Went to the doctor and the doctor said...

I will have a warm, cozy bed waiting for me at Fairfax Hospital this Monday. Between both surgeons, I should be under for about 6 hours. "Coming to" just in time for dinner... how convenient.

If you're in the area and want to stop by and pay a visit (who wouldn't? hospital food is delicious), follow signs for the Grey entrance to the Surgery Center. 

Parking in the Grey garage is $5. Or you can be all fancy and use the valet... which is still $5. A small price to pay to see me in all of my just-coming-out-of-anesthesia glory.

Seriously, that is well worth the cost of admission. If you think I'm funny now, just wait until I'm under the influence. Maybe not as funny as this girl... but pretty close.

God is in my mouth? I love god.

Amen to that, sister. If hospitals aren't really your thang - there are so many sick people there - feel free to come on by the house. And bring lunch. Or dinner. No, seriously.

In the meantime, I'll try to keep you updated. But Rob and Mom are going to be your best points of contact early in the week. Email me if you need their contact info.

Have a great weekend!

Time flies when you're having...fun?

And by fun, I mean cancer... which isn't fun at all. It's the exact opposite of fun. Seriously, cancer sucks. But time does fly. That occurred to me as Rob and I were driving home from my pre-op appointment with the reconstructive surgeon and I realized that today is my six month cancerversary. That's right, I was diagnosed 6 months ago today.

In honor of that, and in honor of all of you who have kept truckin' right along with me, this milestone calls for a little Dead. 

What a looooooong strange trip, indeed. I'll have more for you tomorrow about what the surgeon said and next week's day o' surgery. For tonight? It's time for me to go eat this and watch Up All Night.

Maybe I'll share some of this with Rob. Maybe.

Today was brought to you by the number FOUR

That's right, if you've been playing along at home, you may notice that tomorrow marks my FOUR week final-chemo-versary. So what have I been doing with the luxury that not going to chemo has granted me? 

First I had to recover from #6 - that sneaky little bastard. Bouncing back took a little bit longer than I expected. And the nurses are seriously not kidding when they say chemo effects are cumulative. Random side effect of this round? Bruising underneath the nail of my big toe on my left foot (aka fat foot). I'll spare you a photograph here. Pedicures are a no-no during chemo (high risk of infection) and these little piggies are not ready for their close-up, Mr. Demille. 

Anyway... weird bruised toenail aside, Rob and I spent Sunday cheering for the 'Skins.

What's that? You do your cheering from the stands? Don't be silly, the endzone is where it's at. Click HERE for more football goodness.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, I've also been growing a little bit of hair. Sort of. See?

Okay, so it kinda looks like a weird shadow here. But I promise you, that is actual hair you see there.

Next up in the power of four? Yoga on the Steps is just FOUR very short - and very chilly - days away. Whose idea was it to set the thermostat to Fall, anyway? Fortunately the weather in DC is supposed to be beautiful on Sunday. And... fortunately YOU still have FOUR days to join the Young Survival Coalition team.

Click HERE to join my team!

Thanks to your generosity, my fundraising goal has been blown out of the water. If you haven't had the opportunity to donate to a fantastic organization that helps those diagnosed with breast cancer... lucky for you here's another chance! My brother Dave is walking the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Click HERE for Dave's fundraising page and to make a donation. 

That's all I've got for you today. It's time to go watch Animal Practice. Hey...isn't that on channel FOUR? Okay, now I'm just creeping myself out. 

Honestly, what's funnier than a monkey wearing scrubs? Nothing, that's what.

Redskins All-Star Survivors Celebration

First things first. To everyone on Facebook, I apologize for jamming up your newsfeed with all things Washington Redskins for the last two days.

For anyone not on Facebook and have no idea what I'm talking about... here's what you missed.

The American Cancer Society and the Washington Redskins hosted an event at Redskins Park called the All-Star Survivors Celebration. The fifth-annual, to be exact. Right here is where I'd normally take the time to describe the event in great detail, along with 27 8x10 color glossy photographs. But... since WJLA and WTOP already went through the trouble, I'll let them tell you all about it.

Click HERE for the news story that aired on ABC News 7

HERE for the WTOP article,  

More than pink cleats: Redskins take breast cancer tribute personally

HERE for the redskins.com article,  

Cooley Returns For All-Star Survivor Event (be sure to watch the video, too)

And HERE for the Redskins blog post,  

Survivors Celebration Fun Time For All 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day. You can check out the rest of my album HERE. 

