Eight years

[karen z]

Just posting to say hi and to let you know that I reached year eight today (all of 60 something minutes into the day). Other than insomnia this evening I am doing well and grateful to be able to see my daughter graduate from high school in a couple of weeks and know that the search for a college is over and successful (hooray......a deposit is in). It will be a bittersweet summer as I am a bit too focused on the fact that my only child will be living in another state by August. But there are planes and cars out there and I probably can (and probably should) really learn to Skype.

Thanks (always) for the incredible support on the site and the friendships that have formed. They mean a great deal to me.

Love,
Karen Z

[Mel3]

Congratulatins, Karen! I think of you often and all the fun we had in San Antonio.:) Wishing you many, many more healthy years. Love ya, Mel

[Becky]

Congratulations on joining the "eight is great" club! Is it that long already? I remember meeting you when neither of us was that far out. Soon, I will be in the "nine is fine" group. What a long strange trip its been.

So happy for you!

['lizbeth]

Yeah! 8 years is great.

savor the summer and start making plans to visit. Hopefully your daughter will be better than I was at keeping in touch. mom who? Lol

[LoisLane]

Great news Karen, 8 years out! Enjoy all life has to offer, isn't it wonderful to see our lives move forward and the children moving on in their directions.
I actually used Skype this winter when we were in Palm Beach and it was great to see the kids and talk to them with this technology. Our kids set up the skype on our computer before we left and we were all set. Best wishes to you and have a great summer. Lois

[Jean]

Karen,
A huge congratulations on your 8th year dear sister.
Bitter sweet on the college bound daughter. I remember when my son left out of state (my only also). It is so good that life goes on. Enjoy all the good things.
Happy Mother's Day.
Hugs,
Jean

[suzan w]

8 years...congrats!!! I'll be there next month. We have so much to be grateful for!!!

[Jackie07]

Congratulations! Karen. What an achievement!

[StephN]

Wow - I am with Becky. How the time flies since we first met!

So, glad all is working out on the healthy front as well as the college front. Gives you less to worry about.

Keep up the walking and exercises. This is what will help now in the long run.

[tricia keegan]

Congratulations Karen, I'll be joining the eight is great club in a few weeks too and can't believe how the time has flown!

[Midwest Alice]

Hey 8 years! What a long way we have come!

[Ceesun]

Karen, Eight is Great!!! Happy for you! Hugs, Ceesun

[sassy]

Hey Roomie!

Eight is great and here's to many, many more.

Just remember that Bella being ready to leave for the next step in her life means you have done your job getting her to that point. Yet, bittersweet.

My youngest leaves this fall also,so we will be empty nesters.

Deep breaths.

[caya]

Congrats on Eight Great Years!

all the best
caya

[karen z]

Mel: Many thanks- I, too, think about how much fun we had and how much laughter there was.........as well as our faces on that boat trip! Great times.
Becky: It has indeed been a long strange trip (that has passed more quickly than I could have imagined). Nine is fine sounds good for the next group up!
'Lizbeth: I am starting to seriously think already about visits (and how often and long I can go for). I seriously hope my daughter is good at staying in touch (I was very good with my mom but I know my daughter is her own person).
Lois: Yes, I had better learn to Skype. It is good to know that Bella is ready for such a very exciting point in her life. Although it doesn't seem thrilling to be at this point myself.........I am trying to deal and will work on the summer.
Jean: Thanks for reminding me that life goes on. It hasn't been feeling like that with an only child going off to campus but I know it will be fine. Happy Mom's Day.
To Susan and Jackie: Many thanks. Yes, we do have much to be grateful for and I need to focus on that.
Steph: Time has certainly flown by.......at an increasingly fast rate ! I hope I can step up my work on walking, etc. with fewer responsibilities and more time in my future.
Tricia and Alice: I have no idea how eight years have gone by. In so many ways my diagnosis seems like a lifetime ago........In other ways like yesterday. Having cancer and going through it is pretty surreal.
Hi Ceesun and Caya: Thank you so much for your good wishes. I appreciate them.
Hey Rhonda: Deep breaths sound like a real good idea about right now. And thanks for the reminder of what I might have done right. Sometimes I forget or focus on what I could have done better. But I think my kid is ready for this and I am very proud of her. Boy, we are both empty nesters at the same time. I think I had better find some good ways to be more creative as well as distracted. I would appreciate suggestions !

Thank you everyone for your good wishes. To my SABCS buds.......wish we could sit on the Riverwalk with our Starbucks coffee and catch up (especially now that it must be warmer there). Also, wish we could cruise through Macy's, see the Alamo movie yet again, and find cool jewelry and more at all the little "shops" around the river. In other words.......I wish we could have Scotty from Startreck "beam us" there right now ! I need that !!! Miss everyone.

