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There is no doubt about the fact that cancer is one sneaky beast. Lurking in the darkness. Slowly creeping up through the shadows and rearing it's ugly head at any time.
I have always known this. I have lived this while watching relatives and friends face the disease before I did. But it is another thing altogether when cancer sinks its fangs into you.
I have been neglecting the blog so much over the last couple of years because truthfully, all has been relatively stable for me since my recurrence at the end of 2014. Life has been full and busy - just like I have always liked it. Work, photography, travel, family, pups, friends, cooking...fitting as much into each day as possible. This summer I was feeling the best I have in years. One of my bff's and I devoted ourselves to a morning bootcamp class before work and I faithfully attended for about 12 weeks. It felt so good to finally feel more like myself - energized, strong, and comfortable in my own skin. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly that can all change.
On September 15th I awoke around 2am to excruciating back pain...the kind that is impossible to describe unless you have experienced bone pain from cancer. I have felt this before and know it all too well. I felt like my back was going to shatter in a million tiny pieces. I woke Mike up and asked him to please try to rub my back in the hopes of some relief. To make a long story short, after suffering through the work day and barely getting through it, I ended up in the ER that night. This started a cascade of events which have led to where we are today. At the risk of skipping some details, but saving some energy, here is the "highlight reel".... ;)
-Completed bone scans, CT scans and spine MRI's the last week of September
-Learned on Sept 29th that I had progression in my spine at multiple levels which also caused my T8 vertebrae to be fractured
-Underwent high dose radiation treatments to my spine every day before work for two weeks which concluded on October 14th
-After initially only feeling some fatigue and slight nausea, I encountered severe side effects the week after radiation ended. My esophagus was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of radiation and the damage was unexpected and extremely painful. It was not a sore throat due to the radiation burn that you would expect. It was more like trying to swallow glass through a tube that had narrowed down so tight that even water caused ridiculous pain and coughing. It become so bad that I avoided food and liquid altogether; resutling in a 8 pound weight loss over 4 days, along with severe exhaustion and overall feeling like crap.
-Could finally start eating towards the middle/end of last week and have been feeling MUCH better!
So, that brings us to today. I went in this morning for a follow up with Dr. F, my oncologist. It is too exhausting to detail right now but basically, I thought he wanted to stay the course on my current treatment because it has been keeping the rest of my body free from disease and limiting the disease to my spine. I was taken by surprise this morning when he immediately stated he wants to switch my treatment plan completely to two targeted therapy drugs. I had been feeling in my heart that it was time to switch treatments but I guess I just didn't expect it today and I wasn't prepared. It unleashed a flood of emotions and uncertainties about the future....
What will these side effects be like? Will this change my quality of life? Will I be able to maintain my normal busy schedule? Will I feel nauseous? Fatigued? Lose/gain weight? Will this work and for how long? What if I have another progression soon and blow through yet another treatment option? What if it doesn't keep the disease limited to the bone? What will happen if this fails?
I have been beyond blessed these last 5 1/2 years to maintain a pretty great quality of life despite all I have been through. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to start to head down that road of jumping from one treatment to the next because things have stopped working. I don't want to hear, "there is nothing else we can do for you". I learned tonight that another young friend with MBC was just told those exact words yesterday. She has entered hospice and it's just heartbreaking.
The other tough part of today was making the decision to finally have my ovaries removed. My disease is fed by estrogen so my ovarian function has been medically suppresed since I was first diagnosed...first through chemo and immediately following through that lovely shot of Zoladex I receive every single month. Dr. F has always said that there is no real difference between the Zoladex and having my ovaries surgically removed. I told him to tell me point blank if it would better my chances for survival to have them removed and he said the research can't prove that. So, we decided to stay on Zoladex and not rock the boat by having surgery.
Well, today he finally said, "If it was me, I would have them out." That's all I needed to hear. I know it will be a pretty straightforward laproscopic procedure, and I am not worried about the surgery itself at all. But it just feels like another huge punch in the gut. Another glaring reminder of all that cancer has robbed from me. I feel like I have been dismantled piece by piece of all that makes me a woman - the loss of my hair, my eyelashes, my breasts, my ovaries, my ability to bear children. It is a pain that runs so very deep and having my ovaries removed opens that wound up...a wound I have tried so desperately to close up and allow to heal.
My new treatment plan will consist of two new drugs I will write more about later. They are extremely expensive so I have to wait to start them until I receive insurance authorization and I don't know when that will be. I will take an oral pill daily for 3 weeks and then have 1 week off, then repeat. The other drug is an intramuscular injection that I will receive in the good ole' tush. I will receive it every 2 weeks for the first 3 rounds and then every 4 weeks after that.
There are side effects of these new drugs that are highly likely, including a significant decline in my blood counts which will place me at high risk for infections as well as cause fatigue. There are many other possibilities but these are the most likely. I will have blood work completed every 2 weeks to make sure my counts stay in a range that is safe enough to receive the treatment.
So this is where we are, friends.
This is the plan until this disease starts crawling back up from the darkness and threatening to rock our world once again. But, with each attack it wages, I will beat it back down and chase it right back into the shadows...running it out of the sunshine where I choose to live my life.
Please keep me in your prayers. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and down right now, which is not a place I like to be. Please keep Mike and my family in your prayers. Spefically, please pray for wisdom for our medical team to help us to make the right choices for my care; for strength to endure whatever may come our way; and for faith and perserverance while remembering that we are in God's hands and are loved and cared for every step of the way.
I promise to write more soon and keep you all updated.
Thank you for always being the most incredible support system anyone could every ask for. It is appreciated more than you will ever know!
Back In The Saddle Again...
Well, nothing can hold me down for too long. :)
My surgery was last Tuesday with Dr. M and everything went as well as expected. We headed to the hospital around 7:15am, I was in pre-op around 8 or so...goofing around with the hubby to pass the time.
Surgery didn't begin until closer to 10am and the next thing I knew, I was groggy and attempting to wake up in the recovery room. Dr. M told the fam that everything went as well as it could have. He was surprised to discover an unusual amount of scar tissue that had developed on the left side. He said the mesh implant was well incorporated into my tissue, which is what is supposed to happen, but for some reason my body was still rejecting it. He cleaned out the scar tissue, removed the mesh piece, and replaced the implant with a new one.
Unfortunately, I did wake up with one of the lovely surgical drains that I came to despise after my mastectomies, but Dr. M assured me that it could come out in a few days. Dr. M is not only a talented surgeon, but an all around great guy and met me in his office on Saturday morning, even though it was closed, to take out my drain so that I didn't have to wait until Monday morning at my scheduled appointment. It means so much to me to have doctors that not only give me their personal cell numbers but are willing to see me on their day off just to make me more comfortable. I definitely felt so much better after that drain was taken out! Oh, and I should mention that he did a really great job aesthetically as well. I do have some minor post-surgical swelling but nothing compared to what was there before. My chest finally looks symmetrical again and back to the way it looked before this crazy swelling issue began in August.
Since the surgery on Tuesday, I have been taking it a little easy but overall I have been feeling really good. I really dread taking medicine of any kind and feel bad that my poor body has had way more than it's fair share of meds already. So, I took some Motrin the first day or so, but haven't taken any pain meds since. I have felt a little sore (mostly on my side where the drain tube was coming out of my chest), and definitely a little tired - but that's about it. I made sure to have a good chat with the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist prior to surgery about how awful my last experience was with nausea. They were really great and tried some different drugs with me and it really paid off because I didn't experience any nausea or vomiting after surgery at all. Woohoo! That's what I was most nervous about this time around.
I did get out of the house for Thanksgiving and spent the day at Momma Jan's with the fam. I was pretty worn out afterwards but it was nice to be with the family. Friday night I escaped the house again to see a movie with some girlfriends, and last night Mike and I went to see The Who! It was his bday gift this year and we had a great time. We were definitely the youngsters in the crowd but Mike loves his classic rock. :)
I am planning on getting back in the swing of things with my photography business this week and heading back to work in the clinic on Tuesday. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and well wishes. They truly do help ease my mind when I am heading into something like this.
As for what happens next, I will get my usual lovely injections this week and then the next big thing is SCANS! Ugh. The dreaded scans. Dr. F only ordered a bone scan and full body CT this time, so at least I get to escape the awful MRI machine. My scans are scheduled for December 19th - Merry Christmas to me. ;) The good and bad news (depending on how you look at it), is that I won't get my scan results until January 3. Good news - If the scans are great, it won't ruin my Christmas. Bad news - I have to wait a full two weeks to hear the news which could drive me crazy. Since I see my oncologist at a satellite clinic, he is only there once each week, and he is off on December 27, which is why we have to wait until the 3rd. This is obviously the most stressful and anxiety ridden time for us so I will definitely be asking for your prayers again.
