Breasts + Lumps = Scary Times

I want to talk breasts. Boobs. Jubblies. Whatever you call them, whatever shape or size they are we all have them. Yes, men too. I haven't had the best start to 2011, on January 2nd I was doing my weekly lump check after my Sunday soak in a bubble bath when the world stopped. What the *insert appropriate profanity here* was that?!?!?! I checked again and felt sick, there was an enormous lump in my right breast. I quickly felt my left breast for comparison, then checked my pill packet to see where I was in my cycle. Nope it was a lump, approximately the size of a toddler's fist. Shit. I had my husband, Lee, feel. He went very pale and quiet. We both feared the worst, as you do, but probably more so because we had watched his Dad fade away and die from bowel cancer 11 years ago. It was almost 11pm and too late to ring the Doctor's surgery to schedule an emergency appointment. I went to bed but didn't sleep much. Next morning I put on my 'Happy Mammy' face and got the kids ready for school. Once I was home I made an appointment, but for the following day to see the female GP. I ran my mother-in-law at work to ask her to collect my youngest from school as the timing clashed, I was shaky and upset. "I'm on my way" she simply said, walked out of work and came to look after me. When she arrived though she handed me the phone and told me I was going to see the doctor today, male or not... saying "no" was not an option. So, I rescheduled for that afternoon, surprisingly with the female GP and rang Lee to let him know. He also left work to come to the appointment with me. Well, I got prodded and squeezed while the GP had a good explore. She was very thorough and I was VERY relieved to hear she was 99% certain it wasn't cancerous. It was the wrong shape and mobile. What I most likely had was a fibroadenoma or breast mouse. I had to laugh, some of you will know what pets I keep - rats, this was a rodent obsession too far! As the lump was so large I had to return in 3 weeks for a recheck and to see if I needed referring for possible surgery to remove it. I almost made 3 weeks, I awoke on the 21st in agony, my boob and shoulder hurt and over the counter painkillers didn't give any relief, back to the doctor I went. This time I saw a male GP, I didn't care, common sense had kicked in and I knew they had seen many more boobs. He was very nice and gentle but still managed to make me cry, I was so tender! He then said he thought that the lump was, in fact, an infected cyst, prescribed strong antibiotics and painkillers. I took the tablets, the pain subsided slightly, but boy did I suffer that night! The Diclofenac gave me the WORST heartburn I have ever experienced, but only at night while I was trying to sleep, worse still was I couldn't take indigestion relief with it.... :(

Today I had the follow up appointment with the female GP, I went through the previous squishing and squeezing, but pain-free, and she looked happy. Well, happier. Once I was clothed she told me what she suspected. I have an infected cyst that had tracked up to my shoulder, the male GP had found a small squishy blob in my armpit, but knowing I was returning on the Monday hadn't told me so I wouldn't worry unnecessarily over the weekend. It had gone as he expected as it was simply infection and the antibiotics were working. The lump is also shrinking. Good news. I am to carry on with the medication until the course is finished and return for another check up on February 21st. Then the Doctor and I will make a decision over the findings - if it had gone, good; If it is shrinking, perhaps a longer course of antibiotics; If it is no different, maybe surgery. I am still being referred to the breast clinic for a scan and probable biopsy, but I'm much more positive about the outcome now.

So I guess what I'm trying to do by sharing this tale of woe with you is to encourage you to check yourself. Now if you can. I check regularly and still missed this lump. Men can get breast cancer so they should check themselves too. Don't take chances with your health and if you do find anything, try not to panic and get it checked out as soon as possible - it may be nothing, but it may be something. No risks please friends, do this for me.

Sea and Cakes

Now as you may or may not know, I love to bead and make jewellery. My beading group, Darlington Bead Group, has been asked to participate in a 'cake party' while we have our monthly meet up to raise money for the RNLI. This has been organised by Beads Unlimited and information can be found here if you would like to join in and help raise money for a really good cause.

What better excuse for cake? Go on, you know you want to...

A Rainy Day Musing

I found the following last night while flicking through my story idea notepad. I wrote it in the summer of 2010 while my beloved dog Lucy was still with us, so that is the dog referred to, not Ruby Random, our new pooch.

