Grandma Karen's Birthday

Today was a good day. Mom got in last night and today is her birthday. It is great to have her here and today I rested all day and felt good. The Ray family brought dinner and even a birthday pie!

Oh, and I just discovered tonight that people can post comments on this blog. So, I just read all of them. You guys rule. Thanks everybody. 

Second treatment today!

Today was a whirlwind.  The kids were taken care of by Tricia and Keri and Aunty Jan - and Alison went with me for my second chemo treatment.  I should say that my hair started to fall out - really fall out - yesterday, and it kind of hurt.  So - today, after chemo, Alison had my back and I took the plunge...

I wish I had an eyebrow piercing, some neck tats, and a bunch of earrings and I could totally pull off the "punk mom" look!  Seriously.  

A funny thing happened at the salon (plug for salon - Henry at Salon 808 rules!  They shaved my head and Henry gave me a wig that he cut and styled to match my old short hairdo.  Highly recommended) - a lady that was waiting to get her hair done in the chair next to me (gawking) asked if I had lost a bet when she saw the girl shaving my head!  Well - I must say I think it looks better than poor Britney!

Thanks so much to Allyson, Keri, and Chris for coming over while I was out to clean the house!  You guys rock.  Bathroom grout has never looked better!  Thanks Marie for dinner :)

Oh - the wig!  It looks pretty good - Dave said it passed the 10' test (later revised as the 5' test) - and it looks a lot like my short cut although a little darker.  Owen, upon seeing me this afternoon, pointed at my wigged head and said "funny".   Liv and Jack didn't notice - they only asked if the chemo made my hair darker today.  Pics of the wig tomorrow. 

Mom comes tomorrow - yippee!

Mariner's Ridge Hike

Had a great hike today with the Lietzkes - right to the top of Mariner's Ridge. Panoramic views of the windward side were awesome.

Red on red on red

K and O'en

Lietzke fam

Girls

The geeky photo theme of the hike was "texture" - here are some more pics for the truly bored.

K is feeling good - second chemo treatment on Tuesday this week.

Well, it's been a week...

Life is going on here. I felt pretty crappy Wed., Thurs., Fri. of last week. The weekend I felt good. And now I am back feeling pretty normal. I am trying to be good with my diet and eating only healthy foods, lots of greens and dragon slayer milkshakes. Moments of weakness have included... a whopper with cheese,  a big piece of fudge and a rice krispie treat. Even with those treats I am at my ideal fighting weight. Damn if I ever thought it would take cancer for me to get here!

It's been a busy week with all the kids running around. Olivia and I went wig shopping on Tuesday and found one that looks like my hair. And, yes, I still have hair. No pics until I have to wear it.....

Jack's finds

This is what I found in Jack's pockets tonight when he got undressed to take a bath. He said "Don't you like what I found mommy?" A HUGE rock and a jagged piece of glass.

Oh, and I have to tell what their reactions were to my haircut.
Olivia immediately cried upon seeing me and said "I don't like you with short hair. Are you gonna take me to school like that?"
Jack saw me the next morning and came in the room and said "I'm not laughing at you mommy" "Is that your new haircut or is it just bed head?" "I can wet it down for you mommy".
Owen saw me and said "You hair ugly, butthead"

Kids are great. Gotta love their honesty.

Dave and I both like the haircut now. Its kinda sassy. They say in about 10 days it should all fall out anyway. Oh well.

Something Fishy

Shannon, Becky and Simon sent the coolest Humuhumunukunukuapuaa fish today. We love it. It makes us all smile.Thanks guys!

1st chemo treatment

Had it, one down 3 more to go on this first round of chemo. I go once a week every two weeks for four times. Then my next round of chemo with different meds will start. Looks like I'll be doing this til summer. I'm visualizing these drugs eating the bad stuff away. It didn't hurt at all. The nurse numbs the site first and then puts the meds in the port in an iv. While I get one medicine I have to eat ice to hopefully prevent mouth sores. Nice! Christy went with me today and kept me company. It was great!

