Busy busy days yesterday and today. I went to Santa Barbara yesterday for more chemo and marrow testing, all went semi-well. My sister did have to return home to North Dakota=(. Today was an exceptional day to have for recovery. I started my morning off with a delicious breakfast with my grandparents out in my backyard, my Papa and I got to hang out by the pool and watch our favorite movie together (Fantastic Mr. Fox). It was just like old times when I was younger and my Papa and I spent every moment together. To make everything better I got to swim finally today with my mom and Emma, and the weather was perfect the whole time. I even got a visit from my Aunt, Uncle and cousin too. We all sat outside just hanging out and playing card games, and as I thought it was time to hit the hay I got another surprise. An air-hockey table was set up for the family in my house, so of course I had to play a few games against the family. WOW what a day! Well I know I will sleep great tonight though. Church tomorrow and a dart-board possibly too(= Minor set-back in therapy right now, nothing I can't handle though. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but I have a rare type of A.L.L and Monosomy 7 gene that is being studied right now. But I am worry free, I am in God's hands and in great care so I don't blink an eye or shed any tears. I would like to thank Vic's Cafe, again, for more hot wings and Paul and Valerie (whom I consider family) for the fun and competitive air- hockey table.

Up by the Sequoias at Camp Nelson at New Years

GREAT day today! I got to spend all day outside with the family, and I even got to swim. Well it wasn't technically swimming, but I was lucky enough to wade up to my waist on a raft and kick my legs around. It feels awesome to be able to do more and more activities and I cannot wait to be able to start working out again(= The faster I recover, the faster I can get to swinging my bats, going back to the gym, playing volleyball and much much more. God blessed today with wonderful weather here in Atascadero, it was very nice to be outside around everything and everyone I love dearly. Now, as many people have to vent to others about their emotions and everything... I on the other hand now love to vent about all my food cravings. Boy I could and have rambled on and on for hours about every food I crave. My family gets to listen to that a lot now, and if you mention pretty much any food, I will crave it. I think I have an idea of how it feels to be pregnant, because my emotions change, my appetite grew even more, I'm getting "chipmunk cheeks" and my nurse said my medication will make me look about three months pregnant. There are many more symptoms too. Lucky me!!!(= Oh well, I have been blessed with so much so none of that matters to me at all.

Hi everyone, well symptoms from my medications are starting to appear slowly. I am starting to swell and get, as my doctors like to call, "chipmunk cheeks". My family says I look cute more filled out (basically chunky) due to the medications. As for my appetite, it has been ludicrous. But when haven't I ever had a hearty appetite? Good news from blood labs on Monday, my platelet count is up to fifty! Although, that also means that my white blood count has dropped and I cannot risk getting sick anytime soon. Marrow on Friday, so I am praying to be in the five percentile range of cancer blasts. Last Friday I was at twenty five percent, and if (or should I say when) I make it to five percent I will be a rapid responder. That is something I definitely need and want. With lots of prayers and love I know I can accomplish this task. Besides feeling "chunky", I have been feeling great and it is getting easier to move around and do more activities.

Contentment really lies in finding a little happiness in whatever life throws your way.
-unknown

Good evening everyone, another good day today. I got to go to church and listen to a wonderful sermon and then hang out by the pool with the family. Beautiful weather here in Atascadero with a nice coastal breeze, just what I need to help me feel great. God has blessed me with a great hope to help me relax and recover in, and we got it just in time. It has been awesome spending time with family and my two sisters and all of us just being together. Blood tests in the morning and fun with sisters for the rest of the day tomorrow.

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own." -- Benjamin Disraeli

More good treatment

Sorry everybody for not posting for the past days. I have been pretty darn exhausted. Well I went back to Santa Barbara yesterday for more chemo and all that fun stuff. Good news came back from the doctors, my spine came back clear yet again. Whoo hoo(= Everything went well yesterday and I'm feeling great today. It's my sister's birthday and I get to be with my family and my new sister Jasmine. My sister's and I are loving our new haircuts, although they don't have to wake up with crazy hair in the morning like I do. I'm hoping I can go to church tomorrow, because I have really been wanting and needing to go. I miss the congregation and everything. One thing I also miss is being active. I can't wait for the okay from the doctors for me to be able to start doing little activities. Little by little I will and have my life be back to almost normality. Well the way it was before at least, because my life was never really too normal. But that's the way I like it because a normal life seems too boring for me.

