My Breast Cancer 3 Day journey

2010 will mark my 3rd Breast Cancer 3 Day walk.

At the end of 2007 I had seen the walkers close to my house and I thought to myself, "I should do that one year".
Little did I know that "one year" was going to come so soon.

In May of 2008, I found out that one of my co-workers had been diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer and was going to be undergoing a double mastectomy. I was dumbfounded.
This strong, beautiful and amazing woman was only 28! Plus she had absolutely NO family history. She was not supposed to get breast cancer. Yet she did.

I wanted someway to show support for her. At first I cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love in her honor. But I felt I needed to do something more.

So I registered for my first 3 Day. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
I was very fortunate that first year, as I had one donar give me all the funds I needed to walk.
I also found a team online and joined them. Team Walking On...it was one of the best things I ever did!
So I walked that first year having only done 1 training walk. BIG MISTAKE! LOL
The first day I met a group of girls, we were all pretty slow walkers so we walked together and shared stories and talked about our lives and we laughed...A LOT!
I managed to go about 12 miles out of the 20 that first day. The second day I was not as fortunate. My calf muscles seized up and I could not walk. It was one of the most excruciating pains I have ever felt (except for maybe child labor!). I only got about 8 miles in. I was going to bus to lunch the last day then walk into closing but I am stubborn. I had also met up with my "crew" from Day 1 and we walked together again.
Just before lunch myself and one of the other ladies needed to stop. Turns out she had injured her knee in a fall the day before and it was locked up. We took a van to lunch and went right to medical. She ended up going to the hospital and met back up with us at closing-on crutches. I got my calf muscles massaged and my feet and ankles taped up. I again was supposed to bus to holding but I am stubborn...and I took off on my own walking. I was the last walker...but I was walking.

I ended up being the last walker in on that last day (and I have the pin and pictures to prove it!) but I didn't care...I had FINISHED!

The first year I had an amazing experience and had met some of the most amazing men and women and listened to their stories. I knew I had to walk again.

So in 2009 I again decided to walk with my teammated from Team Walking On.
I trained more..not enough but more...lots more than the year before.
Unfortunately I also gained weight that year and it seemed to be a bad thing.

So in 2009 I walked and I actually finished Day 1. It was the first time I had actually walked into camp and I was so happy I was bawling! I felt great (other than a few sore muscles but when you walk 20 miles in a day what do you expect!).
I was looking froward to day 2.
Day 2 I went to medical to have my muscles massaged and taped as the calves were once again a little sore but I knew if they were taped I should be ok, and off I went.

One of the girls I met in 2008 was going to be at a pit stop cheering for me as she had decided against walking this year. I could not wait to see her. While we kept in touch during the year through a few emails and Facebook, we had not seen each other since the walk the prior year.
Unfortunately my feet had other ideas. I started having this pain in my left foot but I ignored it. I HAD to get to all the pit stops and cheering stations to see her.
So I decided to take a sweep van to the next pit stop, rested, and took off walking until the pain was too much and swept to the next stop. I did this up until lunch where i went to medical to have them check it out. I thought maybe my calves were acting up. So they were medically massaged again and my tape was redone on them.
I also had an adjustment done-boy did that feel great!

I ate my lunch, took care of blisters starting to form and took off walking some more.This day was a rainy one and soon I was walking in the rain, in pain.
I swept once more to the last pit stop before the cheering station my friend was going to be at. I was advised by a team member who was on medical not to walk...I didn't listen!
So I started out on those 2 miles to the cheering station knowing if I got there and saw my friend I could quit for the day with no regrets.
Unfortunatley, about a mile down the road, the throbbing in my foot turned to stabbing shooting pain. I couldn't take another step...so I stopped and waited for a van. I went back to camp and went to medical. I was iced up and then tested for a fracture which the test came back negative. However I was red-carded (meaning no walking at ALL) and told to come back after dinner to see how it was doing. If it was better I could be allowed to walk the last day.
SO I went back, knowing the news would not be good. Just walking to me tent and to dinner I was nearly in tears.
SO medical shipped me off to the hospital ER for X-rays.
There the ER said my X-rays showed I had a chip fracture in my foot. I was given a post-surgical boot and crutches. The red card was remaining. I was devestated. I felt like I had let me donars down, like I had let those who had trusted me with the names of loved ones to walk for down.