Thanks to so many people!

I am feeling the love! Thank you guys for all the well wishes and beautiful flowers. I am feeling good and ready to start chemo tomorrow (Monday) at 1:00. 

New Hairdo!

Thanks to Christy and Tricia - I've gone Jamie Lee!  

What do you think?

KU!

Here I am with Ku - the Hawaiian god of strength - which was given to me by my Hui-friend Marie.

Thanks Marie - I'm ready to fight!

Kristen's first entry

Kristen's yucky news....Christmas Eve Dave and I found out I have breast cancer. I've been having a gazillion tests: Needle biopsy, CAT, Bone scan, breast MRI, blood work, all the good stuff.

I don't really know what I should be writing about on this. I'll say this, this is a crazy time. It all feels a bit surreal. Dave and I are learning more than we ever wanted to about the medical sides of things. And I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. One minute I'm strong and positive and the next minute, I feel total despair. I feel like I need to call so many of you, but I don't have the time yet.

I had a port put in today that will be a good thing for my chemo. It's an under the skin thingy up on my chest that has a tube directly into a vein into my heart. It's where they will give me shots and take blood and give the chemo. I also met with the pharmacist from oncology about what chemo is gonna be like. Whoalie, it is wicked stuff. It's almost comical how awful it is. 

I am so thankful to all of you who have called, emailed, stopped by, brought flowers, made food arrangements, etc. We feel so loved and lucky to have such a great group of friends. I can't express how grateful we are.

There was some good news today. My bone scan came back negative so no cancer in my bones. Yippee!

Surf Lake Erie!

Hey - if the 38 degree water isn't enticing enough - let's throw some howling wind into the equation - add in some river-esque currents - AND THROW A FREAKING SURF CONTEST! Add 1 part Ben Nigro (current Niagara Falls NY resident) to the mix and you have a former Masonboro and Emerald Isle charger walking off with the trophy... CONGRATS BEN ON THE WIN! You are a TRUE SURFER.

Check out this ESA Great Lakes blog to share cyberspace with some of the most dedicated surfers anywhere on the planet.

Turtle Bay and Leftovers 2007.12.22-23

LOTR Fans Rejoice!

http://www.thehobbitblog.com/

Halloween 2007 sets a new standard for Palawiki Street

In case you missed it - Brad posted this shockingly well produced video walk-through of the Haunted Tent (aka - the Haunted Garage, aka the carhole of scariness).

Torm Poopers

We had another great Owen-ism today:

Torm Pooper = Storm Trooper

Dec 8th, East Side

A good shot of Randy taking off - still struggling with the video quality - the default settings for YouTube export are pretty brutal...

Friday CYO action and Tom Carroll

Friday - after what feels like weeks of Kona and lt/variable winds - Randy and I hit jackpot this AM at CYOs. Very small crowd - solid 3-5' surf (and Randy claims bigger sets) and absolutely perfect conditions. The main peak was doing a freaky double up but you could make it and it was FAST and SMOOTH going right. Beautiful out there. My 6'8" Flyer was enough to catch the good ones - but I was spinning out on turns. Randy blames my fins - they are pretty flexible - time for NEW FINS!

We also met some nice guys - including 2 time world champ Tom Carroll - who was out on a stand-up paddle board with two of his mates. Guy was ripping and he was incredibly nice. Just an epic morning - Lucky we live Hawaii! The only downsides were I had to go to work and Doug couldn't join us (and because of that we didn't bring the camera - DAMN). Well - we have memories!

Darth at the Nativity

This is how we found the Nativity scene a few nights ago. Vader was menacing the wise men and - though his motivations weren't clear - he had apparently recruited the donkey to his (clearly dark) cause. Joseph was alone in the stable - it appeared that there had been an attempted evacuation of baby Jesus that may have ended badly for the angel. Mary was found nearby on the floor.

Late Nov Kailua Beach Day