Good afternoon! Oh where, oh where did the last few days go?! Well it’s official….chemotherapy is cumulative. The longer you go the worse it gets. I’m finally feeling a little better today. I fell asleep at 8pm last night and didn’t wake up until 8am this morning…..and I joked to Mr. LBB that I woke up with bed sores…..and I almost did. I don’t think I moved once all night and my joints were so sore. Getting up and around my limbs feel like jelly….I feel so disoriented and clumsy! It’s a cycle….I lay in bed for about 30 minutes then get up thinking maybe I can do something…..and then realize I can’t so I lay back down again. Compazine makes me sleep…..thank goodness…..I just try to sleep away the bad parts of my day…..but it seems like such a waste.
Here’s my buddy Boo this morning….watching Iron Man with me….her favorite movie (I have to fast forward through about 8 parts). She’s afraid of Disney movies (I don’t blame her…..most are pretty dark) but not Iron Man. Go figure.
I woke up and was craving Keedy’s breakfast. So even though Mr. LBB and Boo had already eaten they took me to breakfast. We sat at the bar and our waitress Debbie had just finished telling us how she paid our last breakfast forward to a sweet local family….and a few minutes later she came back with the hugest smile on her face that someone had paid for our breakfast AGAIN. I knew who it was this time…..our good friends the Millers who just happened to be there the same time as us. They are so sweet. We handed our money to Debbie again to pay it forward to someone else and she just laughed and laughed. We’ll see how long we can keep it going.
Try doing something unexpected for someone this week. Maybe they’ll pay it forward…..and then maybe those people will pay it forward….you never know!
Now for the big question of the day….what should Boo and I make with all these pretty felt balls?
XOXO,
Ashley
A cool felt ball necklace?????
Felt ball animals or people
Rest. You need it. It is so awesome that people are so kind. Hugs.
My girly and I like to see who can transform a sweet little felt ball into the iciest bug or the creepiest monster. i poke an eyepin or headpin through the center and it goes onto a necklace, or is dangled from a string.
An all colored felt ball necklace with a choose life hanging in the center. I am oh so like you in so many ways. These are so cool. I have to try new things of all kind and I am going to do these too. Hope you are having a much better day and praying daily for you. Love, Faith and Prayers be with you and your lovely family daily. How are things progressing?
They look like gumballs to me! Or a rainbow? Love you all!!!
PS Iron Man Is one of my favorites, too.
Kiki
I think Boo needs a gumball machine for her grocery store, complete with felt ball gumballs!
Garland…decorate the playroom with it.
Ummm… Helloooo??? They are SCREAMING “LORAX TREES”!!!!! 😉
How about one of those groovy, 70’s-ish “bead-curtains” for a doorway?
I remember the first time that someone unexpectedly paid for something for me. I was having a really rough day (I was 16 years old) and I stopped at the library to return a book that was overdue. A sweet elderly lady standing in line behind me reached around me and paid my late fees before I could even pull out my wallet. It was $2.25 and it was the best, sweetest present anyone could have given me. It touched my heart that someone would be so generous and thoughtful and she just asked that I pass it on. That day two little kids were bickering while I was working (I scooped ice cream) about which flavor to get because they could only afford one cone. I surprised them with the 2nd cone and the smile on their faces was priceless. It was totally worth beyond the $2.50!
My nurse told me that only the neuropathy was cumulative. I think she lied to me because I just finished cycle three and it was WAY worse and exhausting than cycle 1 and 2. It’s taken me four days to feel like getting up. I’m glad you’re feeling better. As for the felt balls, I LOVE the idea about the gumball machine for Boo!
OH my gosh, make anything with those super cute/colorful felt balls, they are GREAT!
my little ones are afraid of disney movies too. we will have to see iron man though. i love the pay it forward stories, so great!
Rest up, you need it!
As for the felt balls – they would make a super cool necklace, or glued to a headband…. bracelet… garland… eeek, now I want to make some felt balls 😉
And I ordered my Shine necklace after you introduced us to the Shine Project! Now I’m waiting for that and my Choose Joy necklace – I’m gonna be a pretty lady!!!
make a mobile!
