{TRUTH} Radiation...we're halfway done!!!

On November 29th I went to my radiation "mapping" appointment...which basically was my prep appointment for radiation.  It involved getting a CT scan, taking x-rays, taking measurements and getting four little tattoos (they're each the size of a mole).  The information from that appointment was processed by the radiation oncologist and computers and engineers to come up with my treatment plan - the amount of radiation needed, the radiation field, the angles of the radiation rays - lots of information above my level of understanding.

On  December 6th I began radiation and I get a dose everyday (Mon - Fri) until I have received 33 doses, which means the tentative completion date is January 23rd.

Every other dose is done with a "boost" material which increases the amount of radiation absorbed at the skin level - which helps my body receive the radiation it needs within the number of doses that I will be receiving.

Every week they re-do x-rays to ensure that nothing has changed that would change my treatment plan.

Every week I meet with my radiation oncologist who monitors the side effects.

So far my only side effects are tiredness (which has really kicked in over the past week) and redness of the area being treated (which has also only begun this past week).

I can drive myself but have had a couple of friends go with me, just to offer support and to keep me company.  I have good friends!

The actual treatment is less than 5 minutes...with 5-10 minutes prior to treatment in setting things up and getting me all lined up in the radiation field.  

Drive time is an hour :(

This past week marks my half-way mark of treatment...today was actually dose #18 so I only have 15 left to go!

11-29-2016 the day of my "mapping"

 

12-04-2016 my fourth day of radiation (when I had the thought that I ought to take a picture each day - which hasn't happened)

 

Christmas break has meant that I have had a few radiation companions.  I love having their company!

Body Building by J

J received a skeleton kit from Santa and has already built the entire thing...completely on his own. 

 I think we may have a future scientist!

Christmas 2016

With Christmas being on a Sunday, our day looked a little bit different than our typical Christmas.

We were up at 7:00 a.m. to see if Santa had come (J and T had been awake since 3 a.m. and I hadn't heard a single peep out of them...such good boys!).  Turns out Santa did make it our house.  We spent some time enjoying those gifts and then we had our Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, sausage, hash browns and egg nog.

Then we were off to church for a combined Sacrament meeting for all three wards in our town - so it was quite a large gathering but really fun to see so many people that we love and to wish them Merry Christmas.

Then we were back home to exchange gifts between each other but not before we got a family picture....

I think my favorite part of Christmas is the what I witness leading up to Christmas as my children choose gifts to give to each other.  They are so thoughtful about what they get and they really try to get a gift that they know the recipient will like.  I was proud of J and T this year because they used their own money to pay for half of each of the gifts they bought...it was a significant amount but they were excited to spend their money that way.  The culmination is then the giving of the gifts and the responses to each other.  Love all the hugs that get exchanged on Christmas day!

Probably the best gift of all this year was from K to her dad...perfect for the soon to be 16 year old daughter!

 

We continued our tradition of four gifts from mom and dad...

something you want

something you need

something to watch 

& something to read

The "watch" was a change up from years past from a "wear" and each of the kids received a ticket to see a broadway (on tour, here in Portland) show that they will attend with mom.  I'm the winner on that one as I get some pretty good dates out of the deal. 

Also new this year was that their "read" was a Christmas book so that they can each begin their own Christmas book collection to take with them when they grow up and move out.  Everyone received a different book based on books that I know are their favorites.

 

T

J

 

C

K

Christmas Eve

I love traditions!

With my kids getting older, I love seeing what they deem as traditions that "have to happen" as part of Christmas.

Our Christmas Eve began with a nice dinner of lasagna, french bread, salad and Italian sodas.  Best part?  K and C pretty much put the entire dinner together because I hadn't been feeling well and was trying to reserve some energy to get me through the next couple of days.  I loved the way they took over and worked together to make that part of the evening happen because it was important to them.

Another "has to happen" was the kids decorating their Christmas boxes to leave for Santa.  I had to snap a photo of T's...if you read it, it says, "Tyler has been great".  Just in case Santa arrived and wasn't quite sure :)

Loved that all the kids still (attempt to) sit in their boxes...it feels like it wasn't too long ago that we began having them sit in them because they were so little and they were just heads peaking out of the boxes....not so little anymore.

The kids each choose a story that they want to read before bed and they do the reading.  I love that a couple of them choose the same book year after year.  After they read their book they share why they chose the book and then they choose one gift from under the tree to open.

Then it's time to get ready for bed by setting out stockings.  T drew a Santa portrait and left it by the cookies for the big guy, complete with a note letting Santa know that he could take the picture.