Guess that covers it all for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was wonderful seeing so many people comment on facebook about what they were thankful for. I hope that it carries over to the other 364 days of the year because there is truly so much to be thankful for - each and every single day.
xoxo, Meg
A little peek at what I am most thankful for...
Surgery On The Horizon...
Just a quick little note to let you all know that surgery is tomorrow morning. I truly do appreciate all of your well wishes, prayers and good vibes. I need it and crave it and it calms my heart when I hear from you. Mike, Mom, Doug and I will head to the hospital around 7:15am and surgery will take place a couple hours later. I am not sure how long the surgery will last but I think a couple hours at the most. I am hoping that I will be back home and resting in my comfy bed with clean and yummy smelling sheets by late afternoon. :)
Thank you in advance for all of the support and prayers. Truly. I will update everyone when I am feeling up to it. If I don't get back to the blog before Thursday, I wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving with the ones you love.
xoxo, Meg
ps - Speaking of the one's I love....my best girl friends surprised me with a ladies night out last weekend and it couldn't have been more amazing. I truly have the best friends anyone could ever ask for.
Where Do I Begin....
It's often quite overwhelming and daunting to think about how much can go on in the span of a couple weeks....how many emotions I go through...how many highs and lows there are...and how my the status of my health can change.
The past few weeks have been nothing short of exhausting and overwhelming. There are times when I want to share with you all what has been going on but I don't even know where to start, and it makes me feel exhausted just thinking about trying to catch everyone up to speed. I apologize for that because I know you are all waiting for updates and want to know how things are going. Prior to my last post about the loss of my uncle, I was prepared to tell you about my trip to Vegas for my friend Nikki's wedding. It was great to see my old college roomies and have a few days of R & R - although I actually got a little extra time than I bargained for since I accidentally booked my flight home on the wrong day. :) So, I got a little extra fun in the sun and enjoyed not only the warm desert air and sunshine, but laughs with friends, good food, a great Cirque du Soleil show and even won a few bucks! I am grateful for feeling well enough to travel and spend time with friends!
After I got home from Las Vegas, it was back to full blown busy mode with 2 or 3 photo sessions each week, an amazing acoustic Ben Harper concert in Ann Arbor with Mike, doctors appointments & my monthly injections, support group meetings, and a fun fall baking day with girlfriends.
The past week or two so has been an especially difficult one for me. Of course, it all stems from the loss of my Uncle Kevin and all of the emotions that brings. Then last Wednesday, Mike and I were invited to an impromptu small dinner with Ambassador Nancy Brinker - the founder and CEO of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. My local Komen affiliate has been wonderful about listening to my concerns regarding how isolated the metastatic breast cancer community often feels in the midst of all the Komen events and fundraisers. I will write a more in depth post on this another time but the meeting was my opportunity to voice my concerns and opinions to Ambassador Brinker herself - and that's exactly what I did. I would say that dinner went well but it was the start of another emotional few days for me involving a lot of talk about cancer, cancer, cancer.
The following day, Mike and I left straight from work to be with my family in Grand Rapids as we prepared to lay my Uncle Kevin to rest. Thursday night and Friday were spent remembering what an amazing guy he was and what a great impact he had on so many people. As I said before, these things are even more difficult for me now that I am living with this disease. It makes me wonder - what songs will be at my service? Who will speak? Is this how my family will be talking about me? I am thankful that Mike lets me be free to talk about whatever I need to, at any time. So, as we left Grand Rapids and drove to Chicago, we talked a little bit about my funeral. No, I am not dying - and I don't plan on heading that way for a very long time. But the reality of this disease forces us to discuss these things sometimes. And contrary to what you may think, it actually makes me feel better to talk about it. It doesn't help when someone says, "don't talk about that" or "that's not going to happen". Let us talk about it because the thoughts go on in our minds anyways and if we are free to discuss it, it lifts some of that weight off of our shoulders. ("Our", as in those of us living with metastatic breast cancer and other incurable diseases.)
We arrived to Chicago on Friday night and I was looking forward to just relaxing with our good friends Beth & Ben - and that's just what we did. We were not only in Chicago to visit our friends, but we went so that I could attend the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network's Annual Conference. Although, it was great to meet up with some of my friends living with MBC, the conference was difficult for me emotionally. I think I will talk about it more in my next post, but let's just say I was hoping to feel encouraged, uplifted and empowered and instead, I left feeling emotionally exhausted, frustrated and very sad.
First thing on Monday morning, I found myself back in my plastic surgeon's office. Haven't had the chance to tell you guys, but the swelling in my left breast returned a few weeks ago. I know Dr. M told me that if the swelling ever came back, surgery was inevitable. Well, after discussing the issue once again, asking more questions, and shedding a few tears - I left my appointment with surgery on the books, as well as a decreased sense of confidence that this will be the last of these problems. Of course, I trust Dr. M very much, but there is just no telling what will happen after he opens me back up. He will be removing the mesh tissue that we think is causing all of the problems. He will also remove the implant and replace it with a new one. Not only am I worried about the usual side effects from surgery - infection, pain, and the fatigue that it brings over me - but I am worried about what will happen once that mesh is removed. I obviously needed that mesh the first time around because my skin wasn't strong enough to support the implant on it's own. I am now praying that somehow I will be able to successfully support the implant without the mesh, because if I cannot, it means more complications and more surgeries down the road.
I know that this is nothing major in the scheme of things and that things could be WAY worse. I get that -believe me, I do. But, for the first time last week, I finally hit a point where I just didn't want to try to find the silver lining. I didn't want to have a pity party, but I just wanted to be able to feel sad and discouraged and know that it was justified to feel that way for a little bit. I began to question many of my decisions. Did I do the right thing by having the left breast removed? Should I have just dealt with the mastectomy and foregone the reconstruction? Am I causing my body more harm than good in the long run by going through all of these surgeries and procedures? Once I let myself ask these questions, express these emotions, and work through my feelings, I felt better and could get on with my day.
So, surgery is now scheduled for November 20th - if I told you a later date, that's because there was an earlier opening so they are getting me in a little sooner. Please pray that everything goes very well and that my body can sustain this reconstruction without the mesh, and without further surgeries and complications.
Thanks for your constant love and prayers.
xoxo, Meghan
Answered Prayers....
As much as I love my doctors and modern medicine, I have to truly give thanks to the big guy upstairs for this latest news. Thank you God for hearing all of our prayers and allowing these steroids to do their job so that I could avoid surgery! My prayers - and all of your prayers - have been answered and I couldn't be more grateful. Surgery has officially been cancelled!
I called Dr. M's office last week and asked if I could move up my appointment from next Monday to today because I really needed to know if I was headed to the operating room or not. I was done with my course of steroids last week and could tell that they obviously helped decrease the swelling but wasn't sure it was enough for Dr. M to think that we could cancel surgery. Well, I saw him first thing this morning at 8am and he was extremely pleased with my response to the meds. He said all along that he really didn't want to have to operate on me and it posed all sorts of potential problems to go back in and open me up. So, when he saw me today he was very happy and said that the risks of the surgery don't outweigh the benefits right now. He said that there is a 90% chance that the steroids have calmed things down enough that my body won't have any other reactions to this mesh device he implanted. On the other hand, if it flares up again and I notice more swelling, I definitely have to have the surgery. But, we will cross that bridge when (and if) we come to it. As for today, I am just rejoicing in this good news and thanking God for giving me the break that I so desperately was praying for. I know I could have handled the surgery but I was definitely praying that it wouldn't be necessary. Now I will pray that my body starts to accept this mesh tissue as it's own and that no future problems arise.
These last few weeks have been filled with many tough moments for Mike and I. Any time something like this comes up with my health it reminds us of the demon we are fighting. Not that we ever truly forget but we got back into the rhythm of our busy lives and started planning for the future and didn't let this disease dictate each and every move. All of that comes to a screeching halt when a complication arises. This latest course of events brought a lot of emotions, fear and worry back to the forefront of our minds. It reminded us yet again that the future is unknown - for all of us. It reminded us that we need to be thankful for each and every day because we don't know what is ahead around the next corner. It reminded us that although we can try to plan and set goals for the future, this disease has the potential to rear it's ugly head and interrupt our lives at any given moment - and that is a hard pill to swallow. As much as I feel like I have handled this roller coaster pretty well since March 23, 2011 - there are many moments along the way where the sadness and despair could easily take me over.