SPRING CATERPILLARS
What about a seat cushion like this one:
http://www.solebich.de/bastelideen-aus-filz/75588
It’s in German but I think the pictures are self-explanatory.
Love, Susanne
We made with our children at church bracelets, rings and necklaces and their challenge was to give it to someone they haven’t spoken to at school or some random people at different place they went with their parents…I bet they can’t wait to share their stories of who they made smile…
My first thought was to make knecklaces with the felt balls. Or you could string them from fishing line or something similar and hang them on Boo’s bedroom door like those door curtains from the 70’s!
I would make some king of mobile or chandelier (I’m not sure what you would call it) that hung from the ceiling. I have seen some cool ideas that I have been wanting to try and those felt balls look perfect.
Glad to see you are feeling better after this last round. I would string the balls into a bracelet or necklace for Boo or a Belt. Have a great day!
Muppets are all the rage right now…what about Muppet Sock Puppets….the felt balls are great for eyes with a button sewn in the middle!
Always smiling….! 🙂
Hugs and hope you’re resting heaps :). I think you should make felted Easter Eggs :).
This!
Glue the felt balls to a pair of shoes! Or decorate the front of a t-shirt. If you get extra fancy, you can draw a tree for flower first, then add the “leaves.”
attatch them to the bottom of a shirt. a shirt that flares at the bottom so you can swing around and see all the balls.
I am so glad you said that about Disney movies! I thought I was alone in that one! They freak my little ones right out…we’ll have to give Ironman a try. 😉
On a more serious note…I’m praying for you daily. Right now I am asking God to give you His peace that surpasses all understanding and His comfort to you in this trying season.
“And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6b
I love what AmyAmata said about the mobile! Or what someone else said about the curtain. Anything your heart (and Boo’s) desires is perfect! That is what I love about our creative sides! We can do anything we want! Glad that you got to go out to breakfast today and I want you to know that I am praying for Mr. B as he is a wonderful hubs for you, our dear Ashley!
A rug!
I love reading all your posts and you have so much strength and love. Keep well and enjoy making whatever you feel like with those balls.
I am in Australia and this post always inspires me
Hi Ashley, I found your site through my friend Jody. I love you but don’t even know you, but that’s how it is in blog world! B/c of how Jody and I met, I went right to your cancer chronicles…I’m a girl that likes to get to the heart right away. Anyway, I just finished watching your Rite of Passage video for like, the 5th time (this time w/my daughter). I had never heard that song and now I can’t hear it w/o your sweet family popping into my head. Anyway, I shot your video to my mom who just completed 5 months of chemo. She’s praying for you, too. I am so sorry for all your loss, in missing your dad, and your sweet baby. I don’t have words to make it any different, but I get the “Choose Joy!” sentiment b/c that’s the only way I can live! We will be praying for all of you guys on that note.
And, as a side, our daughter didn’t like the Disney movies either….but she loved Nacho Libre, go figure 🙂
My mom and I bought this teeny tiny, had-to-be-in-her-90s, little old lady her lunch at Johnny Rockets when my daughter (now 3) was just over 12months. She had a tuna fish salad sandwich and a coke and she kept looking at my Remy to smile and coo at her. She even complimented her on her yellow fireman raincoat. She was the sweetest thing. When our check came, I asked our server to give me gets as well. I have no idea what her reaction was since we left before her meal was finished, but it sure put a happy bounce in our step all day. Since then, we make it a point to offer a random act of kindness at least once a month. 🙂 it just feels good.
As for the balls, the gum ball machine is brilliant. What about a lampshade or a rug for Boo? It could be your next brilliant tutorial!
You’re still in our prayer circle, Ashley. God bless you!
-Kristi
Ashley, I hope that you know how many people you have touched, and what a difference you are making! You inspire EVERY DAY. I have made a necklace inspired by you, that is posted for the auction. I hope so muchly that someone will want this little piece of me and that it will help benefit you, if only in some small monetary way.