[NEDenise]

Karen (and all you 8 is great gals)
CONGRATULATIONS! You are all such an inspiration to those of us traveling behind you!

Karen - congratulations to you and your daughter! And, yes...Skype is EASY, and fun...definitely go for it!

All you gals coming up on cancer-versaries/milestones...
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, take a moment when the day arrives and start a thread so we can all celebrate with you. As one who is still in active treatment...hoping someday to join your ranks...I NEED to read those posts and celebrate with you!

And, it doesn't matter what else is going on here...your encouraging news is at least as important as the struggles some of us are facing... Keep in mind, friends, I say that as one who is currently a struggler! :)

Love to all of you! So glad you're here!
Denise

[KsGal]

Congratulations on eight years! Big hugs to you! A victory for one of us is a victory for all of us, and reason for all of us to celebrate. I hope to follow in your footsteps and be able to post about my eight year milestone!

[karen z]

Denise,
Thank you very much. And you are so right that it is incredibly helpful for all of us to post how we are doing in treatment and where we "are" in treatment, along with the rest of our lives. Thanks so much for reminding us all of that.

[karen z]

KsGal,
Thank you so much for your post. You are right. We are totally in this together. I look forward to all your future posts (and everyone else's) and your many milestones passed. Best to you.

[Laurel]

Cool Beans on 8 year mile marker!

[mamacze]

YAHOO for YOU Karen Z!!! Who woulda thunk - 8 years ago that you would be mothering and nurturing your beautiful daughter all the way out the door to college?!? You gave her roots and now she will stretch her wings. What a wonderful and bittersweet time. How lucky she is to have you. She has learned more about hope and love and life under your watch, than most kids have learned in a life time. God speed and loads of wishes for another 8 (PLUS) good ones! Get your running shoes on!
Love and Hugs,
Kim (from CT)

[karen z]

Hey Laurel,
I don't know the expression "Cool Beans" but it sounds like something good.
K

[karen z]

Hi Kim,
Thanks so much. Your words are very meaningful to me and I appreciate them. I have been feeling like this is going to be a tough time (for a couple of years....I am sort of a wimp) but I need to concentrate on how lucky I have been to be with my daughter, watch her grow and develop to this point and see her on to her way to the next set of adventures (my college years were among my happiest- except for having my daughter- that will always be the best for me). Thanks for the reminder about exercise ! I need it !
Best,
k

[Pray]

You sure know how to make are day! Gods blessings to you Karen!

[karen z]

To Pray,
Many many thanks.
k

[Laurel]

Never heard "cool beans?" It's an oldie but a goodie! Loosely translated it means "terrific." Your 8 is great years will inspire many who first come here newly diagnosed and scared to death.

[karen z]

Laurel,
I have not heard the expression but will start to incorporate !!!
Thanks,
K

[jml]

Congratulations, on a great 8!
And for your daughter's achievements.

Enjoy your summer and savor every new experience -
including road tripping to her college in the fall, moving her in
and celebrating the next stage of life for you both!
Much hugs to you both!

Keep the Faith~

Jessica

[karen z]

Jessica,
Thanks so much for your wise words. Will try very hard.
K

[Pray]

Karen, I'm humbled by you thanking me when it is all of you women who continue to check in and give updates! I am ever so thankful for each and everyone of you here. The good and the bad all keep us going. I think we all are continually looking for encouragement and seeing the many ways to fight. Just look at Jessica's pic there is a woman in full battle mode. Most of my encouragement kindness and fight the good fight has come from the stage four sisters. For this I am ever greatful Thanks again lil Sis. We are so blessed for knowing all of your!

[karen z]

Thank you Pray. I feel blessed to have found this incredible group of strong, highly intelligent, funny and brave women. And you are right. The good posts (and the bad ones perhaps) keep us grounded and fierce in our fight against the set of diseases we all share. I know I have laughed much and cried much on this site.........and learned many important lessons (if I would just listen) on how to live one's life.

[janieR]

Karen,

Very happy for you.

I will be 8 years at the beginning of next year and feel so positive through this site that I intend to be here. As Tricia says "time does fly"

Janie

[karen z]

Hi Janie,
Thanks so much. The site is wonderful and so helpful to all of us. I look forward to viewing your Eight is Great posting soon. Time does fly by a very strange way (especially the older one is!) but I know that for all of us..........some aspects still feel a bit "raw".
Best,
k