Where is Your Prostate?

My dad had surgery on Thursday to remove his prostate cancer. He was visiting and joking with everyone, all the way to the OR. When he came out of recovery, however, he didn't think things were so funny. He was not in too much pain, but he did have some nausea that caused him to stay in the hospital until Friday afternoon instead of being discharged that morning. He's been recovering well since he's been home and my mom is trying to take care of him while also recovering from her last chemo treatment.

My sister Jessica sent out an e-mail that said that my dad had his prostate removed. I wasn't really sure what that meant, or if it was even accurate. Jessica is notorious for not being 100% accurate in her story-telling. So I called my mom to get the inside scoop.

Mom: Hello?
Me: Mom, did Dad have his prostate removed?
Mom: Yes.
Me: What does that mean? What is that?
Mom: What is your prostate?
Me: Yes. Your prostate. What is that?
Mom: I'm not sure. (Hollering) Honey, come tell your daughter what a prostate is.
Dad: Hello?
Me: Dad, what is your prostate? Where is that?
Dad: Uhh... well... it's inside of your body, below your bladder.
Me: So you don't have one?
Dad: No.
Me: Oh okay.

He also informed me that he has a catheter.

Me: What is a catheter? What does that do?
Dad: Well, it empties my pee into a bag.
Me: What? You pee into a bag?
Dad: Yeah.
Me: But where does it come from?
Dad: My bladder.
Me: So you don't pee like normal?
Dad: No.
Me: Can you feel yourself pee?
Dad: Well, no.
Me: WHAT?! So you just look at your bag and say, "It looks like I'm peeing."
Dad: Yeah.
Me: Dad! That's awesome!
Dad: Yeah, awesome. I'm so excited...
Me: Wow, that's so cool!

He will go back to the doctor this week for a follow-up appointment. I'll keep you posted.

Frugal Friday!

Tuesday, June 23rd: Bonnie and I went walking tonight and decided to hit up one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes, afterwards. We visited Sweet Tomatoes a while back, but didn't have time to stay and eat so we got it to go. Here's how it works: Step 1: Grab a container for salad and build it up however you'd like. Step 2: Grab two small containers (or one big one) for pasta, soup or whatever you want. Step 3: Grab a small paper bag for bread. Taking our food to-go was a great idea, for two reasons.

1. Instead of paying $9.59/person for dining in, we paid $7.89/person just because we were taking it to go. I understand that there are more options that come along with dining in; for starters, you can make as many trips back to the line as you wish. That's great if you're starving and eat a lot of food, but for me personally, I can hardly eat everything I get on the first go around.

2. Taking my food to go allows me to maintain portion control by eating half for dinner and saving the other half for lunch the next day. It's a win-win. I save money, and I get two meals. If I were to dine in, I wouldn't be able to get a to-go box because it's a buffet and that's totally against the rules.

Tonight was a little bit different. Although we took our food to-go, we only ordered one to-go because neither of us were starving. I wanted the salad and Bonnie wanted the soup and bread so it worked out perfectly. Although I didn't have any salad leftover for lunch tomorrow, Bonnie did manage to save some blueberry muffins for her breakfast tomorrow morning!

Regular price for dinner for two (dining in): $19.18. Our price for dinner for two (to-go): $7.89. Total Savings: $11.29 or 59%.

Chemo Shmemo!

My cute little mom had her last chemo treatment yesterday, June 19th. She was such a rockstar through it all and we praise God for the strength and encouragement he provided for her the whole way! Please continue to pray for my mom's healing and also for my Dad, as he is having surgery this Thursday. See update below:

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!
Today I had my last chemo treatment, so all I need is my follow up shot on Monday.
No radiation needed--yeah!
Will start a drug in a couple of weeks that I'll take for 5 years. He didn't mention any side effects, so I guess I'll have to learn those from the pharmacist.
Will have a one-month follow up.
After that, a MRI and mammogram in one year.

Thank you so much for all of the cards, meals, phone calls, e-mails, visits, thoughts and prayers--they really all helped bring me encouragement and let me feel God's love through you. I only had two bad days during the first week of my first treatment and had no sickness after that. I felt a peace and joy through it all, counting my blessings. Prayer really works.