What is it about rain that can make you both happy and sad at the same time? Take yesterday for example... There I was, ironing quietly thinking it was about time the dog had a walk when out of nowhere the rain thundered, and I mean thundered, against the windowpane. I rushed to look. There was so much water pouring down the glass I could only see blurred colours outside. The child I had once been danced with joy and wanted to grab wellies and a brolly and splash around. My grown-up self simply groaned with dismay at the thought of getting drenched and told the dog she had no chance. The dog just went back to sleep.

Jenny's Cute Store

Now as you may know, I am a penpaller, I currently have around 17 penpals and am always looking out for cute, non-boring stationery, especially hard to find in the UK for some reason... well my friends, I have found a FANTABULOUS little site with a great selection, good prices and amazingly fast delivery (I think she uses fairies... *nods knowingly*). I have spent all of my pocket money on some lovely pads and sets, okay, I spent Lee's money, and I will be going back for more.

Jenny's Cute Store is the name of this wonderland of papery goodness, I URGE, nay, ORDER you to go check her store out and see if you can resist the lure. You won't be disappointed, I promise. Jenny herself is very friendly and helpful, when a particular pad I wanted was out of stock it was no problem, Jenny emailed me when she had managed to get more stock.

Off you go then, don't be dawdling here any longer, Jenny's Cute Store is waiting....

Spoilt Rotten Beads

Take yourself off here: www.spoiltrottenbeads.co.uk and buy yourself lots of beady goodness. They have a lovely range AND until January 15th 2011 there's 15% off! If you're new to beading, check out the fab tutorials. :)

Enjoy.

Right, SRB, send me my voucher... ;D

Bank Holiday Blues

Well, it's Bank Holiday Week.... the kids are off school and, yes you guessed it, the weather is cold and miserable. It all went wrong on Saturday - we had a lovely day planned at an adventure farm with some friends - it rained. Not to be deterred we headed up to Newcastle to LIFE, which was cool (and we caught the Dr Who exhibition too!). Sunday and Monday were spent watching Star Wars episodes 1-5 (we ran out of time for episode 6 - to be watched at the weekend), tending to the container veggies, surfing t'internet and making a felt picture for the kitchen (so pleased with it!). Today has been kid-entertaining, so Raymond had a friend to play (goodness knows what 9 and 10 year olds do besides playing DS's) and Jade watched The Wizard of Oz (again). I had a delivery of glass rods and am desperate to get some torch time in (not the best idea with a nosy 5 year old...) - roll on bedtime!!! Also 'imminent' is the arrival of the VirginMedia man to replace our modem - any time between 4 and 7pm, you know it's gonna be 6.45pm! lol.

Tomorrow we have the car and can't decide where to go.... let's see if it rains....

Bead Barmy Blog

http://www.beadbarmy.com/

Hi guys, I just wanted to direct you to Bead Barmy's blog. It's really accessible with tutorials, news, features on other beading groups, competitions, surveys, discounts. Anyway, check it out, you won't regret it - Jo is really lovely and funny too. :D

Luminescence

Her face glows serenely, benevolently; just looking at her fills me with an inner peace no other can provide.

My heartbeat slows, my breathing quiets, my brain calms; I could gaze upon this tranquil beauty until the end of time.

I feel myself soften under her radiance; she makes me feel alone, but happily so.

Whenever I catch a glimpse, I feel privileged, special, favoured; I spend hours waiting for her to appear and it's not often I get to see the whole of her....

She is worshipped by many, revered for her powers; I can see the attraction to this deifying of the object of my admiration.

the last thing I do before climbing into bed is take a peek out of the window at her - my beautiful moon.


My latest offering on Six Sentences, a website where writers are as creative as possible using, you guessed it, only six sentences.

And Refresh....

Todays offering was written a couple of weeks ago whilst sitting in a coffee shop nursing a drink, watching the world pass by.....

Boil kettle, boil!
Brew tea, brew!
Pour spout, pour!
Add milk and....

Ahhhhh!

That's better.

As I sat quietly observing my fellow 'drinkers', this is what I saw....

