Chemo Comfort Bags

Hello!

Alright friends and family! I have something really great that I’m working on! I want to sponsor 31 chemo bags to the Piedmont Cancer Center next month. And I need your help! One of my many goals this year is to GIVE BACK. And this is just the first endeavor!

Each and every bag will be tagged in memory or in honor of a loved one of the specific person who donates. Check out the pictures below of the items that made it into just SOME of my friends bags last year!! Your $25 donation will provide a large zip-top tote bag that has 7 pockets and I will take care of the rest! They can use the bags to carry their personal items (books, electronics, drinks & supplies) to/from their treatment appointments throughout their journey. I know we can pull this off together and bless some amazing people during a time when they could sure use a blessing!

Here is how it works: You can sponsor as many bags as you would like for $25 each. I will use ALL of my commissions that are made on the bags to fill them with things like chapstick, warm socks, blankets, crossword puzzles, tissues, candy, etc. If you would like to sponsor a bag, you can email me (vlynnstewart@hotmail.com) with “I want to sponsor ___ bags!” I will follow up with you via private message!

Erin Condren Life Planner review

It arrived!  I received my Erin Condren Life Planner 2 weeks ago.  It was soo worth the wait (and the online stalking).

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Erin Condren is a stationary designer that designs personalized stationary, planners, and journals.  With products made in the USA with lots of love, whatever you buy is well made and worth the wait.

Here is my planner.  I debated long and hard to find a cover with purple in it that would really compel me to use my planner.  I chose the Rad Plaid design.

 

 

The first section lists special dates and anniversaries in a perpetual calendar format.

 

 

Each month has a two-page spread in which to highlight special dates and appointments, etc.

 

 

Weekly pages are divided in 3 sections daily - morning, day, and night.  I use these sections mainly for my work tasks and it works great.  The main reason why I purchased this planner was to be able to see all of my tasks in one glance.  The Erin Condren planner has been a tremendous help for me in this area and I am able to stay on top of all of my to-dos.  I use sticky notes to list any messages are immediate things that I have to take care of.

 

 

One of my favorite parts has to be the Keep it Together folder.  I am bad for having scraps of papers and notes stuffed into other notebooks.  Then whatever happens and they are gone.  This folder keeps everything in one place.  Right now, I have coupons in it as well as some mail that I need to follow up on. 

 

All and all, I love my Erin Condren planner.  I have only had for about 2 weeks and I take it everywhere with me.  I don't have a color-coding pen system like some other people do.  I may do a post later to show you how I am using it - haven't decided yet.  As I get new tasks or have appointments, I list them in the appropriate weekly section.  Once I have completed the task, I put a little check mark.  This way, I know I have completed the task, but I don't make through it so that I can refer back.  Also, the Erin Condren team is very responsive.  I went to a conference last week and was afriad that I might not get my planner in time.  They assured me that it would ship and I received it very quickly once I explained my concerns.

 

Some of you may wonder why everyone is obsessed about Erin Condren and her life planner.  Once you get one you will see! 

Standing Up for Mary

My mother has cancer - lung cancer. When you are young and growing up, cancer is always something that other people get. It doesn't affect you. You feel sorry for those who have it but go about your merry way and really don't think about it - until it happens to you or to someone you love. That is what happened for me almost 5 years ago.

My mother went in for a routine doctor exam and was told she was pre-diabetic. As always happens in my family, she armed herself with the all the tools to take care of herself. She went to nutrition classes, took her readings and took the prescribed meds. Mama would share with me the recipes she got and she even started working out at the local senior center. She was getting healthier and it was great to see. One night I was woken by a call. Mama was at emergency, they may have to intibate her, come now. What?!? It had to be like 2am? Was this a joke? I tried to call my brother back but he didn't answer. I rushed to the hospital and she was taking a breathing treatment. Apparently she had an allergic reaction to her diabetic medication, lysinopril and it almost cut off her airway. She spent a day or two in ICU as they got her stabilized. She was put on steroids as a treatment and was sent home. Some how I realized something just wasn't right.

A week later I got another call. Mama was taken to the hospital for heart palpitations. By now I am starting to question what is going on. The palpitations were due to the steroid treatment. She was in the Cardiac Unit for observations and tests. One of the tests showed something - they weren't quite sure what it was. More tests were ordered. As we advance forward about a month, after a lot more tests and biopsies, I find myself waiting in the hospital waiting room. She was in surgery having a biopsy done on her lymph nodes and lung. If it is benign, they would remove her lymph nodes and the upper right lobe of her lung. If it is cancerous, they would close her up, she would have radiation and chemo to shrink the tumor, then they would go in and remove the lymph nodes and upper right lobe. It was cancer. My mother, a never smoker had lung cancer. I had read not so good things about lung cancer - I wasn't prepared for this.

But my mom is a fighter and a wonderful woman. She went through her treatments with the determination to live and fight this disease. Right now, she is doing wonderfully well. They don't see any evidence of the disease and will soon take her off of her chemo treatment - which he is happily looking forward to. We have lost others in my family to various forms of cancer. But I have always believed that my mother was given this disease to be a testament to others that you can beat it and you can live. Don't look down on those who are going through illnesses. It is only with your well-wishes and prayers that they draw the strength to endure.

As I listened to some of the stories on the Stand Up 2 Cancer show tonight, I was reminded of the stories that they did not highlight. They didn't tell my mom's story or may never know about her. But I do. And I am standing up for her. Lung Cancer is the least funded of all of the cancers but affect the most people. We have to stop the stigma that associates it with blame of something that you did to your self. No one deserves cancer. Support those who are fighting. I'm Standing Up For Mary. Are you?