Hello everyone!
This month is breast cancer awareness month. I have a few designs of my own that I have made because I am a breast cancer patient. Each one of my patterns has a story relating to this awful cancer.
I had, during my 50th year, breast cancer (5 years ago). I had to go through a long ordeal as many of you have done yourselves. I thought the battle was over and that I was cancer free and I felt good, though not as strong as before. I had a lot of struggles over the last years because all that chemo, radiation and lumpectomies sap your strength. But as a CANCER WARRIOR I felt that I would prevail. I was taking Tamoxifen which is an Estrogen blocker (my cancer was Estrogen positive) for the last 4 1/2 years and I thought that I might be safe because of it.
But now at 55, sorry to say, I wasnt. Instead the breast cancer got into the bone of my left arm and destroyed a good piece of it. I was unaware that the awful and increasing pain that I was experiencing over those last 6 months (before April of this year) was in fact not a simple muscle pain or arthritis but the dreaded cancer.
It was discovered and investigated with lots of tests and finally a bone biopsy to be my breast cancer gone over into the bone (a common place that breast cancer likes to invade). I am now at STAGE 4 BREAST CANCER. It is incurable and I am having treatments such as radiation and hormone treatments and bone remodifying drugs to help with the cancer.
My bone in my arm was very fragile, so I was pulled out of my job as a CNA in a nursing home because of impending fracture. My arm did indeed break only 3 days before I was to have a rod put in to support my arm. The pain was extreme and I had to spend 4 1/2 days in the hospital and have surgery finally.
After that I had the radiation and am still having physical therapy. I have to have my bone therapy injection every month.
This is quite a battle I am fighting, and currently I am feeling better now that radiation is done, and I am getting past some of the awful fatigue. In the meantime I am so thankful that I can knit and work on my designs as a knitting pattern designer. I dont have my job anymore, so at least I feel like I am still a productive part of society.
Each of these designs--like I said have a story of their own!
The first is my TERRY'S KINDNESS INFINITY SCARF. This is a free pattern. I wanted it to be free to honor my dear friend who has taken me to so many of my therapy appointments and many tests and Dr visits. She has done this for me out of so much kindness in her heart. She has never expected or wanted any payment for helping me with all the gas she uses to drive me to so many places. She is a true friend and I am so glad to have gotten to know and love her! She is a retired schoolteacher and still gives so much of her time to others.
The next one is called RHONDALY INFINITY SCARF. This one is dedicated to another dear friend who has spent so much of her time driving me to appointments as well. We have had a great time visiting and also going for walks around my yard. She had a gadget that measured how far we walked so that I knew how far to go on my own to measure a 10th of a mile. I am supposed to walk to build up my strength and bones. But with the fatigue I had this summer it was hard to go far. This gave me encouragement to try to see how many 10ths of a mile I could go and maybe go a little more each time. Thank you Rhonda!! Earlier this summer after my surgery and during the radiation treatments I was lucky to walk 1 mile the whole month!! I am up to about 2 miles a week now!!
The next scarf is called COURAGE LACE SCARF! This scarf represented my courage! One day, I was feeling discouraged. I had been having tests done on my arm, and I found out it was so bad and being taken out of my job with no pay, and having all these difficult things to think about, I was getting depressed. So, I told myself--lets get cheered up!! And the one thing that really cheers me up and occupies my mind so entirely is to work on the charts for a new design. So I got all happy again, working on this new pink scarf! I named it courage because so many people with stage 4 cancer are scared and the fear of dying a horrible drawn out death from cancer is uppermost in their minds when they first find out about their sickness. They need courage!
Wow, I have been busy! Knitting keeps me going!
Next are some of my hat and scarf patterns! The patterns with the hats and scarves are ones that I knitted up for myself 5 years ago when I was bald and so cold from the chemotherapy.This pattern I named-SUPER SOFT CHEMO HATS AND SCARVES.I wore these hats all day long in the house. I could not stand the cold. I still have them just in case I do have to end up having chemo again in my future!! I am hoping not--but if I have to I will do it again! At least I would know what to expect!!
I just finished this new hat pattern yesterday. The hat itself will be donated to the cancer department at the hospital where I am treated. The new pattern is called--COMFY SOFT CHEMO HAT. I discovered in my own experience that using baby sport weight yarn that was soft felt the best on my very sensitive scalp. It is also very light weight and doesnt feel tight on the bare skin. When you lose your hair, your scalp suffers too.
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| Here I am this year with my hair!! |
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I have also designed some scarves for my Radiation therapists and my physcial therapist. I have one more almost finished for my radiation therapist which is not show here. The first 2 are for the women and the blue is for the man (PT). They are all very gentle and kind and caring people who are very dedicated to their patients and who make the time spent with them a good time. Even though I was in pain--I could tell that they cared.
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| LACE FOR MARY SCARF |
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| THERESA'S LACY SCARF |
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| TEXTURED MEDALLION SCARF |
All these patterns can be found in Ravelry Craftsy or Etsy pattern shops.
Here are some links:
http://www.ravelry.com/designers/melody-hadley
http://www.craftsy.com/user/53526/pattern-store
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MerryMelodyDesigns