I truly thank God for Mike every single day for riding this storm out with me and for being there for me in my darkest hours. I truly don't know how he does it - how he holds it all together for me - how he watches me break down and then he ever so gently puts the pieces back together and makes me feel whole again. In my heart I know that we were put on this Earth to be together and that if I have him, I can make it through anything. Mike - I love you through the depths of my soul in a way I never even knew possible until my ability to grow old with you was threatened to be taken from me. You are the light through this darkness and it is because of you that I can see my way to brighter days.
Thank you to everyone that has kept me in their prayers. I am so, so grateful for each and every one of you and so blessed to have the amazing support system that I have.
I am off to Vegas this Thursday to celebrate my college roomie, Nikki's wedding! I am so excited to spend the weekend with my Miami ladies and now I feel like I have even more cause to celebrate. Watch out Vegas---here I come!
xoxo, Meg
One of my very best friends (thank you, Meg!) encouraged me to sign up for these daily inspirational and uplifting emails back when I was first diagnosed. Some days they are about relationship drama or working out issues with friends, or something that doesn't necessarily apply to me. But, more often than not, I feel like the messages couldn't be more fitting and this one in particular really resonated with me this weekend. I think it is something we could all strive to be better at. I know I will refer to it often as I continue to ride out this roller coaster....
Well, things haven't really turned out as I had hoped since my last post. I am far too exhausted, physically and even more emotionally, to go into every detail - but let's put it this way - last Thursday was one of the worst days I have had since the initial days of my diagnosis. My ultrasound was completed but then when it came to having the needle aspiration, literally, all hell broke loose. The few hours spent at the hospital ended up being in a small exam room accompanied by my mom, 3 physicians, a radiology tech, and my plastic surgeon on the phone (who thankfully stepped out of surgery to call me and acknowledge my frustrations, and try to reassure me that he will take care of me and figure this out).
What set this entire drama in motion was when the tech informed me they wouldn't be doing the aspiration because there wasn't enough fluid - before the radiologist even looked at the report!!! I simply lost it...I felt blown off...I felt that I wasn't being taken seriously....I felt like I wasn't able to voice my frustrations...I felt angry, upset, furious...I felt like, once again, the exact department that told me nearly 3 years ago I was fine and had nothing to worry about after my initial ultrasound and mammogram, was once again failing me. I could have screamed....and nearly did. I was so angry and frustrated that I couldn't help but sob.
If I hear the words, "the chances are rare that this is anything serious" or anything to that affect every again, I will absolutely lose my mind. I am so sick of those types of words. Those words and that mentality from the medical community is how I even got in the stage IV position. I feel like the medical community failed me and that if they took my concerns seriously and didn't blow me off because of my age, I could have been diagnosed at a much earlier stage. I blame them for my stage IV status and I blame them for what will likely be my shortened life expectancy. So, to make a long story shorter - upon feeling those same emotions once again, I unravelled and voiced my extreme frustrations through an uncontrollable stream of tears. I ended up literally storming out of that room after we talked in circles and realized there was nothing else they would be doing for me that day.....needless to say, I didn't make it back to work as expected.
So, today (well, actually yesterday - now that it is 1am) it was back to Dr. M, my plastic surgeon, to figure out where to go from here. The ultrasound showed some fluid accumulation but not nearly enough to account for how swollen I have become. The swelling is actually in the tissues and cannot be aspirated. Dr. M is fairly confident that my body is having a reaction to the collagen mesh piece that he had to insert during the surgery in May to help support the left implant. The most likely cause of the swelling is an irritation or sort of rejection of this mesh piece, rather than my body recognizing it as it's own and absorbing it into my own tissue as intended. There is still the chance that the swelling could also be an infection, a rare lymphoma or some sort of lymphedema that has developed in the mastectomy pocket.
After discussing the various options, and after more tears of frustration, this is the plan....I will complete a course of steriods to see if that takes care of the swelling. I started the steroids today and will continue taking them for one week. Bring on the jitters, uncontrollable snacking, lack of sleep and all the other fun that comes with 'roids. ;) I will see Dr. M on 9/24 to see what the result of the steroids is. If the swelling persists, surgery is scheduled for October 4th. This will be an outpatient surgery to remove the collagen mesh tissue and to take out the existing implant and replace it with a new one. A sample of my tissue will also be taken at that time and sent to the lab to determine if everything is A-OK or if there is any sign of lymphoma.
I am obviously hoping that the steroids help, but I feel like surgery is a very real possibility this time. I once again broke down at my appointment today just out of pure frustration. I am just tired. I am tired of the constant issues and although I am aware that things could always be much worse, I just really wanted a break for awhile. I am grateful that these issues aren't directly cancer related and that I am still stable as far as my disease is concerned. Speaking of which - I will head to Karmanos tomorrow morning for my 8 week follow up. My oncologist, Dr. F is on vacation so I will just see Lynette (his nurse practitioner) this time and have to fill her in on all the latest and greatest drama.
I will obviously keep everyone updated and let you know what the plan is after my appointment with Dr. M on the 24th. Please keep me (and especially Mike and my mom) in your prayers. We are all just feeling overwhelmed, frustrated and exhausted - not only with this current issue but there are always other things going on too and it all piles up sometimes. I pray that whether I just need medication or if it has to be surgery, that it will be effective to deal with this problem and that there won't be any other complications or side effects.
Thank you for your love and support.
xoxo, Meg
ps. We had an amazing weekend up north at Torch Lake with dear friends and I am so grateful we had that chance to get away and decompress. It was much needed!
Our precious Goddaughter, Alice....
Sweet Miss Emma enjoying the gorgeous Torch Lake summer day!
Here, There, and Everywhere...
I guess once I had a taste of the sweet freedom after surgery, there was no keeping me down any longer. Ever since the nausea and soreness settled down, it seems like life has returned to it's usual hectic pace. No complaints here though - that's the kind of life that feels most 'normal' to me anyway. And I will always be grateful to be busy since that is a true indication that I am feeling good!
A belated Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing mommas out there! I was able to spend that day hosting brunch for the fam over at our house and then heading out to GG's to celebrate with her, my aunts, uncles, and cousins. There aren't many things I can say about my incredible Momma that I haven't already gushed about in previous posts. All I know is that I would be lost without her, and Mike and I are beyond grateful to have her in our lives and help support us through all of the ups and downs of the past year, in particular. She deserves much more recognition than one special day allows! We love you Momma! ♥
I am also so grateful to have some other pretty amazing women in my life too...especially my grandma GG, and my Godmother, my Aunt Carol. Happy Mother's Day to you both, too! Love you!
Last Monday, I had my first follow up appointment with Dr. M since surgery on May 4th. He was pleased with how everything looks and how I have been feeling. Of course, I had to badger him and ask if I can please get back to working out and doing everything around the house that I want to do. He gave me the green light to go back to the gym but I am not able to do anything with my arms for another 4 weeks - no lifting weights, no pushing, no pulling, no picking up friends babies....oops, might have cheated on that last one a few times! ;) It is driving me nuts to not be able to do what I want, but I am trying my best to be a good little patient and make sure that everything heals just as it is intended to.
Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of being invited onto the field at Comerica Park during the national anthem and first pitch at the Tigers Game. It was such a neat experience to join other breast cancer survivors as the Tigers honored us with their "Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer" game. I met up with some of my YSC friends there as well. We wore the shirts that the YSC team is wearing for the Race for the Cure - it's pretty astounding to see the ages of our diagnoses on our shirts!
I was able to capture a picture of myself on the scoreboard of me taking a picture of the scoreboard! ha-sounds confusing, I know. Can you see where I circled myself in the pic below?
Wednesday night at Comerica was a blast! Then first thing Thursday morning, I headed to Karmanos for my monthly injections into my abdomen. In addition to that, I was asked to participate in an interview with our local ABC news affiliate, WXYZ Channel 7. The super sweet and lovely anchor, Alicia Smith, interviewed me. She wanted to know my story and what I have been through, about why I wanted to help start a young women's support group, and why I participate in the Race for the Cure and what it means to me to have others support me there as well. It was a fun morning and one more way that I am trying to help raise awareness for young adults faced with cancer. I haven't heard when it will air but it's going to be sometime this week before the race on Saturday morning. Channel 7 will be interviewing me again live at the race with my entire team there with me!
Here I am with Alicia Smith, who couldn't have been any nicer and made me feel much more relaxed on camera.
