Good News..I feel sick today!

Yes, you read that right. I had a phenomenal “outing” with my mom yesterday. We went to  Barnes Hospital in St. Louis and visited my AML friend Julie who has just begun her Bone Marrow transplant process AND Emma’s friend, Amarissa. Amarissa also happens to be the daughter of one of my friends, Debbie,  who I have known since Before the girls were born! Amarissa has scoliosis and had spinal surgery on Wed. She is doing great ( more on that in a moment…)! So, after we visited with friends, we ate outside at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped at Trader Joes and went to the kids Track Meet in Auburn. I don’t feel very good today; headache and sore throat. I went for bloodwork and was expecting them the tell me I need blood or maybe even admit me to the hospital. As it turns out-the nurse came out and told me my counts are the best they have been since I  got Leukemia! I told her I felt like crap and she said, “that’s great! It means your white blood cells are doing their job!” I learned this in the hospital but had forgotten that white blood cells working right=feeling crappy. White blood cells effected by Leukemia=feeling great but you could die. SO-I feel like CRAP and I am so excited!!

Now-Back to Amarissa. I had about an hour-long discussion on BRAVERY and what that means with a friend the other day. I said things like, “having cancer doesn’t make someone brave. That’s not a choice. HOW they LIVE with Cancer is what makes them brave.” There were many other deeper, more intellectual ideas thrown in from my very smart friend Debbie Parker, but for my purposes today I am going to stop there and let Amarissa give you the best example of BRAVERY I have ever seen. She is laying flat on her back from Spinal Surgery singing her heart out ( hand motions and all): “I WANNA DO LIFE BIG.” Me too, girlfriend. Thanks for helping everyone who reads this live bigger today than they did yesterday. (Apparently i can’t put the video on my blog so I am going to try to post it on facebook….please go there and watch!!)

BRAVE: Courageous, dauntless, perhaps a little bit daring, a person who is brave faces dangerous or difficult situations with courage.