When I was first diagnosed, I was reading tons of literature telling me what to expect as possible side effects--a bit confusing, depressing and scary. Then I thought I would call a couple of my friends who had gone through or were going through breast cancer. Much to my surprise they each told me in similar words that they would not wish cancer on anyone, but that it was an exciting journey that had changed their lives. Melony did not have to have chemotherapy, and Louise Gray was 2 months ahead of me on the same chemo treatment. She described the treatment as "very doable" and sent me a care package that had everything in it that I would possibly need. She became my guide and encourager through my experience. These women were so joyful that it started me out on the right track. Others came beside me like Cindy Goldsberry when she was diagnosed with breast cancer; Jill Saufferer and Terry Sewell, as well as the prayer ushers kept me "prayed up." Mossy Minner (who I have heard of for years at Bethany, but didn't really know her) made me a pouch to be placed over my shoulder and under the seat belt, as well as a heart shaped pillow for over my chest or under arm, both for comfort after my surgery. What a blessing! Bethany Flint cut her hair short and donated it to Locks of Love in honor of her mom, her niece, and me who all have cancer. Louise Gray walked in my honor in the Komen Race for the Cure in Arlington, shortly after she finished her chemo, and Jim Vasek participated in my honor in the Atlas 4000 charity bike ride to raise money for cancer research. My daughter Kristen dedicated Monday's on her blog to me, although I didn't give her much information the past month or so. My daughter Brittany's friend who lives in New York and whom I have never met or talked to sent me two care packages just because she thought I must be a good person since Brittany is so sweet.

I had the pleasure of experiencing the prayer shawl ministry--a very cute pink wrap around scarf, and a pink shawl that I could feel the peace and comfort every time I wore it. The card said "As you wrap yourself in the comfort of the prayers lifted for you, experience the healing grace of Jesus Christ." That is exactly what happened. My husband has been an awesome caregiver and has gone with me for every doctor's appointment and chemo treatment; he's a great cook; he brings me coffee or hot tea every morning when he is not working; and he does mornings and covers for me whenever I am too weak to do what needs to be done.

Many people have been surprised at how well I have handled the whole cancer experience. There are a few secrets that should not really be secrets:1) I am not afraid of death. I have had a great life; however there is a time for everything according to God's purpose and none of us know when, where, or how that will be. I know where I am going after this life and seek to live each day to make a difference through the love of Jesus.2) God is with us all the time and He works everything for good. He promises that.3) There have been many blessings that have come from this experience--the most important is that my relationship with Christ has grown stronger. I had felt a bit distant for 6-12 months which is difficult when you have had a strong and joyful relationship. I wasn't sure where it went or how to get it back. This did it and therefore was worth it all!4) It is through sickness and other challenging times that others are able to show and we are able to experience compassion and we draw closer to God. If everything was great all of the time, we would have no need to trust in God--in fact, we would think we were making everything happen ourselves.5) Dave and I have examined and re-prioritized our lives--work can do without us (a painful yet freeing discovery). We are taking more time off and making a point to visit family and friends and spend time with each other. We no longer sweat the small stuff.

As I close out this chapter of my health experience, we would like to let you know that Dave's follow up tests in April showed that he does now have prostate cancer. He is scheduled for surgery June 25. His physician is very encouraged, saying he is young and healthy (the physician's words, not ours, so no laughing); we caught it early; the recovery/non-recurrence rate is very high--96%; his physician does only these surgeries, every day, and has his own special team that works with him, so he is very competent. Dave will only be in the hospital for one night. He will not need any chemo or radiation. I will stay home with him for a couple of weeks, so that will be the biggest challenge--to see if I can match his caregiving abilities. He's a different kind of patient than me, in that he doesn't really like people to make a fuss over him, but when he needs something he wants it then. He anticipates my needs, and to be real honest I'm not there yet. I'm a fly by the seat of my pants reactionary person. We'll see how that works or if I have to call in a home health agency.

Once again, some people would say "Oh my gosh!" We believe that God's timing is perfect and he never gives you more than you can handle. If we would have both received our diagnoses and had surgery near the same time that would have most likely been devastating, and definitely tough. The fact that I am finished and he will start next week is a blessing. We praise God for our family and friends and ask for your prayers during the next few weeks.

In Christ, Anita/Nikki

I'll leave you with a fun picture of my Dad and Katelyn in my mom's wig.


Props to my sister for allowing me to steal the picture above from the McCurdy blog.

Frugal Friday!

Sunday, June 14th: Today, my sisters, Katelyn and I went to partake in the goodness that is Dunkin’ Donuts. It just so happened that they were having a promotion on their small lattes – score!

Original price: $2.39. My price: $0.99. Total Savings: $1.40 or 59%.