The rest of the week and weekend was filled with many Kettering baseball games, a trip to Eastern Market for flower day, and spending time with two of my favorite munchkins - Emma and Alice. Luckily for me, I have some pretty cute models to practice my photography skills with. :)
I also wanted to mention that a group of my wonderful friends are at it again this year and have formed their "Meghan Malley Rally" team for the 3 Day For A Cure event in August. I am so proud of them and honored that they want to dedicate their time and energy to this cause in my name. They are not only focused on supporting me, but on helping to generate more awareness for metastatic breast cancer and the importance for further research to help find a CURE!
Their fundraising efforts are underway and if you like to bowl, and love to support a great cause, we have an event for you! Check out the flyer for more details and click here to visit their team page to either join our team or donate! I am not an official participant, but I will be out there attempting 10 miles each day, so come join us August 17-19!
Keep your eyes out for me on Channel 7 news this week and come join us Saturday morning at the Detroit Race for the Cure! It is a wonderful event! Hope everyone is having a great week and have a fun Memorial Day weekend!
xoxo, Meg
ps. - I would like to give a very special thank you to Dr. Schenden and his staff at Schenden's Medical Day Spa. Last week I was completely blown away by a letter that Dr. Schenden wrote me. He told me that some of his staff have been following the blog and have been touched by my story. Dr. Schenden mentioned that they knew one of the "30 before 30" items I wasn't able to cross off my list yet was to get a massage for Mike. Well, Dr. Schenden so graciously sent us two gift certificates for spa services at his medical day spa! One for Mike, and one gift certificate for me too! It was so unexpected and I am so grateful. People often do not realize the impact that one little note, or one kind gesture can have. I was brought to tears by this act of kindness and I am truly so thankful that such compassionate and thoughtful people are out there in the world doing things to help brighten someone else's day. Thank you so much to Dr. Schenden and his staff - It truly meant so much to us!
Oh, The Joys of Surgery...
I am super excited to be coming to you from my desktop computer, and not the laptop - which means I have peeled myself off from the couch! woohooo!!! It's the little victories, people. ;)
Friday was a bit of a doozy for me but thankfully, all in all, surgery went well and was a success. I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 am for all my pre-op stuff, went into surgery a little after 8am, and was out of surgery a couple hours later. Dr. M came out to talk to the fam and let them know everything went well. The surgery itself was fairly uneventful except for one complication on my left side. There was an area where my pec muscle had sort of collapsed and wasn't covering the tissue expander properly. It's so interesting to find this out because I knew there was something wrong with this particular spot ever since my mastectomy. I could not only see, but feel that something was different there but no one knew what it was. Just one more example of how we should always trust our intuitions about these things - we know our bodies better than anyone! Anyways, Dr. M had to implant some sort of synthetic mesh tissue to build that area back up and apparently over time my body will begin to recognize this as normal tissue and start to heal itself. Modern medicine is amazing, huh?!
Although surgery went well, my experience in post-op while coming out of anesthesia was just about the polar opposite. I truly felt like I was hit by a Mack truck! Every inch of my body ached and hurt, and it honestly felt like I didn't have an ounce of pain medication in my body. On top of that, I was extremely nauseous and thought I was going to vomit. This was nothing like my experience with the double mastectomy. I was a little nauseous after that but my pain was so well controlled - this was a level of pain like I had never felt before! To make matters worse, my post-op nurse was let's just say, less than friendly or compassionate.
I was extremely groggy but I remember telling this nurse that I was in a great deal of pain. Well, she proceeded to say that because I was also nauseous she would not give me any Vicodin until I ate. Next thing I know, she shoves a bowl of saltines in my hand and tells me to eat. Now let's think about this...I have not been allowed to eat or drink anything for 14 hours at this point which means my throat is as dry as the Sahara, I was just intubated with a tube down my throat for 2 hours which means I am very sore on top of the dryness, and to top it off, I am nauseous and don't have the desire to eat one morsel of anything! I remember trying to chew and swallow one of the crackers, and the nurse comes back and says, "Well, did you eat?" I then nod my head yes and she looks in the bowl and with disgust she says, "Ugh, you only ate one - I am not giving you the meds until you eat more." This lovely lady then decides to sort of lecture me and make me somehow feel bad that I can't take the medicine she wants to give me for anti-nausea because I have a major sensitivity to it and it bottoms out my blood pressure...."Well, you would feel better if you could take the Zofran.....Well, I can't give you the Zofran so that's why you are nauseous...." It was as if she thought I was just choosing not to take it to be a pain in the butt or something. So what does she decide to give me? Benadryl! So now she expects me to finish eating those crackers while I struggling with every fiber of my being to keep my eyes open. Ugh - it was not fun.
Thankfully, what seemed like an eternity later, they let Mike, Mom and Doug come back and see me. They had been in the waiting room worried since Dr. M told them they would probably be able to see me 45 minutes after surgery, but in actuality it ended up being 2 hours because of all this nausea/pain craziness. I knew as soon as Momma/Nurse Jan was back there with me, I would get the meds I needed and hopefully start to feel better. Well, the next thing I remember is literally feeling like they were pushing me out of the door. The nurse told Mike to go get the car, my mom helped me get dressed and I just remember begging her to let me get back in the bed. The thought of being transported in a wheelchair and riding in the car sounded awful! I actually don't really remember riding in the car or how I got in the house. I woke up a few hours later in my bed and was so grateful to be feeling a little better and not so, "I was just run down by a stampede of wild buffalo" feeling.
My "Hope" bracelet is so special to me. I have worn it each and every day since last April when my sweet friend Katie gave it to me. She also gave a similar one to each of our Beauts, and one to Momma Jan. I am always bummed out whenever I have to take it off for surgery or an MRI.
Saturday I felt pretty darn good. Of course, I felt a little sore but I wouldn't really even call it pain. Mike had a baseball tournament which I didn't want him to miss, so Momma Jan stayed with me and I also had a few sweet visitors come by to keep me company and bring me treats--thanks friends! And there was one sweet puppy who wanted to be lazy and spend lots of time next to his Momma, on his new doggy bed....
Sunday brought some tummy issues that I always seem to have after surgery. The anesthesia and pain meds just mess up my stomach and make me feel nauseous sometimes so that was the problem on Sunday. I stopped taking the Vicodin on Saturday to try to avoid it's effects on my stomach but I think it takes awhile to have your system bounce back from all of that. I pretty much didn't move from the couch and just spent the day watching trashy tv. :) Yesterday, I started feeling better but was still dealing with a little bit of an upset stomach, but today I am feeling much better! I haven't even sat on the couch once yet today and it's already noon - victory! :)
I am honestly bored to tears and am not used to laying around like this. It's a catch 22 because I am bored but don't feel 100% well enough to go do much. Sadly, Dr. M told me absolutely no exercise for 2 weeks. I seriously just wanted to walk on the treadmill or slowly ride a stationary bike but he said, "NO!" Then when I said, "well, I will be able to just walk around the block, right?" He said, "what don't you understand about this - no!" It was kind of hilarious with the two of us going at it right before surgery. So, I will feel much better when I can get back to the gym and start moving again. I see Dr. M on Monday and hopefully he will cut me a little slack then. :)
In other news, I got my port out! Woohoo! That was a bit of an unexpected surprise. Dr. F told me last September when chemo was over that I could get it out but I was honestly worried that I would need it again for more chemo or something. After my good scans in February, I felt a little better about not needing it but I was still apprehensive. So, after my appointment with Dr. F a few weeks ago, I decided to just go for it and get it out. I figured that it would be nice for summer time to not have this big thing popping out of my chest, and Dr. F reminded me that it's a source of infection so it's smart to have it out. I scheduled outpatient surgery at the end of May to have it removed. Well, during pre-op while I was talking to Dr. M, he said, "Well, we aren't using it today so why don't I just take it out. I do it all the time!" Bonus! One less surgery to worry about. So, although my port never really bothered me and I didn't even mind it too much, I got rid of it and it's nice to have one extra foreign thing removed from my body. Now my little scar just needs to heal up and I'll be good to go.
Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers while I went into surgery and have since been recovering. It always boosts my spirits to hear from people and I appreciate it so much!
In other exciting news...this downtime has allowed me to concentrate more on my new little baby, "Meg Malley Photography". A few weeks ago, I officially registered my business with the county and I have decided to take the plunge into being a small business owner. I started a Meg Malley Photography Facebook page over the weekend to post my latest work...feel free to check it out here -http://www.facebook.com/MegMalleyPhotography
And of course, you can see my full website at www.megmalleyphotography.com. I am looking forward to devoting more time and attention to this part of my life because I truly enjoy it so much!