Something we haven't done in the past, but did this year, was to give matching pajamas.  The kids went NUTS over them!  Honestly they were hooting and hollering....I wish I'd videoed the response.  Turns out they have wanted to have matching pajamas for years!!!  Who new?
So, of course, we had to do an awkward family photo in matching pajamas...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good  night!!!

December activities 2016

I have a couple of boys who are still young at heart and want to take part in Christmas activities all month long.  I used to fill the pockets of our countdown calendar with activities to be done but life is busy and I didn't feel confident in knowing which days we would be able to accomplish which activities so we had to come up with a new plan.

Much like the summer bucket list, I had the boys create a list of the activities they most wanted to do during the month and we posted them on the fridge.  We approached our list with lots of flexibility but, in the end, we actually did do all but three(?) and captured quite a few in pictures.

sleeping under the Christmas tree...

countdown chains...

gingerbread houses...

making snowflakes...

making Chex Mix...

making fudge...

coloring pages...

decorating cookies...

delivering neighbor gifts...

gingerbread houses (take 2)...

Christmas boxes...

Merry Christmas!!!

 

Which Dougall Family member are you?
Take this 2016 quiz to find out!*

When spending free time with friends, you generally are...
A) what free time?
B) exercising
C) running and/or talking
D) playing ping pong
E) playing sports
F) jumping on the trampoline

Your favorite food to eat is...
A) burgers on the Traeger
B) anything you don't have to cook
C) spaghetti
D) sub sandwiches
E) pizza
F) pancakes

During the Summer 2016 Olympics, your favorite sport to watch was...
A) track & field - sprinting
B) gymnastics
C) track & field and swimming
D) track & field - men's 800m
E) swimming
F) triathlon

If given $1000 to spend however you wished, you would spend it...
A) on technology
B) on the children
C) on your driver's permit & your pinterest wardrobe
D) at the NIKE store
E) on a trip with the family
F) give some away and save the rest

The body part that you are most likely to be noticed for is your...
A) muscular calves
B) bald head
C) smile
D) stylish hair
E) blond hair
F) abs

Your preferred athletic pursuit is...
A) watching 
B) cross fit
C) running
D) basketball
E) swimming
F) soccer

Your dream vacation would be a week spent...
A) reading great books
B) somewhere warm & with family
C) in Hawaii
D) cruising the Caribbean
E) in the Amazon Rainforest
F) on a safari in Australia

When you spend time online, you are generally...
A) looking at news & sports scores
B) blogging
C) checking instagram
D) checking sport scores
E) watching "Studio C"
F) laughing at "Dude Perfect" stunts

*find your results on page 2


Dougall Family Quiz Results....

If you answered mostly "A"
Congratulations!  You are Rich.  You are a master scheduler and list maker, allowing you to make the most of each 24 hour day.  You continue to provide for your family through your financial planning business and you added college planning to your services this year.  You serve on your community HOA board, volunteer on the library board and participate in the leadership of the local Financial Planning Association.  You find rest and relaxation in reading and are passing along that love of books by reading daily to your youngest boys. 

If you answered mostly "B"
Congratulations!  You are Katherine.  Along with your roles of household accountant, maid, chef, chauffer, coach, hair stylist, nurse, referee, psychiatrist, tutor and hostage negotiator, you have added prize fighter to the list as you faced the recurrence of your breast cancer this past spring. As a result you are bald, you are sporting a couple of new scars, you have a killer sunburn without having gone to any tropical location and you are a survivor.  You are also extremely grateful to be nearing the end of treatment and hope to cut off all ties with the Portland Cancer Center soon.  Your theme song is Rachel Platten's "Fight Song".  @katherinedougall

If you answered mostly "C"
Congratulations!  You are Kaitlyn.  You will be turning 16 next month and you are a sophomore at Wilsonville High School.  You have discovered a new love of running and you participate on the school track & cross country teams along with the school swim team.  You love spending time with friends.  You sing with the Portland Youth Encore choir.  You are taking a photography class and will complete a lifeguard training course by years end.  Your room is in a constant state of disarray but you are too busy with school work and extracurricular activities to do anything about it.  @kaitlyndougall

If you answered mostly "D"
Congratulations!  You are Cason.  You will be turning 14 later this month and you are in the 8th grade at the online Connections Academy.  You are enjoying another year playing on the local AAU basketball team.  You are a huge fan of ping pong and pickle ball and have hopes of bringing pickle ball to the high school level prior to pushing for its inclusion in the 2024 Olympics.  You have also begun to show interest in the game of golf.  You have surpassed both your older sister and your mom in height and have your sights on passing up your dad this upcoming year. 

