My Accomplishments

This past week was the week I've been both looking forward to and dreading for six months now.  My mammogram.

Six months ago, I went in and was astounded to find out that I had over 300 cysts.  Several of them were determined to be "suspicious", and I was put on a six month call back.

Over the last six moths, I've changed my diet.  No more caffeine.  No highly processed sugars.  Doctor's orders. 

I have been doing some research of my own since then about nutrition and cancer and breast health.  Long story short- more veggies, and eat as organically as possible.

I've had mixed success with sticking to this plan over the last six months.  But, the moment of truth came last week.

One mammogram and one ultrasound later, the number of cysts has been cut in half.  The "area of concern" is gone.  Most of the cysts have shrunk.  Two have grown a little larger, but they were able see them with the ultrasound and determine that they are smooth - nothing to worry about.  I've been put back onto a one year call back.

I am fortunate - so very fortunate.  Breast cancer has affected many of the women in my family.  I'm glad to know that, for now, I have nothing to worry about.

When you think about it - preventative medicine- getting mammograms early, so that cancers can be detected early and treated early - while they are still treatable - is probably one of the best investments you can make.

My Other Accomplishments:

Oldest child is living in an apartment this summer with friends.  All of them are working full time on campus for the summer, but will be moving back on campus in the fall.  Between the three of them, they were able to provide furniture from parents' houses without anyone having to go shopping.

We attended the Empty Bowls dinner at the high school.  For $5, we had a fantastic bowl of soup, great converstion, and we received a bowl made by one of the students.  (I chose the one made by my daughter!)  All of the money collected went to our local soup kitchen.

I hit up the discount rack at my favorite produce stand.  For 50 cents, I picked up a 5 pound bag of sweet peppers that were "on the edge".  The peppers all went into a stir fry that same night.  At the same stand, I also picked up a head of cabbage for $1.

The discount rack at my grocery store had a plethora of dried beans.  I picked up 10 one pound bags of black beans for 33 cents each.  The same rack also had CFL bulbs for $1.50.  I picked up 5.

After the food bank distribution on Saturday, there was a lot of leftover produce.  It was given away to the volunteers since it would go bad before the next distribution.  We were gifted wit 5 pounds of onions and 5 of spinach.  (5 pounds of spinach is a lot of spinach!)

The shrubbery in front of our house is way overgrown.  There were several bushes that were as high as the roof on our one story ranch house.  We pulled out the two biggest bushes, and really opened up the front of our house.  One of the shutters had pulled off of the house several years back.  With the bushes gone, DH was able to get back there and replace the shutters on that window.

I spent a couple of hours in the basement with the kids, cleaning up the big, messy room.   It's slowly improving.  It's by no means finished, but it is better.  Still not good enough for me to post a picture on here!

What wonderful things did you accomplish this week?