Hope everyone has a great week!
xoxo, Meg
Choosing My Own Path...
Do you ever sit back and take a minute to reflect on exactly where you are in your life? Not in the sense of a geographical location, but where you are spiritually, psychologically, emotionally. How did you end up there? What events throughout your life led to this exact moment? Where would you be if you chose the other path when you came upon the fork in the road?
We have all ended up exactly where we are based on a series of choices - and those choices have likely been influenced by a number of different people and circumstances throughout our lives. I think one major point of this crazy thing called life, is to learn from those choices - to reflect on where they led you - and to decide if that is a path you should continue to travel down, or perhaps it is time to venture out and try something new.
Are you truly happy in this moment? If not, what can you do about it? Are there steps you can take to actively participate in the direction your life is heading? Or are you willing to sit back and watch it all unfold without attempting to change the angle of your sails and steer yourself towards what brings you joy in this world?
The only way that I have found to live with true happiness while facing this disease, is to try to turn it into something positive. To try to somehow make a difference - to educate, to support, to befriend, to create awareness, to speak out. If I simply sat back and wallowed in self-pity about this hand that's been dealt to me, I would be miserable. What good would that do for anyone? For me, Mike, my family, and my friends - it would suck everyone down into a deep, dark hole. Instead, I have tried to do what I can to turn this situation around and make something good come from it.
I am grateful that New Balance and Chris Pearson, the director of the Mid-Michigan affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure gave me the opportunity to share my story last Sunday at the Race for the Cure in Lansing. I nervously stood on the steps leading up to the State Capital building and awaited my introduction. Just moments prior, I almost lost it as the opening ceremonies began and young dancers performed in front of the crowd. As I watched my mom and saw the tears stream down her face, I was reminded of how hard this is for everyone. But, I knew it was important that I take this opportunity to share my experience and try to make some kind of positive impact.
As Mike and I walked up to the podium, I felt a wave of nervousness wash over me. But after bobbling the first few words of my speech, I took a breath and simply spoke from the heart. I shared my story and emphasized what I believe to be the most important aspects of my journey - that it is a myth that young women are not affected by breast cancer, and that there needs to be more research and awareness for metastatic disease because no one dies from breast cancer unless they become metastatic. Research investigating why cancer cells metastasize and how to stop this from happening are the only ways we will actually find a true cure!
Thankfully, I was able to get through my entire speech without breaking down. That was one of my goals because once those flood gates open, good luck getting them closed for awhile! I want to thank Mike for literally and figuratively always standing right by my side, no matter what. There is no one I would rather travel down this road with than you! Thank you to my family and friends that came out to support me and to all of you that sent me well wishes and good luck vibes from afar. I am so thankful that I have received such amazing feedback from this - especially from my friends in the metastatic breast cancer community. I truly wanted to represent them well and speak on behalf of every single one of them.
If you would like to see my speech, please click on the link below. Looks like I can cross this one of my bucket list..."Share your story in front of 5,000 people!"
Here are a few pics from the day that Kyle captured...
I don't know what made Mike happier - listening to me speak or meeting MSU's football coach, Mark Dantonio and hearing him mention me in his speech to the crowd.
I love all of you guys - thank you so much for coming! Sorry we missed Aunt Erin, Mary, Melis, Brad and Payton in our group pic.
Well, tomorrow at 6:30am we are due to check in at the hospital for my next scheduled surgery - never a dull moment around here I guess. :) My surgery will begin at 8am and will last a couple of hours, followed by a couple of hours in recovery before I am able to head home. This is (hopefully) the last major step in my reconstruction process. Tomorrow, Dr. M will open up my scars from the double mastectomy and he will proceed to remove the tissue expanders and replace them with implants. He will then make some fine-tuning adjustments to ensure a proper fit, size and shape. Dr. M has informed me that I will likely be sore and down and out for a few days. I will have strict restrictions to avoid any lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling for 2 weeks at a minimum, and no returning to work for at least 4 weeks. Thankfully, momma nurse Jan and Mike will be here all weekend and into next week making sure that I am doing just fine. I am expecting surgery to go smoothly and that I will have an uneventful and speedy recovery.
I would greatly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers as I head into surgery tomorrow - not just for me but for my family as they anxiously await the outcome, and for my medical team that will be taking care of me. Thank you all so much for your enduring support and we will be sure to update you soon once I am out of surgery.
xoxo, Meghan
30 Before 30 - A Wrap Up...
Hi-ya friends...the Malley household is hustling and bustling like the good ole' days lately. Mike is in full swing with the baseball season (pun intended...hehe), I have officially started a new business venture (which I'll fill you in on soon), and I have been super busy juggling all sorts of other things like meetings about returning to work and getting tons done around the house before my next surgery...which is in 8 days! yikes! It finally feels like we are back to a little bit of what life was like before I was diagnosed - full schedules involving both work and play, cooking & eating dinner together every night (and at the kitchen table - no longer eating while laying on the couch or in bed), and just enjoying feeling well enough to tackle all sorts of things.
I realized that my 30th birthday came and went without me ever wrapping up my ambitious "30 before 30" list. I will admit - I didn't accomplish everything. But I will say, it was a valiant effort and I will definitely continue to cross off the rest of my list as the year progresses. Here is how I fared....
I have some pretty big things coming up in the next week. This coming Sunday, April 29 is the Mid-Michigan Race for the Cure in Lansing. I am proud to be the "New Balance Honorary Survivor" of this years race and I will be speaking at the opening ceremonies on the steps of the Capital building. I am using this opportunity to not only share my story, but stress the critical importance of further research in the field of breast cancer. I think that Komen and other organizations have done a great job of spreading awareness - but it's time for more! We all know what a pink ribbon means. Now it's time to really step up our game and put our money where our mouth is and find a cure! I am nervous to be speaking in front of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people but I feel like it is my responsibility to advocate for myself and the other men and women that are battling for their lives right along side me. Publicly speaking about myself and what I have been through is always an emotional thing for me so I am grateful that some of my close friends and family members will be there to support me. That truly means so much to me. The opening ceremonies begin at 1pm at the Capital in Lansing. If you would like more information, want to join our team, or donate to this cause, please click here.
The next big thing on the agenda after the Race for the Cure is that I will be having surgery next Friday, May 4. This is the next step in my reconstruction process. The surgery itself should only take a couple hours and I will come home that same day. I will share more details on that next week but needless to say, undergoing surgery is always an anxious time. I will once again be asking for all of you prayer warriors out there to start storming the heavens again.
In the meantime, here are some snapshots from my iphone to show you what I have been up to lately....weekly trips to the farmers market, lots of Kettering baseball games, new tasty recipes, juicing my veggies, roughly 30 or so pills every morning and then again at night, zoo trips with friends, doctors appointments, and babysitting our sweet Goddaughter...life is good!
Hope you all have a great weekend and that I see some of you on Sunday at the Mid-Michigan Race for the Cure in Lansing!
xoxo, Meg
My blog to keep you all
May 2020


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subset: commoncrawl


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How Rapid Detect Drug Testing Services are Essential
The developments come with different substances which have different effects and has been witnessed in the today's living. This include the many hard and soft drugs which react with the body differently. There are those drugs which the society is attempting a lot to do away with them since they result in not only affecting the health and deaths but also the entire society through destruction. With that, the scientific inventions have resulted in the production of the rapid detection drug testing equipment which is aimed at instantly determining the levels of the drugs in the bloodstream. The rapid detect drug test has been employed in every sector of life especially the working environments and the public roads to curb the over-consumption of the drugs.
There are many ways through which the rapid detect drug tests has helped the society to develop well. The rate at which the use of the drugs has declined currently in the modern generation because of the many factors highlighted below which are essential to be considered. The working areas where people depend on for their livelihood have had the rapid detect drug tests to determine workers who work while drunk. At times it might be hard for one to quit the use of the drugs but the moment of endangering the job opportunity and being fired, one has to think twice and reduce the rate at which the drugs are consumed.
To add on that, the drug testing facilities have enabled improved health conditions among the individuals. This is because everyone more so the victims will be avoiding the consumption of the drugs since they will be caught when detected with the rapid detection equipment which helps in improving the health conditions. It is something obvious that not being sober affects the stability of a person and will end up hitting objects and the rounds causing injuries. The drug testing has played a major role in saving and sustaining not only the human body from injuries but also the assets from being destroyed.
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I have had the privilege to work on games such as Diablo III, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, and League of Legends. I had the privilege to work with a tight-knit and talented team at Airship Syndicate on Battle Chasers: Night War, which shipped on multiple platforms between 2017 and 2018. I specialize in hand-painted low-poly 3D, concept art, and illustration.
