Lean on Me..........For you all , especially Carletta

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's
Always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
If there is a load
You have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

It's early morning and I am sitting in the passenger seat on my way to Carbonear . Carletta is in the driver's seat and we are laughing our heads off.  We are dressed to the nines and have been up for the past hour or more doing our hair and putting  on makeup for the day ahead. Roy is sitting in the back seat and he has no clue what we are laughing about when we talk about new freedom flowers and the washer on spin cycle. We arrive at Carbonear Collegiate ... "the car pool from up the bay" and  the staff cannot understand why we arrive,  ready to start our day, in such a good mood everyday..... It is Fall 1991.

It's late afternoon and I am still lying in bed , throwing up every time I lift my head off the pillow and Carlettta is kneeling beside the bedside cleaning up my mess and telling me that I am going to be ok and before I know it this nausea will be over and I will be the proud mom  of a healthy baby boy or girl.....It is Winter 1992.

It is early evening and the labor pains are coming fast and furious. Glenn is on the right side and Carletta stands on the left.  I am squeezing her hand this time and am not sure she will ever be able to get her fingers apart. Faces disappear and then I am awake again and there she is standing over my bed. I have just woken up from an emergency C- Section and  after Glenn gives me the wonderful news about our son who "has a fine set of lungs" Carletta looks at me and says "he is a lucky little boy, you're going to be a great mom and now I leave you three to share some family bonding."  It is Spring 1993.

It's mid afternoon and my heart is breaking. I have just lost my youngest brother Tony to cancer and I am not sure how to deal with it. Carletta is holding my hand and telling me that all will be ok and that she is only a call away whenever I need to talk...... It is Winter 1995.

It's late evening. I am home on the couch and Carletta is at home as well. We are on the phone reminscing about my kids. I am little sad today as I have drpped Luke off at Burton's Pond and  he  is about to start his first year of University. Carletta is reassuring me that all will be well, that he is a fine young man and I have rasied him well. He is her Godson and she loves him too and I know that  she is feeling a little nostalgic herself.....It is Fall 2011.

It's early morning and Carletta is driving again. I am back in the passenger seat. There's not as much laughter this time. Instead the conversation is of a more serious nature. We talk of family, children, faith and God. There's no makep appplication this morning ( at least on my part) and my head is now pretty much totally bald so it does not take as long to get ready. We are on our way to Carbonear again , only this time  we are going to the hospital for my second chemo treatment. I  am looking at her , whether she knows it or not,  since she is focused the road ahead , both literally and figuratively, and all the thoughts I have just written here are flashing through my mind and I am realizing that  I have been so blessed by her  friendship. It is Winter 2012.

Over the course of my life I have always appreciated the friendships I have made along the way and each one of you reading this certainly hold a special place in my heart. There are many others who have been there for me and my family in good times and bad times but I thought I'd dedicate this particular blog to Carletta since she has certainly been my friend for such a  long long time, with no time or distance ever seaparating us over the years., and I really don't know how I would have survived the past three weeks without her.  So  I hope I don't offend anyone by not writing about them personally. I am hoping that you all know how much I cherish your friendship too and let me  tell you there are far too many to mention, but thankfully all the rest of you have never seen me NAKED!!! Now see I had to say that because I figure most of you are probably half bawling right now at my sentimentality......Now back to the update...

On Tuesday, Feb. 7th I had to go for my assessment. Thank God everything went well. I left the hospital to go buy some cards at the card shop. I wanted that perfect card for Glenn's birthday ( He is getting out of hospital today and I haven't seen him since I dropped him off) and I quickly found it. He always said every man should have a Shania Twain in his closet. The card I found had a lovely sentimental mushy message and when you open it,  Shania starts singing her famous song "You're still the one". He thought that was pretty funny!!! Anyway I also wanted to get a card for a new friend who has also been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I had received several Blue Mountain Arts card when I was in hospital . They are beautiful cards with very inspirational and uplifting messages. Anyway I started going through  the cards and read several when all of a sudden I started having this wicked HOT FLASH!!! Man oh man I thought I was going to die....in a matter of minutes my turban was soaked and I thought,  I got to grab a card and get out of here and get this turban off my head... so I grabbed a final card. I read the verse on front and it was all about the journey to recovery, just pefect I thought.  I skipped over the middle two and  then I read the last verse (which was about serenity and seeing how good life can really be ) and thought yes this is beautiful. So I ran to the checkout and asked the lady to check me in right away ( she must have thought I was crazy)  and got out into the car as fast as I could. By this time I was sweating bullets and could not wait to get home. I yanked off my turban and put it on the seat. My fake wig was already there since I had been too hot upon leaving the hospital and exchanged it for the turban. Then I whipped out the fake boob Mrs. Welsh made for me and threw that on the seat too . I headed for home. I got a red light  and stopped waiting for it to change. I looked over at the passenger seat and started to roar laughing....how would I explain it , I thought,  if I got pulled over---- a wig and a tit on the seat.... try explaining that to a young cop who may be looking to get his quota for this months speeding tickets !!! So I slowed down , turned on the air condtioning and  headed home.... but wait you havent heard the funny part yet. I get home and Helen is there ( I called her to come stay with Emily who was running  a fever before I left to go to hospital...ok so I had what you would call a stressful morning....sick child , her dad still in hospital and me having an early morning appt. at the chemo unit...suck it up buttercup and call on a friend- make no wonder I was having hot flashes) . Anyway...... I took out the lovely card I bought  and gave it to Helen to read. Nice Card hey I asked. Got it for a new friend who is just starting her chemo. Helen nods and doesn't say much about the card. We have a little chat and she gets ready to go home. I  decide that I am going to do up  the little care package for Anne and I decide to read the card again.... Well after I read it I got on the phone and called Helen right away. " Did you read all that card? " I asked . Yes she says. Oh my gosh I shouts into the phone.... the second verse is all about staying sober... that friggin card is for a recovering alcholoic!!!! I know she said but I did not want to say anything...after all you're a teacher and I figured you must know what you're at. man oh man did we ever laugh. I thought I must be losing it and that was confirmed the next day when I went to visit Helen for her birthday.  I looked for the card I had bought her , and found it only to discover that it said Happy Birthday Sister instead of Friend. .. so I simply crossed out sister and put the word friend in... made for another laugh for my good buddy Helen ( For those who don't know she was Luke and Emily's babysitter for years and is as good as a sister to me... always jsut a phone call away too).