There is a man that lives in our town who has the same form of cancer that he had beat previously TWENTY YEARS ago. In our town, he is a celebrity. He’s a gym teacher at an elementary school. He is a father of two and husband. He is an artist. He works so hard to keep our kids active every day, and every year puts on the biggest and best Halloween spectacle at his house, that families line up to visit He has painted amazing murals on buildings in our town that have brought the town recognition. He has fought and rallied for the local Relay For Life fundraisers every year. He fought his cancer twenty years ago, and now he fights it again. And because of him, our entire town BELIEVES! Our teachers and kids have flash-mobbed him, sang to him, we leave artwork on his lawn and rally together for him to raise funds. Well, Mr. White makes me BELIEVE, and YOU Ashley make me CHOOSE JOY. And I thank you for that. I will never forget your message, and I will never forget you.
Keep Smiling – the world needs you!!
🙂
~Lisa from Nova Scotia, Canada
Love the pay it forward loop y’all have going!! And tell boo that I am 27 and I have 2 kids and I am still afraid of every Disney movie!
A beautiful chapeau!
Sorry! I do not have any bright ideas for a felt craft
But, I do want you to know that I have jumped up mys for you – hope it helps.
Patricia
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Another vote for a gumball machine!! xxx
I also was thinking lampshade! For Boo’s playroom…either a hanging shade or a lamp would really look cool with all those fun colors! <3
Yes, you need the rest. It’s not wasteful if your body is telling you to do it! As for the felt balls – what about little friendship balls for your shoes – like the safety pins we had back in the 80’s. String them up using a fat needle and some yarn and tie them to your shoes. Your daughter can give them out to her friends/family too.
Ashley,
Rest up, you’re body is asking for it! I did find the effects of chemo to be cumulative as well. It’s funny actually, just last night my husband and i were talking about how when I finished my first round that I felt surprisingly well. Not what I was expecting at all. But after more chemo my body just could not recover. I used to sleep about 15+ hours a day, but that’s OK!! I always told myself that I could always do chores, bills, etc. later, that now was my time for me to rest. And each time you can, even if it’s for only a minute, try to find something you can smile about. It’s tough, I know, but smiling and laughter is healing. I remember my first day at the hospital, a lady with lung cancer telling me that. She said that each time you smile, even if you have to force yourself, your body releasing endorphins= feel good juice! I am sure you know this already because you we so amazing and you do reminds us all to choose joy. Just lie in bed, turn on the tv or some music, open up your blinds (when you’re not sleeping 😉 and rest up that body of yours!! I think about you all the time. I just know that you will be healed. You are such an inspiration to all about what life is about. We are all often guilty of not appreciating the small things in life, and you are such a great example of how you even if life sometimes gives you lemons, you should make lemonade with it. We are in charge of the path we take and our mental/spiritual well being. Ashley, keep it up. I love your posts, especially your blunt honesty and true candidness.
PS- I think the idea about using the felt balls as Lorax trees is pretty cool.
Sincerely,
Megan
I know sleeping and staying in bed seems a waste of time to an active person like you, but your body needs it, and you will make up for the slept time when you will be better!!!!! I’m sure!
I hope you will feel better soon… About the felt balls, my son loves to put them in his blender (a toy blender, that woks really well!) and then open the lid. They fly high !
Chemo is cumulative…I’ve been on it for 4+ years now (Stage IV breast cancer). I’m also a mom; to the most amazing 5 year old boy you’d ever meet. I’ll proudly be 35 in March–age is a PRIVELDGE, don’t ya think?! I stumbled across your blog and just wanted to let you know that you are amazing. Choose Joy…what a profound, yet simplistic statement. Thank you for the reminder.
xoxo
Jen
I just recently found your blog (came over from New Nostalgia) and just want to thanky you for writing. I am battling breast cancer and am also choosing to “Choose Joy” . I feel it is the best way to do battle!! Praying for you and all fighting cancer. I sleep alot after chemo also, but feel sleep our bodies way of restoring itself. We will have lots of energy again after we beat our cancers!! Take care. 🙂
You could stuff your bra with them!?! har har, i like the garland idea! or Sombrero tassles….cinco de mayo is coming up!! connect em to the back of your socks. 🙂
Late to the party but having had 6 rounds of FEC chemo over 18 weeks (in 2009), I know that sleeping is healing. You are not wasting the day, you are healing. Sleep as much as your body wants to and don’t worry about it. When the chemo is over, you will gradually start to feel normal again and then you can do more. But the recovery can take a year, so don’t push yourself. Listen to your body. It knows what it needs.