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I look forward to improving ourselves together. There are a lot of problems with the world but I believe that it is not beyond our power to make our immediate surroundings a bit brighter.


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Certified Natural 4.2CTS VS F Diamond Emerald 18K Solid Gold Floral Cluster Earrings
- Description
Gorgeous 18K solid gold 4.19CTS diamond and emerald floral cluster earrings. These earrings feature a stunning 3D floral cluster design. The design is very fine, with detailed work throughout. These earrings are covered with diamonds so they sparkle with even the slightest movement. These earrings are set with 3.21CTS of large round brilliant cut natural diamonds and 6 round faceted natural untreated emeralds adding up to 0.98CTS.
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What could be better than a beautiful setting, a smiling, cooperative baby and a parent who helps facilitate the day? This session from Jennifer Dell captures some sweet smiles, cute styling, and a bit of Texas personality. This is a great example of where selecting just right clothes and details, creates a visual harmony and makes a simple composition sing. Please leave your comments for Jennifer below.
Message from Jennifer:
Happiest Little Cowboy: Last week I drove up to Austin to photograph probably the happiest 9 month old I've ever met. When I found out that his family owned the Rio Bonito, a gorgeous resort in Wimberly Texas, I was beyond excited! They had animals and gorgeous scenery and the early morning light was to die for. To top it off, Carter was so easy going and I don't think he quit smiling the entire time. We started off shooting by the Blanco river, which runs right through the property, then had some time with Beautiful (the resident pony) by the end of the session we had made quite the mess so Carter got his first outside bath! Another part about this session that I think made it so wonderful was that Carter's Mom was really into helping me plan out all the details all the way from what he wore to the activities and props that we used. While I love to stylize sessions, I can't do it without the awesome parents that I work with helping with little details. It's the little details that helps to unify the session!
// Jennifer Dell Photography //


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Rhetorical analysis of George W. Bush speech of Operation Enduring freedom in Afghanistan Address to the Nation
The paper is about analyzing the speech of George W Bush "Operation Enduring freedom in Afghanistan Address to the Nation" in a rhetorical way. Using ethos, pathos, logos along with the occasion, audience, purpose and subject of the speech.
Here is the link to the speech the rhetorical analysis has to be about: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911intialafghanistanops.htm
its a speech by George W. Bush


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One of New Zealand's foremost DNA scientists is cautioning against accepting the word of DNA testing companies that claim they can pinpoint a person's racial background, after one told Native Affairs newsreader Oriini Kaipara she had "100 per cent Maori" DNA.
Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith from the University of Otago is an expert in biological anthropology, specialising in the origins of Pacific peoples.
She told the Herald testing companies greatly overstate how much scientists know about the human genome. Their knowledge is nowhere near comprehensive enough to say a person has 100 per cent Polynesian ancestry.
But she was not surprised by the company's findings, based on the limited understanding scientists do have of Polynesian DNA.
Matisoo-Smith's lab at Otago has carried out full genome analyses of around 150 Maori people. Many of them had "minimal to zero European admixture".
DNA markers showing Polynesian ancestry are mostly found via a process of elimination, through looking for markers that are not found in the genetic makeup of European, Asian or African peoples.
But most of those markers, Polynesian or otherwise, haven't been identified.
"I'm always extremely concerned about those kinds of analyses that tell you you have 'x' percentage of ancestry from any particular place - because we know that's just not the case," Matisoo-Smith said.
"The human genome is variable across the world. It's not made up of discrete units that we see in particular populations as percentages."
Ultimately, all human populations came out of Africa - as Matisoo-Smith has previously pointed out, humans left Africa about 60,000 years ago, while Maori came to New Zealand at the last stage of that journey a mere 750 years ago.
The difference between the DNA of ethnic groups such as Maori or European was "infinitesimal" compared to the DNA all humans have in common, making race an "imaginary construct", at least when it came to genes.
"There is no such thing as a pure population - there has been a mixture throughout our entire human existence. When people define what is Maori or Polynesian or whatever - there is no such thing as a 'pure' anything - we're human. We carry DNA from Neanderthal, Denisovan and other ancient hominins."
Many online commenters took issue with using the outdated Western concept of "blood quantum" to define how Maori a person is - given that being Maori is defined by whakapapa. Matisoo-Smith agrees.
"Maori have whakapapa and they know they are Maori...they don't need the DNA to provide that evidence. DNA contributes to who you are but it does not make you who you are. Social context, whakapapa, makes much more of a contribution."
Racial purity and blood quotients have historically been used in New Zealand to denigrate Maori or deny them their rights.
In 2006, then-National Party leader Don Brash said there were no "full-blooded Maori" left in New Zealand, and that they should not receive what he called "special treatment" as a distinct ethnic group.


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The House of Wellness TV – Season 3, Episode 36 (Hawaii)
The House of Wellness – Season 3, Episode 36
Join us as we bring you part two of our Hawaiian escape to uncover the secrets of health and wellbeing in the land of Aloha. Luke Darcy takes us inside the Hawaiian home of AFL legend Paul Roos and his wife, Tami, who share how their inspiration from island life, shapes their unique leadership retreats. We say 'Namaste' to Rachael Finch, as she finds the Hawaiian balance of body and mind or 'Lokahi' in a paddle board yoga lesson. Hinsey comes out of his shell as he heads to the majestic Turtle Beach to catch a glimpse of the endangered Green Sea Turtles, while Jo visits Hawaii's Queen's Medical Center to discover the ground breaking surgery performed by the intuitive Da Vinci robot. And don't miss Luke Darcy as he tries to catch a break on the infamous Waikiki beach. Can he hang ten or will it be a total wipe out?
Cast: Luke Darcy, Jo Stanley, Rachael Finch and Luke Hines, with Gerald Quigley.


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The course contrasts the technical and commercial differences between LNG and natural gas to point out benefits and constraints that arise from the LNG option. A description is given of the elements in the "gas chain" which apply to LNG and of drivers that would lead to optimisation of design and commercial operation. The range and role of relevant parties to a successful LNG project are described. Regulatory authorities are also concerned with LNG safety, which is covered in detail. Ways and means by which a new entrant to a proposed LNG project may ensure an investment that meets expectations.
Actual case histories will be used frequently to demonstrate learning points. Case histories and exercises will deal with examples taken from international and local experience.
An introduction to terminology and practical "rules of thumb" should further enhance the participant's ability to immediately contribute to a successful gas project – and to ask the right questions to test and improve the viability of a proposed project.
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Date of Training
27 May 2019Oil & GasOil and GaspetroedgePetroEDGE Training ProvidertrainingCourses
Pumps, Compressors, Turbines & TroubleshootingAbout This Course This course is designed to provide delegates with a detailed and up-to-date overview of the fluid mechanic fundamentals and operating practice of pumps, compressors and gas & steam turbines. Upon the successful completion of this course, participants will have acquired the pract ...
MY 28 Aug 2019
Gas & LNG Contract NegotiationsAbout This Course This world class training course is uniquely Asia-focused. It immerses course participants in a dynamic negotiation process based entirely on real life Oil, Gas and LNG negotiating situations, many of which have been experienced directly by the course Trainers. It targets profess ...
MY 21 Aug 2019
Petroleum Risk Analysis & Portfolio ManagementAbout This Course The Petroleum Risk Analysis and Portfolio Management course offers tools and practical techniques to identify, analyse and manage uncertainties and risk in exploration and production projects. Learning is reinforced by working on case material to explore uncertainties and risks ...
MY 20 Aug 2019
Predicting Reservoir Distribution, Geometry & QualityAbout This Course The course aims at improving the conceptual geological understanding behind predicting presence and quality distribution of potential reservoirs. The training material is derived from a variety of geological settings and comprises a mix of petroleum geology case histories and te ...
MY 19 Aug 2019
Technical Report Writing and Presentation Skills for Engineers and Technical ProfessionalsAbout This Course Technical Report Writing and Presentations Skills for Oil & Gas Professionals focuses on unique needs of technical professionals who write and present for both technical and non-technical readers. This 3-day separately book-able workshop will demonstrate on how technical profes ...
MY 13 Aug 2019


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Giving evidence to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee of the Scottish Parliament today (15th June 2017) Anthony Horan, Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office claimed; "a culture of fear prevents people from being open about their faith."
