Loving life with Lymphedema

Summer, I love it in the PNW!  We get to see the beauty that 9 months of rain brings and it brings green!  Hikes in the luscious gorge, laying in a hammock between two birch trees, a picnic under an oak tree that is older than my grandparents. The other magical thing summer brings is the Nordstrom Anniversary sale.  Ok horrible segue, but I'm rusty, it's been a while since my last blog post.  With starting a new trial treatment for my cancer and numerous infections in Bertha I haven't been on my A game and have been living in pajamas for the most part. Now that my infections are under control I can finally reveal my finds from the Nordstrom Anniversary sale. My favorite so far are the Faux Leather Spanx Leggings.  You can find them in Regular and Plus sizes.  They have them in the black, navy, bronze and wine.   Although they are not on sale, currently some colors have been price matched, so keep your eye out! I sized up and I'm glad ...

Stylish sandals, these exist for a foot like mine?  Now that I'm out of the baby stage with my kids I am coming up for air and trading in my sport clothes and shoes for more put together outfits.  Well I'm trying . . . succeeding not so much.  I've begun to try to be a smart shopper and when I see something I know will be useful and practical I buy it.  The other day it was a LBD (little black dress.)  The sleeves were a bit longer to hide my wobbly arms, the waist and hem length were ideal!  My husband urged me to buy it.  "Do you know how many times you've gone shopping for a dress like this?!"  It was staring me in the face and I hesitated, well no more!!  OR maybe it's my excuse to just shop 'til I drop?  If my husband is endorsing it though it has to be right . . . right?! The other day looking around for sandals I could dress up during spring and summer, I came across the  Lace-Up Gladiator Sandal  from  Lan...

Literally!!  This winter I shared with you one of my favorite nail polish brands that didn't smudge or chip off when it came to the compression stocking ritual.  If you've read my blog you know my favorite color is black. Well I ran out of my favorite polish in black and randomly found an inexpensive black polish in my cabinet.  I already had my compression stocking and skinny jeans on for the day, so I thought "what the heck" I just needed nice nails for the night. To my surprise they lasted beyond the night and continued to last for days!! It's Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear.   I was amazed and thankful! I could easily run to the drugstore for polish instead of waiting the 2 days it normally takes, yawn! Side note: I wish there was a sarcasm font. I ventured out from my black and bought Coral Reef pink! Hello who am I!?  I think I was harnessing my little girl's energy when picking out the pink polish.   I usually do two coats, but have g...

. . . Or standing in the rain cheering my kids on during their soccer games.  Whether you call them rain boots, wellies or galoshes, living this the Pacific Northwest we call them a must have!  From the kids soccer games to running errands in a monsoon (which we call November-May now) they are a must.  For the past few years I've braved this weather with my Uggs or sneakers.  This year we had 70 days where the sun didn't shine for an entire day!  It may of peaked out for a brisk moment, but has been followed by clouds, rain showers, hail, thunder & lightening, sometimes all within the same day.  You name it, we've had it. Since basically no store carries any practical women's shoes past size 10, I am prisoner to online shoe shopping, crossing my fingers hoping they'll work.  I've been down and out with my back, so I had more than enough time to search for rain boots.  Researching, reading reviews I finally chose a pair, sent up a hail Mary a...

So when I was 19 and had no clue what real life was.  My 3 guys friends and I (I should note I was a tomboy not a floozy) headed to the beach for a day of relaxing, because that's what every 19 years old needs, right?!  We walked by a Birkenstocks store and I said to one of them, "I remember those, I think I want to get a pair!"  The goof of our group, not hearing my previous comment pointed at the store. "Birkenstocks!  Hippy shoes!" For fear I would be excommunicated from our group-ok maybe that's too dramatic.  For fear of being made fun of, I quietly walked passed the store with only the longing of Birkenstocks in my heart, not on my feet.  Oh 19 year old me, if I only knew being made fun of for shoes would be the least of my worries in life.  One of those three guys in now my husband and was sure to remind me of that day when I purchased my Birks. But seriously, how awesome is it that Birkenstocks have some back into style!  Or maybe they n...

