Everything was back to normal again. I was feeling at the top of the world.  My son would soon be a year old (where did the time go??) I was planning his first birthday party and just feeling really good.  My doctor said that I could have an occasional drink but since I was on the blood thinner, just to take it easy.  I was thirsty for a margarita and some mexican food.... We asked Jo and Tee out to dinner since we didn't get the chance to take Tee out for her birthday, this was going to be it....It was a great night out with them and the kids. I had my margarita (didn't taste as good as Jo's homemade ones, but it was okay) my diarrhea had slowed tremendously since my last trip to the hospital, but as soon as I got done eating that night I was running to the ladies room. I was sort of shocked at that but didn't think anything of it.  The weekend flew by and by Sunday night I was whipped. I started to get a stomach ache like the one I had when I went into the hospital the first time. I got up Monday morning and took Rhiannon to school.  When I got back I called my cancer doctor's office and the nurse told me basically to quit being a whimp, take some tylenol and they would see me in a week for my next chemo treatment.. (I had to stop taking them since I was in the hospital for almost the entire month of Feb.)  Anyway, I was suppose to meet my mom at the nursing home that my dad was at and then we were going to have some lunch before going to get Rhiannon again.  When I got there and visited for about half an hour I told my mom that my stomach hurt and what the nurse had told me. Every smell by then was making me nauseated. My mom told me to call my family doctor.  I called and he wanted to see me right away. He did some tests and an x-ray but came up with nothing.  He gave me some stronger pain medicine and some stuff for nausea and sent me home. I was still in pain but my son's birthday was fast approaching and I wasn't going to NOT be there.  I didn't feel up to par the day of his party but toughed it out for him. He had such a good time and he had so many party goers.  The next day was his actual birthday, so I had cake and Ice cream again for him. The next day was his 1 year checkup and shots, so I told the doctor that I "still" wasn't feeling good and was still in alot of pain. He sent me for a Cat Scan that same day. The doctor read it right away and found that my colon was perforated. Well they sent me to the ER again. Well, this time I got my kids arranged with friends and family and was about 9:30 by the time I got up there. I told my husband to just drop me off and go home and get some sleep because it would be morning before I found anything out anyway. He wouldn't. He has been so strong and supportive of my through this whole entire nightmare.....I love him so much!!!!....... Well, when I registered I told them I was coming per the doctors' requests and why and they asked what my symptoms were. When I said stomach ache, they assumed it was just gas pains and I didn't get to the back until 2 hours later, boy was my hubby pissed.......  I had a surgeon come and see me in the ER and they were trying to figure out what to do. They put me in a room and I finally was able to send my hubby home to get some sleep. He had to work the next day.  In the wee hours of the morning the surgeon came in and informed me that I was going into surgery that day. I had to because if the holes in my colon broke open It would be life threatening to me to get all that poison in my system.  I called my husband crying. He was two hours away at work. I told him to stay that my mom was coming up to be with me. He got up there when I got out of recovery. I honestly didn't know what they were going to do. They ended up having to remove 2/3 of my colon and left me with an ostomy and a colostomy bag,,, YUK...... here was another 10 days in the hospital.... needless to say, I missed my next chemo treatment again... I was told that the chemo may very well have caused all of this that was going on with me since Feb.... great huh???  well, I decided then and there that I wasn't going to have anymore treatments. My cancer was gone and it isn't coming back.  Of course my cancer doctors wasn't going to let me off that easy. They tried to talk me into finishing up but my mind was set....

Well, a new adjustment for me was this colostomy bag.  It made me nauseaus (as you can tell, alot of things did) It made me nervous about having to take care of it. Some of the bags that the nurses put on me in the hospital would leak and the ones they ordered for me leaked. I had a great in home nurse that helped me find the right bag for me that would last for the three days, then would have to change again. Sometimes I would leave them on for five, which was really stretching it.  One time over a weekend I went through 17 bags. It was awful...... It was the weekend that my dad died. He died on April 15, 2006. The day before Easter. The nursing home called and said that he wouldn't make it a half an hour. My husband and I only lived ten minutes from there but by the time we got there he had passed already. My whole family went to the nursing home to be with my mom. Then we had to call the funeral home to come and pick him up. They couldn't do anything with him until Monday,  so we had Easter, just like any normal Easter, it was for the kids anyway. That weekend and the following week was rough with the funeral and everything.  I did finally get some bags that worked for me.... I managed with my daily routine again. It was getting toward the end of the school year and my daughter had school programs, dance and her integration play.  They were on different nights.  They were so good and I am so very proud of her with her talent. She is the best dancer in the group, and her play, she was the best. She knew the lines for EVERY student and would roll her eyes if one of them messed up.....silly. 

So, my life was back to normal..... until later....