oncologist share her explanation of eating Whole Food Plant Based, that’s when I switched in my mind. It was a moment of intentional decision making. I simply decided and informed those in my inner circle and asked them to support me. Gratefully everyone is understanding. Does it mean that I’ll never ever EVER touch animal products, like cheese, eggs or meat again? Does it mean I’ll never take a sip of an alcoholic beverage again? Does it mean I’ll never savor a delicious sweet sugary dessert again? No, it doesn’t. But it will be far and few between and not my norm. My body will thank me and my loved ones will thank me as it will make me live longer and healthier than ever with this crazy diagnosis! 

As for my Gratitude Bell, I know many of my friends and family have purchased one from Bevin Bells and hung theirs in a special place to ring it. What an honor!!! This one is very special to me. My hygienist friend Karen D bought and hung this. Her beloved husband went home to Jesus about one year ago after fiercely battling cancer!! 

In a couple weeks I have my first Gratitude Gathering Event put on by my former sister-in-law Debbie where I’ll get to support her Artisan Christmas Gathering and art show. It is still my dream to see these in every cancer treatment center for those of us with stage 4 so if anyone wants to help me promote this cause please buy one for your local cancer treatment center and ask them to hang it next to their Victory Bell. Share this with them and hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to ring MY Gratitude Bell at The Stephanie Spielman Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center when I get my next infusion. If that happens, I’ll post another blog very soon sharing it!!

So a blessed and grateful day to everyone reading this. 

PS I have never heard from Brandon Lake who wrote and sings my favorite song, Gratitude. I mailed him a Gratitude Bell a few weeks ago but I have no idea if he received it. 

The FIRST Gratitude Bell Delivered to a Cancer Treatment Center

Praising God for my own infusion center in Columbus, OH at the Stephanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center which is part of The James where I was given permission to share my Gratitude Bell! Morgan, the Infusion Center manager was happy to receive it and soon (hopefully next week) it will be hung and my poem & QR code will be framed next to it for other patients to ring in a song of gratitude of their own!!

It’s my sincerest desire that this will begin a movement that will spread and every cancer treatment center will get their own Gratitude Bell! It can be ordered here! I hope they inform their terminal patients about it! I hope that the Gratitude Bell chimes so much in the centers that it never stops ringing! I hope Brandon Lake’s song, Gratitude, will be played in everyone’s ear so their hearts can be filled with such a beautiful melody that causes even atheists to worship Yahweh!!! That’s my hope. That’s my prayer. That’s my legacy. 

Yesterday my former sister in law shared that she bought one to put up in her hallway so people coming in her house can ring it and share about something they’re grateful for!! Brilliant idea, Debbie Kay! Once she gets it, I hope she will write a little story and I’ll share it on my new blog specifically for that called: gratitudebells.blogspot.com

Or I can be reached at triciasgratitudebell@gmail.com

Today, I also got to meet my new oncologist, Dr Kai Johnson.  He was very informative, knowledgeable and took all the time we needed to review my case, discuss my past/current treatments, consider my concerns and ask about my symptoms. He and I agreed to start Gabapentin for my neuropathy, hot flashes and help with sleep. He also suggested internal use of DHEA to help with health of my skin. Menopause and lack of estrogen does a number on ladies as we age and since other alternative treatments haven’t helped and he doesn’t want to start with topical estrogen first, he suggested this. Unfortunately, I forgot to get his photo this time so maybe next time. The infusion part went well. And I’m grateful that the nurses are so kind at this center! I always am amazed at how emotionally difficult this job can be with treating so many folks with cancer. There was a very young woman in the room adjacent to mine who was nauseous and vomiting and had an ice cap on (probably in hopes that she won’t lose her hair?). She appeared very ill as did so many others. I’m reminded how grateful I am to be feeling so well!

 

I did ask Dr Johnson about my prognosis. Although my specific cancer type at stage 4 has a 3-5 year prognosis for life expectancy, he said it really depends on how well my body responds to the initial treatment and he is encouraged that mine has responded so well. He also explained that once the medications I’m currently on stop working that there are several others we can try; but the longer this one works at keeping the cancer at bay, the better. Again…I’m so grateful!

IT’S FINALLY HERE! 🔔

🙌 For several months I’ve been mentioning that something big was in the works for me! Well, THIS is the official blog announcement that I have my very own, God-Inspired, Tricia-designed, Gratitude Bell!!! For the FULL story please feel free to click here and read the first entry on my newest blog. I created this blog in hopes that people who buy or get to ring one of my Gratitude Bells will share their own stories with me and I will post them there so others can read about everyone’s gratitude! 

I just knew something needed to be done because walking past the Victory Bell every three weeks always stung a bit. But NOW that I have my own Gratitude Bell, I’ll be sharing about it as often as possible. They can now be purchased at Bevin Bells. It’s my hope that if someone buys one for themselves, they’ll consider getting one for their local oncology infusion centers too! Most people, including myself, never thought about how it must feel for those terminal cancer patients who will have treatment for the rest of their lives and can’t ring the Victory Bell because their treatments never cease. Now we can! The Gratitude Bell is there for us to ring whenever we want to! 

I did personally order a few of them as gifts for some unique situations and people that made a huge impact on me during the past 1.5 years. So far I’ve been able to distribute the first one to our pastor, Roger, who is battling blood cancer! He’s always saying how grateful he is and we wanted to bless him with the very first one! John and I have a very special place in our heart for this man who serves, gives, and loves deeply. We are very grateful for him and excited to see how God is using his story to reach so many for Jesus!! 

I will post about the others as they are received or hung. One will be hung on my favorite local mountain bike trail where the inspiration came to me back in April ‘23 at my one year re-diagnosis cancer-versary. On the next bike ride, I’m sure my hubby will hang it securely on a tree along the trail!

This Friday I’ll be handing one to the manager at the Stephanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Center Center during my next infusion. I am so grateful they agreed to hang it!!! That way I will be able to ring it EVERY time I walk past it!! And today I shipped out 2 others to some very special people on my gratitude journey, one being Brandon Lake who wrote the Gratitude song. 

I received a check this week from friends in the Special Olympics community who gifted me with money to buy a Gratitude Bell.  I’m thinking about the best place to put another one but I love it that there will be one more Bell to ring! 

To update folks in general… I’m still feeling miraculously wonderful! Praise God!! Yes, I occasionally get those Charlie horses and now take Imodium preventatively every 2-3 days. Yes, my skin breaks out in a rash or is very thin and fragile in places from the medications and lack of estrogen, but I can manage that and am grateful to be alive and feel so well. Yes, I get tired throughout the day and often need a nap or go to bed early. But, who doesn’t love a good mid-day nap? Yes, I have minor neuropathy in my feet and finger tips but it’s minor.  Yes, my back can get sore, but whose doesn’t?   Other than that, I’m feeling perfect! Thank You, God!!

Lately, John and I have sat around the Solo Stove out in our woods at night. It’s so peaceful. We can’t wait until our WonderVan life will be this every night!

Speaking of WonderVan, it’s coming along! Tonight the subwall layers inside the van were completed! Van life will begin soon!

I have very much enjoyed a book called Imagine Heaven by John Burke and last weekend my sister and her beau visited us where we met up with friends and went to see a great show called After Death. To anyone who knows the impact Dr Mary Neal’s story had on me, this is that plus several more miraculous stories about folks who have had NDE’s. Life after life is going to be amazing! 

This Friday I met my new oncologist, Dr Kai Johnson. I’ve heard he’s great! I’m trusting he is. Until then, adieu!