I completed another semester of college at BYU Idaho and I
did pretty darn good! I have never really been that great of a student, so it feels great to finally be getting
good grades and to like my classes. I feel so blessed to be able to go to
school again.
This coming semester, I am going to be going to be taking
mostly classes for my major and working towards getting the last couple classes
for my associates done. Woot woot! Virtual high five inserted here. I am going
to be taking Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communications and Theory, Digital
Media (*Correction, I dropped this for Advanced Writing), New Testament and American Epidemic. Do you realize how awesome this
schedule is? Because it’s pretty darn great in my opinion, so you should too. I
am going back to the apartments that I lived in when I learned I was sick. I am
also going to be living with one of the sweetest girls ever Miss Josie cute
face. You can blog stalk her here if you would like. You won’t be sorry. If you
remember correctly, she is the one who sent me flowers and brightened my day
when I was sick. I think it is safe to say that she is more than awesome.
Another cool thing about this next semester is that my
little brother is going to be up there with me! This blows my mind more than
anything else. My little brother is going to college. Last time I checked, they
didn’t allow seven-year-olds into college, but they made an exception for him I
guess. That genius. It’s going to be way fun to have him up in Idaho with me
before he leaves on his mission next
year! Watch out ladies, he’s a looker. Needless to say I am feeling
slightly over protective of him, so I am going to have to show self-restraint
when it comes to allowing him to hang out with girls. I am going to have to
approve of them like a father with a shotgun on their daughter’s first date.
I have been working at a company called CFC Fences and Decks
for the last three summers, and I have really enjoyed it. I first started
working there when I was sick actually! It was a major blessing then to have an
actual job and to be able to take my mind off of being sick even if it was just
for a little bit. I work with mainly guys, but it isn’t bad at all. It has
challenged me in many different ways each year and I feel like I have come out
of my shell and grown quite a bit. I sometimes can be very shy and reserved but
I have been able to grow out of that a bit and be the spunky person I really
am. Well, at least some of the time. I feel really blessed to be able to work
there.
My boss is so great. He is a kind, hard working, honest man who shows
that he cares not only about his business, but his employees and customers as
well. He has been in my Stake/Ward since I was little so I have been able to watch
him over the years and he has always been a good man and great example. I feel
so lucky to have a great boss. My official title at work is “Administrative
Assistant.” Sounds fancy huh? Well that’s because it is. Basically I help out
in many different areas, but mainly in the scheduling department.
Any way, enough about work, onto what you have all been
waiting for…
How am I feeling you may ask? Well I shall tell you. I am
feeling pretty darn good for where I am. I have had multiple scans and tests
that say my cancer is gone and I have even graduated from seeing my Oncologist
every time to seeing a Nurse Practitioner. At first this scared me because I
have loved having Dr. Wallentine as my main doctor, but I guess it is a good
thing that I don’t need to see him as much. He is a good man. I mean, come on,
he cured me for goodness sake! Not a
lot of people can say that. The last check up I had, the Nurse Practitioner was
actually one of the nurses who had been in the chemo room when I would get
treatments! She went back to school and got her degree to become an NP, so it
was a pretty cool experience to see her again. Remember how I would say that my
port was really hard to find and to access? Well she was one of two people who
could actually get it on the first time. It was so nice to see a familiar face
and talk to someone who had seen first hand what my experience was.
So overall I am feeling better. I am still tired and
sometimes get a little woozy, but it’s less and less each day. I still do not
feel like I am 100% yet and that I can’t say that I feel fully rested ever. But
from talking to other people who have had similar treatments, they felt the
same way. I guess this is normal for the first couple years after treatment.
Mainly because after treatments, your body is starting over from zero. One man I
spoke with said that he felt the same way as me in that he felt off all the
time, wasn’t himself and felt exhausted all the time. Then one day, he woke up
and all that had gone away! This was like three years after treatments, so I
have a little while left to go until I reach that point. But oh how lovely will
that moment will be when it finally does.
I still struggle with some foods or smells, but I have been
trying to push past the initial yucky feeling and ignore it. This works most
times but sometimes I do have to put my head down for a second. It beats being
sick every other week though. I do have some effects from treatments, but those
hopefully will go away. One of those effects is kidney stones. I passed one up at school…This was not a
pleasant experience I tell you. Not at all. I do not recommend it.
Other than some little issues I am doing well. I am a very
blessed girl.
So that’s the Readers Digest version on how Rachel’s life
has been since the last blog post.