Tuesday, June 16th: I went to Market Street today to get some much needed toiletries. I was running low on my moisturizer, but I remembered that the lady who did my make-up at Brittany’s wedding used a moisturizer that I really liked. Because I am a visual person, I went online to http://www.cleanandclear.com/ to try to find the turquoise topped bottle. Success. Not only was it a success, but I also found a coupon section on their website and scored $2.00 off any Clean & Clear product.

Original price: $6.49. My price: $4.49. Total Savings: $2.00 or 31%.

Friday, June 19th: My co-worker, Heather M., brought me one of my favorite treats this morning! Apparently, Market Street was having a “buy one get one” on breakfast tacos all week and I had no idea! Why would no one tell me this vital piece of information? Heather did let me partake, however, by bringing a breakfast taco to work this morning for me. How kind! It was delicious!

Frugal Tip: I’ve found that most manufacturers have coupons on their website. Before going to the store for a specific item, check the manufacturer’s website for a coupon. You might have to join the mailing list to get the coupon, but those e-mails will go straight to your SPAM folder anyway. A small price to pay for a great savings!

Total Weekly Savings: $3.40 or 39%.

2nd Annual Great Granny-A-Thon

Last Thursday, Kristen, Katelyn, Jessica and I departed for Houston to start our 2nd annual Great Granny-A-Thon! You might be thinking, "What is a Great Granny-A-Thon?" Let me explain. A Great Granny-A-Thon is a trip to Houston and Beaumont with Katelyn (my niece) to visit her great grannies (our grannies), each for a couple of days.

My parents brought Jessica down from Austin and Kristen, Katelyn and I drove down from Dallas to meet at our Granny's house in Houston. The first night, we had dinner with our Granny, Uncle Todd and Aunt Toni at one of the best Mexican food restaurants! We always have such a fun time with them! Katelyn was able to spend some quality time with my parents and Eddie before they left for Beaumont.



After dinner, Jessica, Kristen, Granny and I had a fun time laughing and playing Bendomino, a mindless game with very little strategic thinking. On Friday evening, we drove to Galveston to play at Kemah Boardwalk before heading to dinner with our uncle Trent. Katelyn loved it there and had so much fun! They have an area with shooting water fountains for the kids to play in and although she never was able to stand next to the water fountain at the right time, she had a fun time walking around.

We were heading home from dinner when I heard an all too familiar sound... a flat tire. As much as having a flat tire stinks (If you recall, I had one a week ago), we couldn't have asked for a better time to have it happen. Trent was still at the restaurant so he ran across the street and changed that tire like a member of the NASCAR pit crew! Jessica and I went to Discount Tire the next morning to get it checked out. Daniel (an attractive guy at Discount Tire) wasn't able to figure out why it was flat, but noticed that the rims of two of my tires were pretty thin. Apparently I get a little too close to the curbs. So, $200 and 2 new tires later, we were on our way to Beaumont to visit my dad's parents, Mom and Pop.

Mom and Pop are pretty chill and enjoy staying indoors. We can always count on a good card game when we visit them, but this time we got a little crazy and played Chicken Foot, a fun domino game. We went to church with them on Sunday morning so Mom could show us off. To be honest, we were nothing new; I'm sure everyone there had seen us at one point in our lifetime, so Katelyn was quite a spectacle. We visited a local hot spot in Beaumont, Dunkin' Donuts, a couple of times. Although the donuts are not the same as they used to be, the coffee is still the best!

I used Kristen's camera for all of the pictures I took at Mom and Pop's, so you can visit the McCurdy blog to see those, posted on Shutterfly.

Frugal Friday!

I spent a lot of money this week, but was not able to find any hardcore sales. My sweet friend, Bonnie, is getting married on July 25th and we (the bridesmaids) threw her a bridal shower this past weekend. It was so much fun! Good food and fellowship, can you ask for anything more? I think not. Although the cake was not on sale, I felt like it was a really good deal. I got a half sheet of white cake with white icing for $24.99 from Market Street and it was delicious!

Although I haven't had an frugal purchases of my own this week, I wanted to tell you about a frugal opportunity for those in the Dallas and Austin areas. Ally Davidson, the winner of Season 2 on American Gladiators, started her own boot camp in Dallas, called Camp Gladiator, and recently ventured into her hometown of Austin. Not only is Ally a family friend of ours, but she's one of the funniest people I know! Camp Gladiator was voted "Best Boot Camp" in 2008 and is the fastest growing boot camp in Texas! Camp Gladiator is a 4 week camp, held at 6 Dallas locations (AM and PM times) and 6 Austin locations. The price includes as many sessions as you'd like to attend during the 4 week period for only $150! This is an insane price - you would pay $100 for one hour with a personal trainer! With Camp Gladiator, you can potentially go to 52 sessions (based on times and locations in Dallas) for $150. For all you math wizards out there, that's $2.88/session! Are you freaking kidding me?! Find out what the craze is all about by reading the testimonials here.