So Nikes are my new faves if you couldn't tell.  I had a previous post on my  Nike Frees , sadly they have seen better days and are off to Nike's Reuse-a-shoe operation.  So instead of the dumpster the shoes that have served me so well will live another life as a shoe, a turf field or kids playground.  How awesome is that?! I finally replace them and try another style my friend raves about, the Nike Flyknit (an awesome eco shoe Nike created.)  I searched the sale section and found them- a pink and purple haze of color.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my basic black, but since I wear such basic color clothing shoes are one thing I'll go crazy with color.  There is nothing like that perfect pair of fun red dress shoes . . . but that's for another post. I was skeptical about the color, even though my heart loves a bright shoe.  When I wear bold items (for me) I feel like I have a marque arrow sign pointing to Bertha .  But, who cares, life ...

My closet is a rather funny sight.  All of my shoes lined up, the left ones look as if I just purchased them, while the right one look like I have not only worn it for years, but perhaps trained for a marathon in it, hiked through the Amazon and it got run over by a truck.  My poor left shoes, always thrown out before their time.  I imagine they have a support group and are learning to forgive me. I color coordinate my closet, which makes me laugh now that I have taken a picture of it.  From black, chambray, white and gray to my small section of color or patterns when I thought I needed to "branch out,"  I usually wear it once or twice.  A soft pink sweater for Easter or blue blouse for a baby shower.  Then sadly it remains in my closet until I realize it has actually collected dust where it has draped on the hanger.  Lucky for me I have a sister in law who can flaunt any color who gladly adopts my Easter and baby shower clothes. Just a heads ...

This should be the subtitle of my blog.  The two are so closely connected, but at the same time could not be more different.  I've had some people ask why I named my blog "Loving life with Lymphedema."  It's not a lovely thing at all to have.  To me it means that beyond the physical (and mental) battle of living with a chronic condition I still love my life!  Everyone in this world has issues and problems to deal with, they just all look different.  Some may look at me with sympathy, because of cancer and lymphedema.  When I can see millions of people who are in worse condition than myself.   Everyone's  life is individual. In a conversation with my son the other day (after he made a not so great decision about hitting his sister) I was trying to explain my job.  My job is to raise you to be a kind man who will leave the world a better place. Really isn't that why we're all here, to be kind and show love and try to leave this earth a b...

Growing up I was a toe head, I had bleach blonde hair which morphed into dirty blonde.  I had a horrific stage around 7th grade when I discovered Sun In.  Thankfully by high school I understood my hair a bit better and started to highlight it to try and savor the last of my blonde.  After I got married and realized the luxury of blonde hair was super expensive.  I came to the conclusion after years of highlights I was actually no longer blonde, but brunette.  I was excited for the change, my Mom did not take the news as well.  I dyed my hair brown around 2008 . . . still when we are in a store together my Mom will look right past me as I am frantically jumping and waiving at her, because "she is looking for a blonde." I have been all variations of brown.  After I turned 30 I noticed some grey's sneaking in, but nothing that a quarterly (more like yearly to bi yearly after the babes were born) trip to the hair salon couldn't cover.  I also can'...

My dog Penny is the sweetest Golden you'll even meet, however she is still a puppy.  I'll hand it to her, it's a very short list of items she has chewed that she wasn't suppose to.  The kids artwork, an ornament my son made (wow, what does she have against the kids!?) and the corner of a rug.  But the most devastating possession- my slippers.  My simple $14.99 Target slippers.  I called them my polar bear feet, because they were white faux fur . . and at times that's how big I feel!  Yes, you can laugh at that.  They even had a slit on the side, so I could slip them on over  Bertha . Most of the time when I find an inexpensive love item I'll buy two.  Why?  Why did I not do that with these slippers?  I am not a store shopper. What I mean is an all day shopping excursion leaves me exhausted.   Trying on clothes (that don't fit a lot of the time) for this lymphie sometimes bring me to tears . . . and sweating, ha ha!  I lo...

Having lymphedema I have pretty much had to say good-bye to pedicures.  (There is a greater risk for infection if you get cut etc.)  Which is ok with me, I've never been too keen on people touching my feet.  As for manicures, they were a thing of the past as well ever since putting compression stockings on has been a daily ritual.  No matter what I've tried it seems like my nails would chip or smudge after my morning exercise session of compression (hey I rhymed!)  My nails already looked like a kindergarten painted them before the smudges anyways . . . so nail polish and I parted ways and it was ok. I have never been very girly or cared too much about keeping my nails up, that's because I never knew how life could be with beautifully polished nails.  However, the day I found shellac my world changed.  With shellac I had gorgeous nails that didn't chip or smudge no matter how much I beat them up.  I could put on my compression stocking right aft...