My chemo treatment went fine and I stepped on the elevator and  thouught, gee after the next one I will be halfway through! Carletta came and stayed for a couple more days and we had a great time.  Glenn arrived home on the day before my tratment, which was his birthday as I said , and it was sure good to have him back home. He put in a few rough days for the first little while but thank God he is doing better each day. We both appreicate all the calls, emails and facebook mesages inquiring about his progress. He has to go back to see the surgeon in  mid March but up to this point it seems as if the surgery was a success. Thank God again for answered prayers. We are spending some time  planning a trip to Nashville when we both are back to normal. Who needs Hollywood when you can go to Dollywood right????

I had a few rough days myself but nothing I couldn't handle.  On Tuesday, Valentines Day, I was feeling a little low. Anyone out there who has had a mastectomy and  has lost  all their hair will relate to what I am saying....some days are good and some are not so good. So to lift my spirits and continue our Valentines Day tradition , Glenn took me out to lunch. We went to restaurant 99  and I had what my friend Debbie would call a "God moment". At theh end of lunch I opened my cookie to read what was inside... I found neither fame nor fortune but a simple verse that said " people are inspired by your inner beauty"... made me smile and realize a perky pair of boobs and flowing hair really don't make you beautiful. This  boost in self esteem was reiterated again on Friday by my golden friend Densie Simms who reminded me that a kind caring heart is more important thatn a sexy body!!! Being an English teacher you would think that I would have no trouble finding a synonym for "blessed" but I don't think there is another word that could really accurately describe how I feel about the help that arrives during the week of my treatment when I am either too tired or too nauseated to cook. Thanks to Jennifer, Ramona, Corinne, Colleen , Maureen, Kellie, and Thersea ( hope I never forgot anyone)   for the food that was dropped off this past week and a half. I felt really good one day and managed to cook a really nice supper for us all only to be teased by my buddy Denise who jokingly asked if I  remembered how to cook.  It felt good to get back in the kitchen. However let me tell you when I got home Friday night from a long day in St. John's at the Cancer Clinic and final wig fittings,  I was some pleased when Steve showed up at the door with enough food and dessert to feed a crowd. Kellie was busy all day it seems and I got to reap the rewards. When Paula  and Mike showed up on Saturday afternoon I could have easily served them a four course meal if they were able to stay for supper. I especially enjoyed Saturday because Jake came to see me. He's uur newest great nephew  that I wrote about in my earlier blog. I had a lot of un with him and can't believe how fast he is growing... he's so cute...Hope you think so too ... his picture is below.

So like I just mentioned, Friday was a long day. I went to the Cancer Clinic at 9:30 a.m  ( this time accompanied by Glenn and my sister Myra) to meet with the radiation doctor. He was a very nice man who answered all my questions and explained everything in great detail. I will begin radiation treatments approximately 3 weeks after my last chemo treatment. I will have  to get 25 in total... that will be five days a weeks for five weeks in St. John's. I will no doubt stay in for some of these with Myra or Nellie.

After I finished up there I went to see Lorraine at Salon Fredericks and got my new wig. It is made from real human hair and is much more comfortable than the other one. I have a pic below. I have a wig on in some of the pics but the real one is in the last pic on this page. Thus far everone has given it two thumbs up. I got out for  a walk with Corinne on Saturday and it was sure good to get out in the fresh air. I was so happy to be feeling good.  On Tuesday I felt great too and went back to my card club and had a lovely night with Helen, Ruth, Linda, Sadie and Florence. I even won third place!!! Life seems to be slowly getting back to normal for sure.  I had a couple of down days after that but am on the upswing again. Had a minor setback  but saw the dr and got it taken care of.... looking forward to a productive few days until the end of the month when I go back again.

Anyway I'll sign off here. Emily is going skiing in Clarenville tomorrow and I am heading out to help her get her gear in order. I hope she has the time of her life  but please , please. please  God  ....don't let her fall and break anything...there's no room for sickness in the Welsh house anymore...we've had more than our share thus far this year!!! After you have a look at the pics, scroll all the way to the bottom for my joke!! Take Care until next time... Your Breast Friend Kim

Happy Birthday

Nan & pop came to help celebrate

The best Book ever...Thanks Rick & Cher

Again From Rick & Cher... A journal to record my thoughts

Me and my "oldest& dearest" friend



You can figure out who is who here Carletta



Corinne came and made my day



The cutest baby in Newfoundland



The Love Birds

Maureen, my long time friend and former teacher

Thanks to Joan Wood for the beautiful Prayer Shawl

Words to live by

The new Mrs. Welsh!!!!! They Say Blondes have more fun...I'll let you all know

Now for the joke ( since I am now a blonde I figure I can get away with this one)

A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead are stranded on a desert island with no hope of rescue. They are tired and hungry and decide to look around for food. All of a suuden they find a genie's lamp and agree they'll each get one wish.

The brunette and the redhead  each took a turn and both wish they were at home.

The blonde then says, "Gee, I'm kinda lonely ... I wish  all my friends were here ..."

P>S ... pleae forgive the typos ... too tired to do editing now.