Cancer Sucks, Friends Rock. {PYHO}

Cancer sucks.

Having a friend with cancer sucks. 

Having a friend whose son has cancer sucks. 

Having your daughter's boyfriend having cancer sucks. 

Having a friend whose husband has cancer sucks.

But somewhere in all of that cancer suckage, there is a little ray of sunshine.

It started with an idea of mine. I decided to create a Zazzle store to sell products and raise money for Dusty, our family friend/my daughter's boyfriend, who is fighting T-cell lymphoma.
Now to say that I am not a graphic artist is a huge understatement, but I made a very simple design with a lime green ribbon to symbolize lymphoma, and added the words "My Hero is Fighting Lymphoma - Praying for Dusty Thomas." I placed the image on several products and shared the store.

And that's when the ray of sunshine showed up, in the form of my friend Amy.

Amy lives in Canada and is one of my BBFs - Best Blog Friends. She and I have been through a LOT together and she has been a wonderful support for me. In an effort to cheer me up during a dark time, she even did my beautiful blog design!

Now, unfortunately, we have another connection - Amy's husband Ken is also fighting lymphoma. 

And that sucks.

He is getting treatment in another town, so much of the time, Amy is taking care of their two very young sons on her own, while working and dealing with having a husband with cancer. 

But not long after I posted the link to my Zazzle store on Facebook, I got a comment from Amy, offering her amazing design skills to create more (and WAY better, although she is far too kind to say that) designs for products to raise money for Dusty - a kid in Florida whom she's never met.

I flipping love this girl!!!!  She is kind, giving, caring and selfless. And amazingly talented. 

She made this offer purely out of goodness and friendship, not for recognition or praise. Just to help me help Dusty.  But she will certainly get recognition and praise from me because she is truly inspirational.

The world needs more people like Amy.

I would love for you to visit my zazzle store and look at Amy's artwork. If you would like to order something to help out Dusty and his family during his cancer treatment, well, I would love that even more. 

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Pouring my heart out with Shell at Things I Can't Say 

The Cat Came Back.....

~ Dusty Update: He is now out of ICU.  Chemo and radiation have started and he may get to go home next week (but will still have to do outpatient treatments).

~ I lost Hunter's cat today.  I absolutely could not find her ANYWHERE.  She is an inside-only cat.  He LOVES this cat.  I was beside myself.  I finally called him and told him I'd lost his cat.  When he got home we searched the house top to bottom, then searched outside.  No cat.  Altogether I had searched for at least two hours.
I apologized profusely.  He wasn't mad.  I think I would have been.  I was almost certain I hadn't left the door open, but I could see no other way for the cat to vanish!  Hunter said, "When she gets hungry, she'll come home."  I reluctantly agreed and we went inside to start dinner.  I opened a cabinet to pull out a pan and heard "Meow".
The freaking cat was in the kitchen cabinet the entire time.
I didn't know whether to hug her or choke her!
(I hugged her.)
(Hard.)
(But not around the throat.)

~ My job is going VERY well.  I was so worried that I would regret leaving my old job and not feel rewarded and fulfilled at this job, but that's not the case at all.  Even when I am running my ass off, I truly love what I'm doing!  And my ass can use the running!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

The C Word

T-Cell Lymphoma.

That's the diagnosis that our close family friend received today.

He is 17.

I've blogged about him before - he is the son of one of my best friends, and my daughter Shelbie's boyfriend.

He was rushed to the ER last night in severe pain, and they found a mass in his chest that is larger than a softball.  It was pressing on his lung and heart.  "Like a rock on a balloon", his left lung couldn't inflate properly.  I can't imagine how much he hurt.  

He's pitiful.  Can barely talk, but still reached his hand out for Shelbie and managed to talk to her, and later, ask his family where she was when we were downstairs getting dinner.

Obviously his mother is shocked and worried.  Her life changed in an instant.  His prognosis is good; it's one of those "if you must get cancer, this is the one you want to get" situations.  He'll be in the ICU for at least two weeks.

But....it's CANCER.  He's 17.  He will have to go through radiation.  He will lose his hair.

It certainly makes you remember what's TRULY important in life.   A lesson many of us need sometimes.  

Prayers, thoughts, voodoo, whatever.....totally appreciated.