Mr Horan who was giving evidence to MSP's on the topic of bullying and harassment in schools, with an emphasis on anti-religious prejudice. The Committee heard evidence from a number of people, including representatives of the Church of Scotland, Muslim Community, Jewish Community, and the Scottish Secular Society.
In his comments to MSP's, Mr Horan said, "My overriding concern about this subject is the culture of fear that runs right through society and which makes people feel, at best uncomfortable, and at worst totally frightened to be open about their faith. In my written submission to the Committee I provided testimonies of a number of young people who had experienced anti-Catholic prejudice in their school, most of it relating to the Church's teaching on abortion and marriage. One student even dropped a subject to "avoid the harassment."
Mr Horan added, "There is an alarming level of intolerance being levelled at some young people simply because they are Catholic or because they hold a particular view that others may disagree with. This is not a culture of tolerance and respect. We have to be very mindful of the need to tackle anti-religious behaviour and be wary of creating a hierarchy of rights in relation to the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010. We cannot allow some to trump others. It must be all or nothing."
"There is also the sad reality of an increase in religious hate crime in Scotland, with a recently published report revealing that religiously aggravated crime is at an all time high. Within that, a deeply worrying and disturbing 57% of charges are as a result of anti-Catholic behaviour. Compare this to the percentage of charges relating to Protestantism (27%) and Islam (17%) and we are left with an undoubted sectarian problem that needs to be addressed."
Mr Horan then concluded, "If we are to build a culture of tolerance and respect for our young people we need to take on board the hard facts which reveal to us the reality of hate crime in our country and allow people across all protected characteristics to feel free to express themselves and to be open about their faith."


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- This hotel is in a rural location
- Closest City: MOUNT PLEASANT
- Distance from the Hotel: 0.75 MILES
- Local Time Zone : GMT-6
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
Dallas Lovefield Airport (LOV)
Nearest Subway Station
Nearby Businesses
Prieferts Manufacturing
Pilgrims Pride
Performance Trailers
North Texas Community College
American Electric Power
Wal-Mart Supercenter
Home Depot
Dekoron Wire & Cable
Big Tex Trailers
What's New
In keeping with the true Texas culture that dazzles the hotel's guests, Mount Pleasant, Texas is home to the Legends and Lawless Modern Western Museum. During your stay, make sure you go see some of the memorabilia and their huge John Wayne collection.
Be sure to dine at one of the best restaurants in Mount Pleasant, Texas. The hotel's guests rave about the legendary burgers at Randy's Burgers &. If burgers aren't your favorite, be sure to try the incredible sausage links from Pittsburg Brand Hot Links.
Don't Go Home Without
Mount Pleasant, Texas is known to some as the "Sweetest Town in Texas," and for good reason. During your stay, you're going to want to try some of the sweets at one of the local shops. Take the "Sweet Tooth Tour" to sample some of the best treats in town!
Must See
The hotel's location in Mount Pleasant, Texas places our guests near seven different lakes. You can go swimming on Lake Bob Sandlin, Welsh or Monticello or spend the morning discovering why Mount Pleasant is considered the "Bass Capital of Texas."
Must Do
We are located close to some of the best golf courses and lakes in the Mount Pleasant, Texas area. The hotel's guests can discover a scenic world of beauty at Bob Sandlin Lake and Shadow Lake and the Mount Pleasant Country club golf courses.
Theme Park
Six Flags
Distance from hotel: 120 MI/ 193.12 KM West
Race Tracks
201 Go Kart Speedway
Distance from hotel: 30 MI/ 48.28 KM East
Paris Motor Speedway
Distance from hotel: 48 MI/ 77.25 KM North
Sports Venue
Heritage Park
Distance from hotel: 3.87 MI/ 6.23 KM North West
Museum or Gallery
Distance from hotel: 10 MI/ 16.09 KM North East
Sightseeing Tours
Distance from hotel: 120 MI/ 193.12 KM North East
Movie Theaters
Mount Pleasant Cinema Five
Distance from hotel: 2.1 MI/ 3.38 KM North
Park Details
Titus County Park
Distance from hotel: 4.5 MI/ 7.24 KM North


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Book of Angels Vol 9: Xaphan
According to the Dictionnaire Infernal, Xaphan was one of those misbegotten fallen angels who rebelled against God alongside Satan. He is a demon of the 2nd rank who has a supposed creative and rather inventive mind, coming up with the idea to set fire to heaven, before he and the other apostates were speared down to the eternal bowels of fire. He carries a bellows as an emblem, but, poor bugger, must fan the flames of the abyss with his mouth and hands. He is sometimes known as the Angel of Invention (just for wanting to burn down heaven..?, now every damn arsonist will be claiming genius).
I've also heard it whispered that Xaphan himself is rather shy and self effacing. Thus, if you ever encounter him and find him to be glum and unresponsive, be nice, the poor thing has spent eons blowing air into the fallen Archangel's belly and involuntarily bursting into flame whenever he tries to talk, not to mention having to passively listen to many other demons' jibes and jokes about having to fan the fires for eternity with his mouth. He may even regret the untold lengths of time he has been without wings and God's gracious prescence. All in all Xaphan probably just wants some half decent company who can show him round the playground he was never able to explore himself since bypassing it entirely on the way to hell.
On the flipside, '…one should never mistake a shy & wary nature for weakness, or take such characteristics for granted, this is game-play fit only for idiots who don't know they are idiots, pretend zen monkeys masquerading as rice stick charmers and the like…' (as quoted from The Diabolical Book of Idiocy as Uttered from a Nebulous Etheric Heretic, 2012).
Lastly, you really shouldn't be reading these things, it's terribly dangerous, since calling an Angels Name (fallen or no) is asking this angelic energy to make itself known to you. Glad I dropped that in at the end. The song below will however clear the decks of any and all stickiness related above.


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Four schools were delighted to be part of Digicel's donation of desks, cabinets, chairs and whiteboards from Digicel head office on Monday 12th March. These schools includes Tonga College, Takuilau College, Tailulu College & St Francis of Assisi and was picked up on Monday.
Each schools were contacted by one of our staff with schedule time for pick up from Digicel Head Office. part of Digicel's recovery from Gita, we have been super supporting of rebuilding Tonga to its normal standards and helping to develop education in Tonga. This was not the first donation Digicel has made to schools in Tonga, they also donated waters & stationery supplies to 5 primary schools in Tonga couple of weeks back.
Principals from each schools thanked Digicel for their kind donation which covers what they need while recovering from Cyclone Gita.


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Electric rope shovels offer the lowest cost-per-ton loading solution for long-life mines. They can load more material – more efficiently and more cost-effectively – than any other loading tool on the market. The electric rope shovel's immense payload capability, low maintenance requirements, and high reliability make it Caterpillar's lowest total-cost-per-unit loading tool available.
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The investment in an electric rope shovel is a long term partnership. With the right team – you, the customer, the support of the global Cat dealer network, and Caterpillar's technical resources – you can reach a long, productive life from your electric rope shovel. Our partnership helps maximize availability and increase return on investment through:
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Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Who wore it better? You decide
I have this habit of blogging first thing in the morning, and last thing at night. The rest of the time I am in purgatory.
No, sorry, I mean. . .
I mean that the editing process, the next step in preparing The Glass Character for publication in the spring, makes me feel kind of like I have glue in my veins. Or sludge. The process is oh, so long, so hard, extremely tiring and frustrating, and an all-around pain in the ass.
But soft! What's this? What light through yonder window breaks?
And why?
Why on earth is Harold Lloyd, our Harold Lloyd, our dishy silent comic-of-a-lifetime, our inspiration for the most aggravating and perhaps hopeless novel in human history, why is OUR Harold Lloyd dressed like a girl?
Oh, he looks beautiful, mind. That's not the issue. The turban, feathers, etc. are, well, rather becoming on him. He smiles softly, beguilingly. He looks not only comfortable, but content.
No, this isn't a Before/After shot, it's Carmen Miranda, famous for her banana-headed tropical outfits and shimmying around the stage. I can't imagine Harold shimmying - well, actually, he DID do a "shimmie" in one of his earliest pictures. I just find the resemblance striking, is all, though it could be that Harold is a touch more feminine.
I don't see him that way, never have, though a person I used to call my friend said (having watched her first and last Harold Lloyd movie): "Why do you like him? I thought he was gay." As if that's all that matters about any human being, a quick way to dismiss, to write off.