For more information, times and locations, visit http://www.campgladiator.com/ or e-mail Ally at contender@campgladiator.com.

Frugal Friday!

Okay, I missed Frugal Friday last week, shame on me. I did not, however, miss any frugal opportunities. I will just add them to this week’s posting.

Monday, May 25th: I went to Don’s Fish Camp, just outside of San Marcos, to float the river with a couple of my friends from high school today. If you’ve ever floated the river, you know that there isn’t much you can do if you need to go to the bathroom. In order to make sure that I had everything out of my system before my trip, I headed to McDonald’s with my parents to get Mother Nature’s best laxative – coffee. I walked into McDonald’s and saw a big stand with a sign that read “Free Mocha Monday.” Well anything with the word “Free” in it catches my eye, so naturally, I inquired about the sign.

Me: Free Mocha Monday… What does this mean?!
Man at McDonalds: It’s Free Mocha Monday. You get a free mocha coffee, iced or hot.
Me (waiting for the catch): Seriously? Do I need to buy something to get this for free?
Man at McDonalds: No, it’s Free Mocha Monday – it’s free…
Me: What a blessing! This is the only reason I came here this morning and it’s FREE! Awesome!

Well, the coffee did what it does best – it woke me up and ensured that I was not miserable on the river. Best of all – it was FREE!

Original Price: $3.00; My Price: FREE. Total Savings: $3.00 or 100%.

Saturday, May 30th: I went to Sprout’s with Ali today to get some chicken. I’m a serious fan of chicken, but especially theirs. We walked up and saw a huge trailer with incredibly large plastic avocados, at least 20 feet high. Apparently, there are people who travel all over the country giving away FREE chips and guacamole. What an awesome job. I want to do that. So not only did we get FREE chips and guacamole, but they also had a special on the guacamole – 2 packs for $5. The goodness does not stop there. We were also given a “buy one get one free” coupon. So I got 2 packs of guacamole for $2.50.

Original Price: $10.00; My Price: $2.50 Total Savings: $7.50 or 75%.

Wednesday, June 3rd: Sonic was offering FREE root beer floats tonight from 8 to midnight to promote the fact that they are open until midnight or later all summer long. Ali and I went after we worked out and we weren’t ashamed at all.

Friday, June 5th: Krispy Kreme is giving away a free doughnut today in honor of National Doughnut day! Go get you some!

Original Price: $0.90; My Price: FREE. Total Savings: $0.90 or 100%.

Total Weekly Savings: $11.40

The Sweetness that is the Lord!

I just wanted to share with you a story about the Sweetness that is the Lord! It’s pretty detailed, only because it has to be to show you how the Lord carefully weaves situations together in his perfect timing. Here it goes...

As I was leaving work and walking to my car on Monday afternoon, I noticed that I had a flat tire. My friend Bonnie came to pick me up so we could work out and we decided to come back later that evening to deal with it. We got back to the office around 7:30 pm and apparently looked a little out of our element in our gym clothes. Some guys from work were coming back late from a job site and asked if we needed help. I accepted their offer and put everything from my trunk into the back seat so they could get to my spare tire. They put my spare on in about 10 minutes and we were off. I decided that I would take my car to Discount Tire the next morning to see if they could patch the hole in my tire.

That night, I was talking to God and just confessing the bitterness I had in my heart because of a certain situation. I’ve been really upset for the past 2 weeks or so and I just couldn’t give it over to the Lord. As I was praying, I decided to open up my bible in hopes of finding a verse that I could write on my dry erase board at work to remind me to give up my bitterness and pride. I opened up to Proverbs and kept coming across verses like these: “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’ – when you now have it with you… He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy… He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God… He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done…” So for some reason, verses like this kept sticking out to me. So I thought, okay, whatever, I’m going to look at this devotional book that my mom gave me because this is not what I'm looking for right now. My sweet mom gave my sisters and me a Beth Moore daily devotional book for Christmas and I honestly hardly ever read it – no offense to my mom, I just don’t think to read it each day. Anyways, I opened the book up to June 1 and read the following words… “O Lord, help me not be afraid to speak to You what's on my heart. Your Word says You know my thoughts and my actions, and You know what I'm going to say before a word forms on my tongue (Ps. 139:1-4). You will never be offended when I pour out the earnest despair and bitterness that wells in my heart. You desire for me to cry out in my agony, and You can take my feelings of anger, dismay, and confusion. In pouring my heart out to You, I rid myself of soul-cancerous bitterness. I also make room for You to pour in Your healing.” O…M…G… So I turned off the light and continued to pray “God, I’m not really sure why those verses in Proverbs stuck out to me, but I pray that you would provide me with opportunities to put my pride to the side and help the needy and serve the poor. Please take this bitterness out of my heart… I really don’t like being a jerk. Fill my heart with more of you.”