Alyssa was my "care taker" for the day. And by "care taker" I mean she helped me carry all the great stuff they gave us, volunteered me for interviews with local media, and talked to the players about their shoes and their favorite fast food restaurants. Here we are with #92 Chris Baker, #90 Doug Worthington (and you think Rob is tall), and #46 Alfred Morris.

Doug - we're on a first name basis now, I can call him Doug - anyway, Doug gave us a tour of the facilities. Including the locker room. And let us try on his gear.

Alyssa opted for holding the helmet - ponytails and helmets do not work well together (non-bald people problems). And Mrs. Daniel Snyder (you can call her Tanya) joined us for a photo.

 Now if you'll excuse me... I've got a whole lotta thank you notes to write.

Thanks for celebrating with us!

THANK YOU to everyone who helped us celebrate today and give chemo the send off it deserves! I knew I wasn't the only one who was eager to kiss it uh buh-bye. 

Here are a few photo high-lights...

My nieces seriously need to stop being so pretty.

Even sitting down, Patti is still the tallest woman in our family.

Picture time with Grandma and Dad!

And now one with Mom and Grandma!

See, it's not just me who looks pocket-sized in pictures with Rob. It happens to Anna and Yousof, too. 

And OMG all of the lovely gifts! Seriously, you all really shouldn't have. They're all so thoughtful...THANK YOU!

Beautiful flowers from Uncle Vince

And more beautiful flowers from Patti and Dan

Comfy jammies from Dave, Ginni, Jordon and Sophie

Ann knows how much I love my Moxie. And chocolate. You can never go wrong with the gift of chocolate.

I was so distracted by the super cute pumpkin, I didn't notice the gorgeous bracelet from Grandma

Check out the full photo album HERE. Have a great weekend everyone!

Par-tay Reminder

Hello everyone!

This is your official par-tay reminder.

If you haven't already, please let me or Rob know if you'll be joining us this Saturday 29 Sept at Giorgio's.

*****

There's also still time to join us for Yoga on the Steps on Sunday 14 October.

Click HERE to join our team!

*****

And! This is your three month reminder for our I Survived 2012 Party. Okay... so I'm a couple days late. That just means it's less than 3 months to party time!

Very sneaky, #6!

To say I went into round #6 of taxotere and carboplatin with the confidence of a seasoned chemo veteran would be an understatement. Yes... I was feeling every ounce the superhero pictured here in this card from Tim.

Clearly this isn't an exact likeness, as this superhero has a lot more hair and is missing a signature pair of fabulous shoes.

Maybe this last round snuck up on me...just a little bit. Now I know I make this whole chemo thing look super glamorous, but mostly it looks a lot like this...

Seriously, lady, get that thing out of my face.

But it does come with some pretty fabulous accessories. Like these...

For anyone at home wondering "Is 31 too old for hand-crocheted bunny slippers?" Obviously the answer is "No." It's also not too old for your mom to bring you lunch. Or help you with your laundry. Or watch Mr. Popper's Penguins with you.

The fog of #6 is almost lifted (almost)... just in time for this vicious storm that is about the pound the mid-Atlantic. Also in time for a luxurious five weeks of R-n-R before the next big adventure in this tale of cancer ass-kickin'. But before you go thinking it'll be all MTV Spring Break: Chemo edition for these next few weeks, here's what Team Cancer Sucks has on tap...

• A follow-up Echocardiogram. Remember when I had one of those about 4 months ago to make sure my heart was healthy enough to be poisoned? Well now it's time to go back and make sure it's still healthy enough for surgery and 11 more rounds of herceptin.  

• Round #7 of herceptin. Now I know I got you all excited about last week being my last round of chemo... and it was, sort of. It was my last round of the really nasty, make your hair fall out and your taste buds go on hiatus, kind of chemo. But I still get to take 11 more spins around the dance floor with my good friend herceptin to keep those ugly HER2 cells shakin' in their boots. So me and the big H? We'll be sisters from another mister until May of next year.

• Pre-op appointment with the reconstructive surgeon. If this appointment is anything like the initial consult, it will involve a really graphic slide presentation.