It was another very long work day. But I’m grateful I got approval for my part-time, temporary worker to stay on full-time. Thankfully, that works for her, too. She’s been a real asset to the team, and has picked up the work quickly. Everyone is glad she’s going to stay. Woohoo!

I’m also thankful I was invited to a small get together of women after work. It was nice to meet some new faces and chat about common interests.

I was given this today, which made me laugh. I’m thankful for a little bit of fun during the day.

I’m grateful today for not spending my day angry. And for finding some art supplies I wanted at a discount. And for a beautiful evening.

Boo. This weekend went by too quickly. Time is ticking on getting stuff done for the craft show in October. However, I did get some more of my spirit dolls done today, so I’m thankful for that. AND I finally used the saw I got for my birthday 3 years ago. Bonus.

I got to hang out with my mom for a little bit today and see my sister, Jenny. They were in town for a wedding and stopped by. My mom decided to stay with us while my sister went back to her in-laws for the afternoon. We did some shopping and had lunch before Jenny came back to claim her.

I’m thankful for getting to spend time with my family. And for a relaxing evening with my silly boys.

Love these late summer flowers from the garden. Aren’t they fun? It looks like I created a flowery bird.

I’m thankful for nature and music and a quick visit with friends.

When I explained to the MRI tech about my scheduled spine MRI on Sunday, she agreed to rearrange things and got both tests done this morning. Yay!

A breast MRI, which I’ve had before, is done laying on my stomach. The spine MRI required me to lay on my back, so I got a bit claustrophobic right away. I had to talk myself down and keep my eyes closed the entire time. I’m glad there was a fan blowing and I was wearing headphones. She said the first spine test would last about 20 mins, so I just kept counting the songs as they played. I figured most songs last about 4 mins, so I could listen to 5 or 6 songs with my eyes closed and pretend I was laying on the beach. Wind blowing. Warm sun (the MRI machine gets warm!).

Then we switched to the first breast test, which was another 20 mins or so. Then the next breast test which required an injection of contrast dye. Another 10 or so mins. Finally, we ended with a spine contrast, which was about 10 mins more. And just as we were about done, the tech paused and said she wanted to do one more test. That’s when I got nervous.

It took all day to get my results. The breast results came first and were fine. I got very nervous when the spine results didn’t follow right away. And when I got them, I felt like crying. No cancer. What a relief! The spot is a benign hemangioma, which is essentially a collection of abnormal blood vessels. It usually doesn’t cause any symptoms.

The scan also showed some normal spinal degeneration which makes me feel old. I’ll take that though. I finally feel like this cancer part of my life is officially over. Patrick and I celebrated by hanging out in our backyard with a drink and following it up with cake. I’m so thankful for this good news!

As I thought, I wasn’t able to get my spine MRI scheduled with my already scheduled one tomorrow. Booo. When I called to schedule, the woman on the phone said there was no way they would get the insurance approval before tomorrow. The earliest appointment was Sunday afternoon, so I took it. Then wouldn’t you know, my insurance approval came through this afternoon. Go figure.

I am thankful I was able to get my appointment scheduled this week and not have to wait too long. I’m also thankful for a little time outside at lunch and a yummy BLT sandwich for dinner with fresh garden tomatoes. Mmm.

Why does life make it so hard to be grateful?! My PET scan results showed a spot near my spine that is probably just inflammation. However, given my history, they suggest a follow up MRI. I have a breast one already scheduled for Wednesday morning but it won’t include the spot in question. I called my doctor’s office to see if I could get the scheduled one changed, but my doctor is on vacation this week. They sent him a message anyway, but the likelihood to get the MRI changed and approved by insurance tomorrow is probably pretty low. I’m more frustrated than worried at this point. Grrr.

There is a niggling of worry but I am thankful that nothing else showed up anywhere. That’s a big relief. I’m going to attempt to push through whatever is necessary to get my appointment Wednesday to include what’s needed to get my spine checked. Fingers crossed!