I woke up early (for me anyway) the next morning to head up to Discount Tire. They don’t open until 8:00 am so I went ahead and made a sandwich in hopes that I could get to work by 9:00 am, work through lunch, and leave at 5:00 pm. As I was walking out to my car it was thundering and lightning like crazy, but not raining yet. All of the stuff from my trunk was covering up an umbrella that I knew I had back there somewhere. Since I wasn’t sure where it was and I didn’t want to have to dig around to find it later, I just decided to go back inside to grab another one. Right as I got back in my car, the rain started pouring down. So I’m driving down a busy street and I see a grandmother and her grandson walking down the street, in the pouring rain, with no umbrella. The Holy Spirit showed up and said, “Give them your umbrella.” I thought, “Okay… yeah… sure…okay…I can do that…” So I turned around and pulled up next to them and said, “Here you go. Here is an umbrella.” She responded, “Thank you so much! God bless you! What is your name?” As the rain is pouring in my car, I tell her my name. “Brittany, thank you so much. We were running a little late this morning and I forgot my umbrella. I am going to be praying for you! Thank you so much!” I smile and say, “It’s not a problem, really. Have a good day!” As I drove off, I noticed that my fuel light was on. I hate going to get my car worked on when I’m low on fuel because I always get a lecture on how that’s not good for your car. So I pulled into the gas station. As I was getting out of my car I thought, “Give them a ride.” I put everything from my back seat into a large cooler (it was in my trunk) and pushed it to the side. As I was pulling out of the gas station, I looked their way and noticed that they were waiting at the bus stop, which is not covered, and someone else had joined them. I had an audible conversation with myself that went something like this: “Oh, they are waiting for the bus, it’s okay, you don’t have to give them a ride.” As I said that, three cars drove past and splashed water all over them! “Brittany, the umbrella isn’t helping, go get them!” “No, it’s fine, I’m sure the bus will be here soon.” “Brittany, just go get them! Do it!” Somewhat hesitant, I pulled up next to them, rolled down my window and said, “I can give y’all a ride wherever you’re going. Get in.” They responded, “Are you sure? Only if you have time. Do you have time?” “Yeah, yeah, I have time. Get in.” So they got in and the grandma said, “Brittany, do you always do this?” I said, “No, never!” She said, “You don’t always pick up strangers?” I said, “No, I promise. I’ve never done anything like this before.” Well, to make this extremely long story a little bit shorter, I was in the car with the grandma (I forgot her name), her daughter, Andrea, and her son who was autistic, Andrew, for about 20 minutes. The whole time we were in the car, we talked about the Lord and how good He was. It was awesome! Because they always take the bus, they weren’t sure how to get to their destination. So I ended up dropping them off at the park and ride. By this time it had stopped raining and was just drizzling. I told them it was nice meeting them and talking to them and drove off. I got to work at 9:00 am and just felt refreshed. I really don’t know how else to explain it. My heart was joyful again and the bitterness was gone. I was filled with the Holy Spirit once again. The Lord opened my eyes to help me see that I was getting caught up in the things of this world. He reminded me that I have a greater purpose and that He’s the one I serve each day at work. Not my co-workers, not my supervisor, but Him. I serve the Lord in everything that I do and that shouldn’t be a task surrounded by bitterness, but rather with joy! Thinking about all of the tiny details that went in to creating my morning, just blew me away! To think that I had specifically prayed for an opportunity to serve and provide for the needy and that I asked the Lord to take the bitterness out of my heart and HE DID IT, was just awesome. Sometimes I forget that I have a relationship with the God of the freakin' universe. The God who set this whole thing in motion and should have more important things to do, loves me and continues to pursue me even when I'm a brat. He answered my prayer and met with me that morning. He filled me with the Holy Spirit. Nothing I did that morning was of my own effort and therefore I can’t boast in myself, but only in the Lord. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10. Be encouraged. Know that God wants to talk with you and He wants to meet with you.