I have been having a few health problems of my own again lately. I went for my annual at the OBGYN and she thinks she feels a cyst. I had an ultrasound a week later and sure enough I have cysts on my right ovary and shaggy lining. I knew the cyst was there as I had been feeling pain on the right side since September. She put me back on birth control which I had been off for about 7 months to see if my negative hormone levels would come back up. I really didn't want to get back on it but she said we have to get my ovaries healthy. The new pill worked the cysts are gone but now I have fluid in my fallopian tubes. This lead to another series of tests which were negative thank God. Now my other two options of what it means is it's nothing or the ugly cancer word which I refuse to believe what is going on. I go back on Tuesday for another ultrasound to see if it was a fluke and I am hoping that it was and it would be a great Christmas present.




Last month I was invited on an Alumni Caregivers retreat from the amazing women that put on the retreat in Nashville in May. I was very excited and looking forward to a needed break after the last few months events. I left on Friday and we all meet at the Palazzo Hotel in Vegas.

We reconnected with some of the wives that were on the last retreat and met some from the other two retreats. We headed to Mesquite, NV where the Eureka Casino and Hotel offered our hotel rooms free of charge. The mountain view was amazing and we had great counseling groups. I swore I wouldn't cry while telling my story as I never do to "normal" people but when I get around the wives the tears start to flow. I was the third one and the first two didn't cry. Not fair. Then it lead into everyone else crying from then on out. But we needed to let it out as we stay strong for so long and it's a safe place to let the emotions run free. I was so thankful to get closer to some of the women I knew from the last retreat.

The time change was a killer 3 hours behind my time zone so it was a little hard eating that late and waking even later. The casino was too much fun! We played blackjack until 6 am my time on Sunday morning and we were just cutting up and having fun. We also went bowling and the PGA Tour heard we were there and paid for our cocktails. Thanks guys! Sunday after our group we climbed a hill to view the mountains and got some great pictures. Then we headed to Vegas. We stayed the night at the amazing Palazzo hotel. One of the other wives and I bunked together and we were so giddy when we saw the amazing room. We headed to Margartiville for dinner and thanks to Jimmy Buffet we had a great meal and cocktails. Jimmy Buffet is a huge supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and we all appreciate his support. Then we gambled a little more and off to the Blue Man Group. I loved the show it was so amazing! We were so tired however we didn't live our last night in Vegas up. We headed for the plush beds and talked until we feel asleep.

I am thankful for the opportunity and soon I am going to be trained to be a peer mentor to help out newer wives that are going through this horrid experience. I am looking forward to being a listening ear for those that need it. I know it would have been great to have someone to turn to when I needed to talk or vent.