Famous Faces With Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Michael C. Hall

I always notice when someone in the public eye is diagnosed with Hodgkin's. Obviously I pay attention because this is the cancer I had. It stands out to me and well, celebrities are in the public eye.

It seems to affect some actors I really like as well. Number one would be Dexter actor Michael C. Hall. I love that show. As sick and twisted as it is. I absolutely love it. It has something to do with the curiously brilliant mind of some total lunatics. I don't get why so frequently people that are so evil are also really high in the IQ department. It doesn't really seem to make a lot of sense does it? For those who don't know, Dexter is a forensic specialist. He investigates murders and specializes in blood splatters. During his personal time he is a serial killer. Of course, he only kills "bad guys". haha Yeah, well I am into that kind of thing. I got very absorbed in this series through Netflix. Then I found out he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He is now in remission. Congrats to him!

He did lose his hair, but this is what he usually looks like with a nice full head of hair. I'm guessing he's grown it back by now.

Michael C. Hall

Ethan Zohn

Second on my list is Ethan Zohn. He won Survivor once. I never really watch that show, but I discovered him online through his story. I have him on facebook now. Go figure. I like reading his updates. He has had a rough road. His cancer didn't respond well to the typical chemo for Hodgkin's, which is ABVD. I am actually not sure how he is doing right now. I haven't seen an update in awhile. I am always at school! Here is his webpage if you would like to find info:
http://www.ezohn.com/. He has an awesome link with probably some of the greatest info I have ever seen on Hodgkin's located here: http://www.health.com/health/library/mdp/0,,ncicdr0000257991,00.html#ncicdr0000257991-nci-header.

He also usually has a full head of hair:

Ethan Zohn

Richard Harris

And last but most definitely not least is Richard Harris. The original Dumbledore. Did you ever wonder why they replaced Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies? Well Richard Harris was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease after going into the hospital with a chest infection. I am sorry to say, he lost his battle with the disease. I am a HUGE nerdy Harry Potter fan. So this was so hard for me. I hated losing him and worried the movie wouldn't be the same. I will admit I also ended up loving Michael Gambon, the actor that replaced Richard. I will also say that I was a Harry Potter fan BEFORE the craze. haha I loved the books. I still do. Richard Harris AND Michael Gambon really do the role justice.

My Daughter Lexi

She won second place in the school talent show. She's awesome! She did a great job. The winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) all got to sing at the spring concert tonight. I have to say, she must take after me. :) lol This is my thirteen year old.

Check out the video of her singing!

Ice Cream? Can't Have Dairy? I Found the Solution!

Thanks to my friend Bethany at Happy to Be Called Mommy who posted this on Facebook, I found a recipe for One Ingredient Ice Cream!!! There is NO dairy in this ice cream. Gabbi with her milk allergy cannot have ice cream so this was so hard for me to believe. I am in the process now of making it. What is the one secret ingredient?? Bananas!!!

The recipe is not mine so I won't post it here, but just follow this link: http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/stepbystep-instructions-for-oneingredient-ice-cream-097170 for step by step instructions. You can add things if you want to. The hubby is chopping bananas as I speak. I will post later how it turned out. I will post pics too. We are chopping up WAY more bananas than the pics from the website show. I want to make plenty.

Just a Short Clip of Gabbi Singing and Some Pics

Above is Gabbi chilling on her way home from daycare. She steals my drink and my sunglasses.

Below is a pic of me and my girls on their birthday (Mikayla and Lexi) after my Oncology follow up. I hated that their birthday was the same day as my follow up but it had to be done. (And for those who are new around here, yes they have the same birthday, three years apart...and no it wasn't planned. Yes I get asked that a lot.) I was already over due for my appointment by a month. So we took them to a place called Going Bonkers and they had a lot of fun. Gabbi got a wizard hat and Lexi is wearing a Cat in the Hat hat. See how Lexi is pretty much as big as me now? Insanity I tell you. She is 13 and acts every bit the part!

One of Gabbi's favorite things to do.

She has a few songs she really likes. So What is one of them. She's cute when she sings. She was just lounging listening to the Karaoke Revolution playing bits of random songs. She's my cutie pie.

She got a stomach bug on Friday night. She spent the night throwing up A LOT. I didn't get to study as much as I should have obviously. Then Saturday was good. She was fine. Sunday was bad again because Angelina then began complaining of stomach pain. Around 9 or 10 she was throwing up and that lasted all night long. She seems to feel better today. This is the BAD thing about having more than one child. haha The sickness always makes it's way down the line. Hopefully I don't get it!! It seems to be just 24 hours though which is a good thing I suppose.

My oldest Lexi has a track meet today. She really enjoys it. I was never a person that would run like that. I would jog on my own and that's fine. But I am no speed runner nor do I like to be. So I respect what she's doing. She got fourth at her first track meeting running the mile. Yeah I am proud of her!

So, my life is raising four kids, going to school full time, dealing with all my health issues (and staying healthy!!!). I have to see an endocrinologist on top of it all due to the radiation to that area. I already had thyroid nodules that have been biopsied twice. So far ok but now with the radiation to that area I am SUPER high risk. I'll have thyroid issues at some point according to my doctor. On top of that I am trying to take care of this house and not totally neglect my family in the process. I can't wait until I graduate.

The Snake on My Neighbor's Garage (Video)

I have already posted this to Facebook, but wanted to put it up on my blog too.

This weekend I heard a lot of excited yells and then a pounding on my door. It was two of our neighbor boys all excitedly wanting to speak to my oldest daughter Lexi. There was a snake.....it was huge.......and I couldn't make out the rest.

Now these boys have seen snakes fairly often around their house. This house is a duplex directly across the street from our house. I used to see snakes often at my house when I was a little girl. I loved catching them. I always wanted to keep them as pets but somehow they always seemed to disappear. (thanks mom)

Anyway, I wanted to see this so called "big snake" for myself. So I went over and indeed it was a pretty big snake. We believe it was a bull snake. Bull snakes resemble rattle snakes. They TRY to. I read about it a bit and they will put their body into an S shape to try and resemble a rattler getting ready to strike. I have some pics of this snake doing just that. They hit their tail against something to sound like a rattle. A rattlesnake's tail will be pointing up and rattling. A bullsnake's tail, you'll notice is down because it has to tap something but apparently it's convincing. I never heard this snake do it.

The funny thing is this snake is just resting in the cracks on the brick wall. He was over 3 foot long stretched out. My hubby is guessing it was close to 4 feet. He got it down and managed to drop it off into a field outside of town. We have a field near our home so I am sure he came from down there.

The thing is we NEVER see snakes at my house. I haven't ever seen one. I think my beautiful Husky Sasha must just scare all the creepy crawly creatures away.....and then some. She's caught birds in the air and well......they met a not so pleasant fate. She likes to play. And she isn't growling or mean when she does it. She's just playing. Unfortunately it's not playing for that bird! I'll take it. I am glad my Sasha keeps the snakes away because I know my girls would be scared if those things were in our yard. They may think it's cool on the neighbor's house but I have a feeling if we saw them around here very often the girls would get scared to go outside.

I grabbed my cellphone and got a short video. And yes, I am the one saying I think it's pretty cool towards the end. It WAS cool! :)