• An old lady indulgently spooning whipped cream from the top of her hot chocolate into her wrinkled mouth, savouring every spoonful...
• The young mother tenderly sharing a jammy scone with her wriggling toddler...
• The middle-aged couple with nothing to say to each other; each staring in a different direction whilst sipping their lattes...
• The well dressed trio of ladies in their mid 50's; giggling and blushing as they reminisce about their youth together...
• The 2 young, beautiful girls, maybe aged 15 or 16, playing at being grown ups, pulling faces at the bitterness of the espressos they've ordered...
• The tedium etched across the face of the handsome barista...
• The author, sat here, realising her tea is now cold...

Toodle-pip!

Update

So, what's new? Well, not much really.... we're having a lovely heatwave; I say lovely but in reality I feel as if I'm melting - goodness knows how the furries are feeling, so the rats have damp tea towels and a bowl of shallow water to paddle in and the dog has a wet towel in the yard....

Last week the family were sitting around the dinner table when the adults started amusing the littlees by reminiscing about toilet humour songs we sang as kids - remember these gems???

Auntie Mary had a canary, up the leg of her drawers,
When she farted (pumped), down it darted (jumped),
Down the leg of her drawers!
(The bracketed words are the ones my mother taught me...)

Charlie had a pigeon, a pigeon, a pigeon,
Charlie had a pigeon, a pigeon he had.
It flew in the morning, it flew in the night,
And when it came back it was covered in....
Charlie had a pigeon, a pigeon, a pigeon....... and so on and so forth!

This one, you make your own rhyming verse up - the chorus remains the same:
I was walking with my Mum,
When it oozed right out my bum...

Diarrhoea, Diarrhoea!

I was feeling a bad pain,
When my butt began to rain...

Diarrhoea, Diarrhoea!

I knew I was in trouble,
When my bum began to bubble...

Diarrhoea, Diarrhoea!

You get the gist....

Anyway, we're giggling like a kid that's secretly looking at the underwear page of his/her mother's catalogue when Jade, the 4 year old, comes out with (to the tune of Abba's Mamma Mia) "Diarrhoea...Here I go again" !!!!!!!!!!!!!! roflamo!!! She's a funny girl, there's no doubt about it.


On another note, I actually did something on my 'to do' list.... the family are now learning spanish!!! It's really good fun :o)

Until next time,

Adios xx

The Egg

It started one day with a crack in the egg,
It quivered and shook and out popped a leg.
Then out popped another and out came a wing,
And then a third leg, what a curious thing!
The hens gathered round and watched with great awe,
They weren't quite prepared for the next thing they saw...
The eggshell flew open with a great burst of flame,
And there sat a dragon, A DRAGON! The shame!
This wasn't a chick, all fluffy and yellow,
It was a 4-legged, green-scaly young fellow.
A ruckus broke out as the hens fled in fright,
But mother hen stayed and hugged her charge tight.
"Come back, silly hens," she called to the brood,
"What a terrible welcome, why are you so rude?"
Then she told them the tale of a she-dragon weeping,
As she left with the hens her young egg for safe-keeping.
For the dragons are hunted almost to extinction,
By brave princes of the old folk-tale distinction.
Dragon-mother wanted her child to be safe,
And hoped that the hens would care for the young waif.
The hens clucked together and mused for a bit,
Then one of them thought of a great benefit.
It gets freezing in winter in the old chicken dorm,
And a dragon would certainly help them keep warm.
So the dragon became an honorary hen,
Loved and clucked over again and again.

Purple Pain

Well....

Today I am in the middle of writing a short note to a prospective penpal. I am using my favourite pen, a candy-striped Parker fountain pen which has blue ink in the cartridge. 3 sentences in the ink runs out. Yes, bad planning but hey, I can change to a funkier colour (and the new penpal will think I'm 'special') - so I select violet and proceed to change the cartridges. All is going well until I realise the new cartridge is not compatible with my pen.....but the seal has popped open. "No problem" I think, I'll just transfer the new ink to the old cartridge using a clean syringe (sick rat - another story), slight problem that I have no needles to help draw it up, but I'll manage. I squeeze the violet ink into a spoon and suck it up into the syringe; the end of the empty cartridge just fits over the syringe-end - all is going well..... until the last couple of milligrams when the ink blows back!!!!! There I am, violet fingers, violet grout now surrounding the kitchen tiles, delicate purple dots festooning my tshirt. I clean up as quickly as possible - realisation slowly dawning that this beautifully vibrant colour is not, I repeat not, coming off my skin..... I check the packaging and one word leaps out... PERMANENT.... OMG! Did any hit my face??? Luckily not. After trying exfoliator I call a friend. Once she has stopped laughing we decide on a mixture of borax and sugar. I rub and rub and rub - there is no movement, I seem destined to be a purple pixie; but as I rinse my hands under the running water the ink runs away!! Result!! As a bonus my hands are as smooth as silk, and normal colour once again.

