And on the 4th day...

Last Wednesday was the last update and since then, I've had some pretty big stuff happen. Here it goes...

First, I have been working as much as possible for several reasons:

1. I love my job
2. It keeps my mind off cancer and on diabetes, which I do not have
3. I work with amazing people who I care about a great deal, both coworkers and customers
4. Eventually I will need the time off when I have gross drains in post-surgery, when I am at risk of vomiting all over everyone post-chemo and when I'm just plain tired, but right now, I am...dare I say healthy??
5. I was raised by amazing parents with strong work ethic and it's the only way I know
6. My company and the management have been completely awesome so far and I want to continue to earn their trust and respect
7. Laying by the pool thinking about having cancer got old in one day

So, I work. My boss, Kelly (not to be confused with cancer survivor badass Kelly. This Kelly is also a badass, but for completely different reasons :) ) has been great to me. My partners look out for me like no  other. Lori even tracked me down in the field one day to give me a hug and make me call my doctor for a prescription for my sinus infection. My whole team is so awesome-I am so thankful :)

But on Friday, I didn't work. I took the day to get tested. My oncologist ordered an MRI on my brain and a full body PET scan. He must know how much I love MRIs. Really, if you're thinking of a gift for my birthday, Christmas, whatev, a gift certificate for an MRI would be awesome... Uh, no.

So I went to St Luke's on the Plaza for an early morning MRI. The day before, some really peppy guy named Nick called me and told me to leave my IV in and walk to the next building for my PET immediately following the MRI even though I was on the schedule several hours later. As it turned out, it really made my day awesome. Thanks for working me in, Nick! Anyway, Matt came to keep me company during the PET and even got to hang out in the PET scan trailer (oh, yeah, a trailer. It's a classy operation). They injected me with a radioactive sugar solution and 40 minutes later, they did the scan. It lasted less than 15 minutes. Afterward, Nick was showing me pics of what a normal PET should look like and described that there would be a dark spot if there was an area of concern. He then pointed at the next picture and said 'Now see that dark spot around the mouth area, that's bad. Really bad.' What?!?!? I have a dark spot?! 'Uh, no. That's some other person...' Nick was just showing me what bad looked like. Psych! Jeez, Nick. Nearly gave me a heart attack! Matt got a good laugh that I thought I might have oral cancer. haha Matt. Really funny ;) My dear friend showed up spontaneously just to give me hugs following the PET too. She's amazing and I am so thankful to have mother hens in my life!!

Right after we finished eating brunch at Eggtc. (I had to fast for the tests so I was STARVING), Dr. Belt called with the results that the PET scan was completely clear. We are still waiting on the results of the brain MRI and hopefully will have those Monday. Do you think they'll be able to count how many brain cells I've killed since college? Just wondering... I just want all of these tests out of the way so we can focus on these boobs and get rid of them.

You know, when you find out that you do not have cancer all over your body (because I had subconsciously started to believe that I did), it's amazing how you can celebrate and forget that you actually do still have cancer. To celebrate, I did what anyone would do. I went to Coleen's Sweaty Ass night trail run in Olathe, of course! That girl puts on a good run. I ran 2 loops of a 3 mile course at 8pm with Kelly and the rest of the awesome runners out for some night running. Hey, why wouldn't I? It was awesome. Thanks Coleen!!


I spent the weekend running errands to get prepared for the tornado that's about to hit my life. My friend Rick, his girlfriend and his son came to visit and bring me KFC (Kancer Fighting Chow) which consisted of the ingredients for the most ridiculous salad. Kale, parsley, barley, lentils, corn, cherry tomatoes, fresh peaches and a crazy ridiculous vinaigrette.
I even shared it with Kelly. She might be cancer free, but I'll do anything I can to help her keep it that way! Plus, it was too good to not share :)  And today, I took some time to get SMURF'ed with my kids. I spent the whole weekend dancing like the whole world is watching. Now I'm really tired. Peace out, blog followers.

BRCA and MRI test results should come tomorrow. Stay tuned!

xoxo Shelley