If you answered mostly "E"
Congratulations!  You are Jake.  You turn 10 this month and are in the 4th grade at Boones Ferry Primary.  You are on a first name basis with the librarians at the local library and have an insatiable curiosity when it comes to non-fiction books (on any subject) and documentary movies.  You were inspired by Michael Phelps this summer so you have returned to swim lessons and hope to try out for a local swim team this year.  You continue to take piano lessons and have added church hymns to your repertoire.  You earn money delivering flyers for a local cleaning company and you use that money to buy legos. 

If you answered mostly "F"
Congratulations!  You are Ty.  You are 8 years old and are in the 2nd grade at Boones Ferry Primary.  You were baptized in June.  You are growing up but still love to snuggle and purr like a puppy when you are scratched behind your ears.  You began piano lessons this year and you are setting new records for time spent in piano practice.  You are the latest member of the family to have braces.  You love to compete with your brothers in football, soccer, lacrosse or basketball and you don't ever  let your small size slow you down.  You continue to draw and writing is your favorite subject in school. 

Regardless of which family member you are most like, know that we all love and appreciate you.
2016 has been a year that reminded us of the importance of friends, of family and of the blessings of the Gospel in our lives.  The chance to slow down, to receive acts of service, to witness the love of so many and to rely on faith have been just a few of the blessings we have experienced as a family this year.  Thank you for being a part of our extended family.

Happy Birthday #10

Our J turned 10 this past week.  

He reminded me the importance of this birthday is that he is now DOUBLE DIGITS!!!

His breakfast of choice was bacon waffles.

He joined me for radiation and then chose to eat lunch at Zoup...he continued his bacon-fest by ordering a bacon, ham and swiss sandwich. 

Dinner was bacon burgers (minus the bacon) and he chose a peppermint ice-cream cake.

His gift from his parents was to go see Cirque Dreams Holidaze - an amazing show put on by the production team of Cirque du Soleil. 
So as soon as dinner and cake were over, the three of us were off to Portland for a special date with the birthday boy.

I posted this picture collage of J on instagram in honor of my blue eyed little boy!

Happy Birthday to my sweet J!  He is always inquisitive, he keeps me on my toes, he makes me laugh, he is his younger brother's best friend, he is unapologetically honest and he still gives me hugs.

Love this boy of mine!!!

out of the mouth of babes

When my kids were little, I used to write down all the funny things they said and did.  There are some real classics to look back on.

I don't think I realized then that the funnies would continue - the difference is that now there is a witty, sarcasm behind them and I think I need to go back to writing them down.

This young man is funny!

Here are some of the latest....

C is helping Rich coach J's basketball team and there was a coaching meeting that really focused on the fact that the teams are rec level and that the focus needs to be on having fun, not winning.  C came home from the meeting baffled and said, "I don't understand what they are saying cause winning is fun and so if the focus is on having fun, they better focus on winning"

I had to get four little tattoo's as part of my radiation so that they can line me up in the machine each day.  C heard me telling someone on the phone about it and so the first thing he said when I hung up was "Tattoos?  Really?"

I replied, "they are medical tattoos" 

to which he replied, "next thing you'll be telling me is that it's just medical marijuana"

I have definitely had a lot of "chemo brain" experiences and after one incident when I did something spacey, C looked at me and said, "C'mon mom.  You lost your hair not your brain!"

C was at a friend's house for the evening and the mom of the home had to get after some of the boys for a pretty big mess they made and asked them to clean it up.  She told me later that before leaving C left a note for her on her chalkboard that read

"white, shirtless, 14 year old boys lives matter"

And his most recent funny, that was unintentional was when he and his brothers were all attempting to put their entire fists in their  mouths.  C did pretty good until he almost gagged and declared, "ooohhh, I just touched my arugula and almost threw up".

(that would be called an uvula)

And in an attempt to not show favorites I do have to share K's (unintentional) funny.

The week before school let out for winter break, K was given an assignment to bring food to school for a class project.  I mentioned that I was surprised they allowed home cooked food and so she told me that there were some rules....so she started listing all the rules of "no ____" and then said, "and there was one more but I can't remember it.:

I, being silly, said "no cannabis?" (keep in mind we live in Portland)

She looked at me for a minute and said, kind of slowly, "why would they have to tell us no human meat???"

And that is what keeps me happy, healthy and young.  Laughter truly is the best medicine!