Just one thing before you go.... now I know how to remove the ink, do I go for the full comedic effect of coating my hands in ink, or will this game of fate-temptation backfire???? hmmm......

Brief encounter

It happened by chance, the day that love came,
They'd ne'er before met, and wouldn't again.
Caught up in the crowd, the wet hustle and bustle,
Pulled this way and that in the ensuing tussle.
So when things were calmer, the both looked around,
Each spotting the other, the feeling profound.
And so side-by-side they were joined at the hip,
In fact they were sharing a wooden clothes clip.
For knickers and boxers they were respectively were,
And pegged on the line, their love it did stir.
A beautiful day, spent there in the sun,
Flirting and laughing, they had so much fun.
Unitl things went wrong in a cruel twist of fate,
And a sad, sudden end was brought to their date.
They were put in a basket and taken indoors,
Folded and put into separate drawers.
Now they think of each other most of the time,
And hope for reunion on the long washing line.

This is me

I suppose I should really tell you a bit about me.... maybe convince you to come back and read about my latest exploits/poetry/ramblings.... let's face it, probably ramblings, I seem to live on a soapbox lately, lol.

So, I'm Tracey, (that's me on the left), 34, married to lee for 9 years in August. We have 2 lovely children, Raymond is almost 10 and Jade is almost 5. For 13 years I was a dental nurse, not realising this was a career until I left work to adopt our kids. I miss work, well, I miss the people. Well, some of them.... ;o) We have a dog Lucy, some tropical fish and 9 fancy rats - yes, you read that correctly, 9 rats. Yes, by choice. No, they're not dirty, they're actually very clean and are very intelligent. But the rats are a future blog posting. I love animals and couldn't imagine life without them... I am working on Lee to let us have something new living with us.... :o)

What else? Well, I like to craft: jewellery making, beading, knitting, crochet, patchwork, quilting, sewing, cross stitch. I tend to embrace a new hobby whole-heartedly; usually by almost bankrupting us buying everything I need... and it's not very often I complete a project! I do myself an injustice, since I discovered jewelling, I have made lots of items; maybe this is a new leaf eh? :o) I also read. A lot. It's not unusual for me to go through 6+ books in a week, which is why I need to visit the library more and not the bookstore....

You may have noticed poetry mentioned previously - I dabble in this medium from time to time. Most of the time it rhymes. Usually it is amusing or aimed at children, occasionally it is darker. Is it any good? Well, if you smile/laugh/connect with it, then I consider that a success. Grammatical correctness often has to go out of the window for the rhythm, but that just appeals to the (law-abiding, scaredy-cat) rebel in me ;o). When I get around to posting some poetry, feel free to throw your praise (or rotten tomatoes - although praise is preferable) my way.

I love to plan things, making a list is such a source of pleasure to me. Often my plans never get off the paper, but hey, I can't call myself a procrastinator if all my plans come to fruition can I?? Future plans include learning to make glass beads, learning to use silver clay, learning Spanish, finding a housework routine, to see the Northern Lights, to host an amazing dinner party, to renew my wedding vows in Vegas with Elvis officiating. I shall let you know how I get on, or dazzle you with my excuses for it not happening.....

Well, I must go, I really need to get on with the washing up (actually, I think I'll make a cuppa and surf the net a little more). Thank you for stopping by, please come again, it was lovely chatting. But one thing... next time bring cake ;o)

Au Revoir - see, Spanish!!! ;o)

How Did I Get Here?

Hello you, you're here too. Where are we? How did we get here? All I know is that I asked what a blog was and...'poof!' I arrive here. So let's give it a whirl shall we???