True Family

This blog is directly to thanking everyone for helping me out. I feel like all my blogs are like that, but I don't know how much I can show how grateful I am for everyone and everything. My grandparents have made my bedroom super cozy, and they have been with me through almost every moment after I was diagnosed. They have been a huge help. Whatever I need I know I can rely on them or any of my friends and family. My Aunt and Uncle have given me a beautiful round coffee table to put everything on when I would like to relax and my "Rockin" Uncle will bring me anything I want whenever I want it. I don't know of too many families who would go through all of this trouble to do everything for me. My sister has traveled from her new husband and home in North Dakota and had so many flights and delays just to come comfort me through all of this. Also, all of my family took time to come visit me while I was in the hospital and each one of them showered me with gifts... But the best gift was being able to see all of them and having the family I have. My friends have been very influential through all of this too. I haven't been able to talk to too many of them right now, but I want to thank them all for everything. Whether it's thinking of creative awareness ideas or just sending me texts and messages through the day, I know I can rely on each one of them. Now if I kept thanking each person or family for everything the list would be going on till the cows come home... But my last thanks go out to my parents. They have been by my side through all of this every second of the day. Their whole life has revolved around me for a long time, through all of my sports and honors classes and everything... It is always to make me happy, and everything has made me so happy. Now that I can't do much anymore, their lives revolve around me even more and I love them immensely and just want them to know how glad I am that God blessed me with two amazing parents(=
(Oh and yes if anyone was wondering my little sister and I did donate our hair to Locks for Love and that was my second time donating and the baby's first time)

Home sweet home

Well it's good to be home again(= I had the best welcome home gift ever!!! Cheri Eastwood and all of Vic's Cafe blessed me with sooo many hot wings. I want to thank them so so much! I have had many hot wings, but these are by far the best!!! . I have been craving these certain hot wings for the longest time. Not to mention at Vic's Cafe everyone is family and so welcoming. I have been going there ever since I was a little girl and they have become family to me. Thank you Vic's I love you all. Well no more long hair for me, my sisters' and I cut our hair above shoulder length today. Pictures should be posted soon of the three of us(= and I hope everyone likes them. It feels so nice having short hair and I can't wait to show everyone the pictures. It's a change... but it's a wonderful change. I just turned on my phone for the longest time and it has been going off non stop. I appreciate all the messages everyone has sent me. My softball team, Velocity, has been super supportive and have made me feel so happy. Each one of them have so much potential and great quality and I wish the best luck for them. I also would like to thank my lamb advisor and one of my best friend's/ sister Hannah for caring for my lamb. Due to my health, I can't show my lamb or take care of him and they have been kind enough to take care of him for me. It has been such a relief, although I need potential buyers to buy my lamb. It is too late to send out my buyers letters so if anyone would like to by my lambie that would help me out so much; )My support team has been growing bigger and bigger by the day and I want to thank you all for all of the support.

Going Home

Good morning everyone=) So happy to see you are liking my blogs, trying to keep everyone posted as much as possible. I haven't had much pain at all, but some of my medicines can make me pretty darn emotional. I experienced that for the first time last night, I didn't care for it too much. But my Aryel and Ross have been helping me through everything so much and I honestly am so lucky I have them by my side. I can rely on them no matter what and they have been amazing best friends. Not to mention my parents and the nurses and everyone supporting me have helped me immensely, I had a fun time even though I was lying in a hospital bed. Everyone has made the best out of everything; I will not forget this experience not only because of scars, but meeting so many wonderful people and knowing how loved and thankful I am. This may be shocking, but I am a little sad that it is time to go home because everyone made it like a party here everyday no matter how much pain I had. One thing I love to remind everyone is that this experience isn't a "sob story". It happened for a reason, I feel it was to remind myself for everything I have and for me to remind everyone to rejoice on what you have. Also, at any time no matter what... God is always there for you, he loves you unconditionally even if you don't believe in him or you feel you're all alone with no one who cares for you. He will always be there for you in your pocket whenever you need him or even if you don't need him.

Hello everyone, yet another day of more resting with more visitors. By now my whole family has come to visit me and I have loved every moment of it. Last night I slept wonderful after all the medicine, but I guess it was quite the joke when it started making me a little "loopy". I rambled on about nonsense and at one point I tried to call my dog over to pet it, mind you my dog is in Paso Robles. While my faith grows even more, my appetite is gradually expanding but not like any ordinary appetite. I guess I have a "pregnant woman" sort of appetite. All today and yesterday I have craved Hot Wings and chocolate soft served ice cream and nothing else. Although I haven't been able to see my cousin Cooper, he has sent me some pretty awesome gifts. He was generous enough to give me one of his Chaotic cards and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle too! More great news for the day: my platelet count is increasing to 25 which is better than the 7 that I had when I was admitted into the hospital. As the days go by more people support me and I love meeting everyone new and seeing messages from all my friends. I wish I could talk to each one of you personally but for now it will have to be through these blogs. But, many of you who follow the Lord I encourage you to stay on his path and those of you who do not, I honestly encourage you to take time to study and learn his ways. I'm not trying to persuade you to become all of the sudden Christ followers, but his knowledge and teachings make sense. As I read my letters, there were many verses from the bible that really caught my eye. For example, Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful spirit can act as good medicine against sickness." In other words a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. There are no words to explain how much relevance this is to what I'm doing to get over my sickness. I could never do any of this without high spirits and the support of all of you. Again I want to thank each one of you for all you have done, it means so much to me.