I have a bit of an insight here: this bizarre magazine cover (which I am convinced is real: it appears in too many places not to be, including in its original form on auction sites) could possibly have something to do with his lifelong involvement in Masonic orders and the Shriners. I've always been convinced these fellows are just a sort of Dull Men's Club, but lately, what with all this Illuminati stuff coming out, and all these TV shows that claim the image on the American $1 bill is some Satanic thing-or-other, you never know. Then there was all this CIA stuff during the Cold War, the mind games and experiments. Surely Harold wouldn't be mixed up in all that, would he? He looks too innocent. Or was this just a get-up for one of his pictures? I can't remember one where he looked quite so fetching.
And orange is definitely his colour.
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A Community of Labradoodle & Goldendoodle Lovers
(Weight updated 10-26-12) Just a reminder - Dulcie is a small medium or a mini depending on the source. She definitely has the "doodle" personality (goofy, good-natured, extremely intelligent and social with both dogs and people). The most common break-down of doodle size I've seen is the following, although the designations vary - note that the first size is sometimes called petite and sometimes mini, etc.
Petite or Mini 15-30 lbs.
Mini or Medium 30-45 lbs.
Standard 45 + (up to 100 lbs.)
Another source gave the following breakdown;
Tiny 10-25 lbs.
Mini 25-35 lbs.
Medium 35-45 lbs.
Standard 45 + with average adult weight of 60-80 lbs.
31 wks. 31.6 lbs.
8 MONTHS 31.6 lbs. (1st time no weight gain)
33 wks. 31.6 lbs.
34 wks. 32.8 lbs.
35 wks. 32.6 lbs.
9 MONTHS 31.6 lbs. , still 18 inches at withers (Been a little under the weather,so not surprised at weight loss)
37 wks. 31.8 lbs.
38 wks. 32 lbs.
39 wks. 32.6 lbs.
10 MONTHS 32.6 lbs. 19 inches (Not sure I was accurate with the 18 inches a month ago, she's difficult to keep still! I don't think she's gained much height in the last month.)
Views: 67482
I'm just now catching up with my doodle friends on this page. LOL. Thanks for the information. Someday IF we get another doodle, we'll know better what we're looking at than when we did when we got Gizmo. We had no idea what we were doing when we got Giz.
She is a big girl, Dan. Howie is now 3.5 yrs and right around 60#. Our second dog, Daisy, is 18 months and 50# (she is golden-doodle + boxer)
Shelby is a standard size doodle she weight is 90 lbs. She has the poodle shape body with a golden size. She will be 4 yrs in March.Size and weight may very some due to witch parent they take after.
Both Molly and Howie are outgrowing Dulcie, for sure. They sure are good hugging sizes, aren't they? :)
Howie you've got some catching up to do! Molly still has 3 meals a day along with 2 raw chicken wings - she's a greedy madam!
Howie is 9 months, lost track of weeks, and 45 lbs as of last Saturday, Oct. 13.
Molly got weighed at the vets last week...38 weeks and 51 pounds!!
Lol! Big girl! (But I bet she's still your baby. . . .:))
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|► Is US Atty Montero a moron in arguing for Obama's drilling moratorium in the Gulf?
Is US Atty Montero a moron in arguing for Obama's drilling moratorium in the Gulf?
US Attorney Guillermo Montero was the lead attorney in defending the Obama administration against the frivolous (in this Ol' Dawg's opinion) lawsuit of Big Oil in seeking an injunction to prevent implementation of Obama's six-month moratorium on deep sea drilling in the Gulf.
Once this sham (is there another kind? lawsuit was filed it was assigned to US District Judge Martin Leach Feldman of New Orleans. Upon receipt of the lawsuit, attorney Guillermo Montero knew for a fact that Judge Feldman had been assigned to hear the matter.
Any competent attorney interested in representing the best interests of his client, which in this case was the Obama Administration, had an absolute duty to review Judge Feldman's record to determine if the "mere appearance of bias" existed in regards to the plaintiffs.
Furthermore, it was Mr. Montero's duty to determine if evidence existed that would lead a reasonable person (FYI: Mr. Montero, that'd be somebody with an I.Q. higher than the legal speed limit in a school zone in Orleans Parish) to conclude that Judge Feldman should recuse himself because of the appearance of a "conflict of interest."
Apparently, attorney Guillermo Montero and his minions utterly failed to perform even a minimal investigation to determine whether Judge Martin Leach should be removed from the case for bias and/or due to an inherent conflict of interest.
A cursory review of Judge Feldman's financial disclosure statements by Mr. Montero would have disclosed that his umbilical cord was firmly attached to Big Oil. For irrefutable evidence that Judge Feldman's financial interest in Big Oil, I invite you to review the article found at the URL below.
Is US Judge Martin L. Feldman an enabler and lackey for Big Oil? Dern Tootin!!
Even though it cannot be disputed that Judge Feldman had an ethical duty to recuse himself from this case because of his financial ties to Big Oil, his failure to so act does not excuse the moronic conduct of U.S. attorney Guillermo Montero. Montero is an embarrassment to dedicated Attorney Misfits if ya know what I mean.
Not to fret Boys and Girls as to the costs of Mr. Montero's gross incompetence and/or the egregious conduct of Judge Martin Feldman in failing to recuse himself.
The costs of this fiasco will be borne in full by the taxpayers (that'd be you Boyz and Girls). In fact, you're paying for the worthless services of Judge Feldman, attorney Montero and his cadre of incompetent losers.
Since the Obama Administration has announced it will appeal Feldman's rather novella ruling in favor of his financial benefactors, this exercise in frivolity will or could cost y'all taxpayers well in excess of $1 million. Isn't Louisiana and British Petroleum a great country? If y'all don't believe me, then I'd suggest you commiserate with US Rep. of Texas and those of his Ilk


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Marketing and Communications Manager
What You Will Do:
General Summary
In conjunction with the Director of Marketing and Communications, develops marketing and communications activities for UMMS and its local organizations; plans, executes and evaluates comprehensive marketing and communications programs that reinforce the UMMS and local site's mission. Assists director with marketing, media relations, internal and external communication, publications, website management, special events and graphic design.
Principal Responsibilities and Tasks
The following statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by personnel so classified.
• In collaboration with Director of Marketing and Communications, helps to develop the organization's image "positioning" that reflects its mission, strategic direction and health care environment. Assists in development of annual corporate communication and marketing plans in collaboration with the Director and the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS).
• Plans, develops, implements and markets new programs/services based on department goals and objectives, hospital growth needs, established priorities, regulatory environment, etc. Assists Director with planning, budgeting and implementation of specific campaigns, advertising materials and special events.
• Provides project management support for advertising campaigns, collateral materials, interviews and other creative products, content for the Web site and other marketing and communications initiatives.
• Assists the Director with media relations and attendant programs, including the initiation or coverage or response to request from newspaper, magazine and electronic media representatives.
• Assists in the production of publications and attendant programs including collateral and special projects. Assists in the coordination of the layout, design, writing, editing and production of brochures, marketing communication pieces, ad copy and collateral marketing materials for internal and external consumption.
• Provides editorial management services as needed for promotional and educational materials including creating concepts, writing brochures and other related materials as well as overseeing the creative aspects of design and printing, developing editorial content, managing writers, writing material, and coordinating distribution and mailing of newsletters.
• Oversees the organization's website, including content development, editing, technical modifications, and relationships with outside contractors.
• Works in conjunction with physician marketing staff to develop and implement a physician marketing plan each year to boost referrals to UMMS and its local organizations through outreach, marketing and communications activities.
• Assists Director with preparation of reports to illustrate the market position of the service line, affiliate hospitals and outpatient practice locations. Help determine the ROI for marketing campaigns. Research and understand and apply consumer demographics/prevalence of disease information to achieve marketing goals.
• Plans and participates in special events for both internal and external audiences as needed.
• Performs related duties as required.
What You Need to Be Successful:
Education and Experience
o Bachelor's degree in in marketing, communications, or a health related field required, Master's degree preferred.
o Three (3) to Five (5) years of experience in marketing or communications (preferably health related) that includes knowledge of multiple marketing vehicles required.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Must have 3 to 5 years of experience using Adobe Creative Suite.
o Demonstrated effectiveness in creating and executing a marketing and communication plan in a highly complex environment required.
o High level of proficiency and demonstrated effectiveness in problem solving and implementing new programs related to increased departmental and organizational efficiency.
o Highly effective oral and written communication skills are required to work with outside vendors/ contractors, various supervisory, senior management and administrative staff throughout the Medical Center and with external customers.
o Familiarity of a customer relationship management system and content management system.
o Familiarity with the health care industry.
o Demonstrated creative writing capability required.
o Demonstrated ability to proofread marketing materials and documents.
We are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Learn more here
Job posted: 2020-06-15