October Begins

October ~ Breast Cancer

Awareness Month

My mom is in her third week of radiation treatments for breast cancer, and seems to be tolerating the treatments okay. She has another three weeks of these treatments to go.

Last weekend was my mom's 65th birthday. My dad wanted my son and I to join them at dinner out to celebrate. We met them at the restaurant of her choice, bringing her a beautiful, pink with roses, gift bag full of special items, just for her. She seemed mildly surprised to be receiving gifts, and was almost too embarrassed to open them in front of the strangers of the restaurant.

From all of the chemo and radiation treatments she's received so far, her skin has dried out terribly and her nails have discolored and curled in. Of course, she's lost all her hair and now wears a wig which looks as natural as her own hair.

So, self pampering items from shower gels, body lotions, to pedicure sets with mint fizzies to soak her feet in, nail polish, and a light pale pink lipstick and liner to match, were all in her gift bag. She may not be able to use the lotions until after she finishes with the radiation treatments, as her skin is very tender and vulnerable right now. But, she'll be ready for them when the treatments end. She couldn't wait to use her pedicure set and have my dad help with her toenail polish.

Dinner was wonderful. The manager and assistant manager have become personal friends of my parents and stopped by our table frequently to make sure we were treated like royalty and our food was perfect. In the end, our tummies were full and we all had a really good time together.

Taken today, the photo above is a rose from my garden.