More relaxing and more medicine

First rough night last night... Extremely aching back and a headache with the feeling of nausea. I don't know how, but I made it through the night with the help of my two wonderful parents who stayed by my side through all of the pain. Today was the first day that I felt a lot of pain throughout the day and I tried to muscle through everything and have slowly been succeeding. I miss everyone so much already and I really miss being outside and being active. It's hard from going from practicing sports everyday to practicing getting up out of bed without hurting myself. My appetite is basically completely gone and the only thing that tastes remotely good is water and ice. But when I look down at my wrist and see this amazing bracelet and beautiful ring I get a big smile on my face and the pain feels like it is completely gone and I realize there is no way I'm going to give up. No pain no "game". If George Saint Pierre didn't have pain, he wouldn't be a great fighter and who he is now. Even though there is hardship through this experience, I have already gained so much and will gain more. If I named all the positives that have happened so far, the list would go on and on. I had more visitors today and more flowers which can put a smile on my face and even more great news from the doctor. It will be easy to fight sickness by myself while I'm going through all of this so I won't have to take more medicine than I already do.

The PERFECT Birthday

Thank you everyone for all of your comments. I love reading them all and I got so many cards from everyone and all I can say is THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I LOVE YOU ALL. My hospital room looks like a gift shop; I have over twenty balloons, many flowers and teddy bears and cards galore. I have spent the time to read all of your comments and cards and it has made me feel so loved and grateful. This has been a wonderful birthday: I got to see my family and boyfriend, many cards and gifts and great news from the doctors( = My spine is free of leukemia cells which means this should be a speedy recovery. Second day of chemotherapy and everything has been going smoothly. I got more gifts than I have ever wanted: a stunning second promise ring from my parents and a beautiful bracelet from my boyfriend with both of our names engraved in it and many many more gifts. All of the comments and everything you all have been doing for me has been the best gifts ever. To top everything off my grandparents bought me a Madonna Inn chocolate curled cake ( although I have lost my appetite so no cake for me) and I got to see both of my beautiful sisters. Aryel has been by my side for every second waiting on me on hand and foot, and she inspired me to begin the blogging. Although I did not get to hug my baby sister and be close to her, I got to see her outside my room and try to give her all of my love. This is not the way I thought I was going to spend my birthday, but I wouldn't want to change anything. I truelly enjoy reading all of your comments and all of these cards too. They help me stay so strong and make me feel better after all the medicine. Each time I look at the comments and cards, I stop and think about how greatful and loved I am. I don't know how many times I can keep saying how much I love everything and all of the support. I will keep updating everything and loading more pictures too. ;)

 

Eyeopening experience 07/15/2010

Hey everybody it's Noel and I really appreciate everything that all of you have been doing for me. All of you have been helping me stay so strong and I'm doing and feeling wonderful. Staying positive and lots of prayers will help my family and me through this. God works in mysterious ways and he has a plan for me and I have put my trust in him. When I first heard the news I was very scared and feared for my life; but now I have no fear and I'm staying strong and making the best out of everything. This experience so far has been very eye-opening and I actually have been enjoying it (besides the needles). This has made me realized how lucky I am for everything and how loved I am. I have an extremely supportive family and friends and so many people I don't even know that have sent me so much joy and love. Prior to this I was an average girl excelling in school and sports, I had a wonderful family, good group of friends, adorable boyfriend, big new house and the life that so many people would kill for. Although I don't think I realized how much God has blessed me with everything and this is a way that has just made me so thankful. This is just a curveball thrown that I will hit out of the park and enjoy the victory! This is not a battle... This is a fight that I will win not through sorrow and weeping but through many prayers and staying positive. Yes I know it is healthy to cry, and I have cried a little bit; but honestly some of the crying makes me start to grow fear. This is a life changing experience that has been effecting my body negativley, but has been effecting my mind set and my heart positively. I will keep everybody posted on everything, and again thank you so much I love you all and hope you all have a wonderful day. Tomorrow it will be my birthday( : and I will enjoy every bit of the day and I love reading all of your comments it makes me very happy. Thank you all and I love each one of you very much ;) Enjoy life and be thankful for everything and count your blessings. It will amaze you how much you have and it gives you a positive outlook on life.