Day 3 had me sitting on a bus going from camp to lunch, then from lunch to holding.
At holding I was able to cheer the walkers coming in and it really brightened my spirits. I cried with the walkers as they came across the "finish line". It was an experience I had not had the first year and I am so greatful I was able to have it.

After the walk, I went to see a podiatrist who said I did not have a chip fracture but had a "Bulging tendon and tendonitis". He took away the crutches and instead gave me a walking boot, and sent me off to physical therapy. The physical therapist stated I had "tendonitis and a ligament strain". After a month, the walking boot came off.

Several months later, foot better but not 100% I decided not to walk in 2010 but instead to crew.

Then I learned my beautiful co-worker had her cancer come back, only this time it had mestastisised to her liver.
I was starting to waver on crewing versus walking.

Then this past Monday April 5th 2010 I learned my Daddy has early stage melanoma.
Now, I have ALWAYS walked the 3 Day for ALL cancers, not just Breast Cancer. I believe in my heart of hearts that if we can find the cure for one, we will find the cure for all. SO I walk for ALL cancers.

After hearing about my daddy, i was no longer wavering.
I called the 3 day coaches (who by the way are AMAZING!) and made the switch from crew to walker. This year the walk is personal. I am not walking for a friend, or friends of friends alone, I am walking for them and for my own family, for my Daddy.
This time, it's personal...much more than it has ever been before.

I will continue to walk, even if I end up in a walking boot again, until we have a cure and there is no longer a need to walk. Hell, I'll do the walk IN THE WALKING BOOT if I have to!

So it's back to fundraising, and training (this time I am doing ALL the training), and raising awareness to find a cure for cancer no matter where it affects us.
Because EVERYONE DESERVES A LIFETIME!

Please feel free to support me on this journey as I once again raise $2300.00 to walk.
Donations can be made at www.the3day.org/goto/Janna.Florie

Fallen Marine's Family ordered to pay legal fees

So my political side is coming out again.

I came across this story and it angered me.

I am the ex-wife of an active duty Marine. He is getting ready to go to Afghanistan in a few weeks. If something happens to him it will affect me and our son. If he were killed in action I can tell you now, if some "religious" group protested outside the funeral where my son would see...I would probably be arrested myself for assault.

I can honor Freedom of Speech and I honestly feel like this case the way it stands now, will be upheld as disgusting as it is. Freedom of Speech is one of the best parts about living in these great United States.

It is just awful that this brave Marine went off and gave his life so these shmucks could spit on his grave while his family was mourning.

I wonder if someone went to thier loved ones funeral with signs such as they were holding if they would be able to shrug it off as "Freedom of Speech".

I cannot imagine any greater emotional pain then holding a protest such as this at a funeral. It is beyond comprehension for me.

That was a son, a brother, maybe a father and husband. An Uncle, cousin etc. There are people who loved him very much that had to witness this atrocity.

I think for those that are as outraged as I am, if we all donate even $1.00 to the family, they can pay the legal fees and not have to worry about it.

I've ignored this blog for 2 years now.
Whoops.

Since I know not many people read this haha it's now become my own little place where I can discuss what I want; without fear of having to censor myself or pretend that all is hunky dory when really, it's not.

Have you ever had that feeling that nothing is going right?
That you are dying from the inside?
That no matter what you do, instead of getting better things just keep getting worse?

That's what's going on for me right now.

There is this HUGE urge every morning to just get in the car and instead of heading into work, just driving and not stopping until I am out of gas.
Each paycheck I have to fight the urge to just load up a U-Haul with everything I own and taking off for lord knows where.

Some may say, "Do it, just go".
But then the fear...that grippling fear takes a hold of me. The one where I wonder, what will happen to if there is an emergency? Who will help me with the boys, or the car if I leave and have no one around-no family or friends?
So I fight the urge to leave and stay.
Stuck.
Bored.
Unhappy.

I want something new. I feel like I NEED something new. This life here is NOT working for me.
I have a job that while I enjoy the people and the company, I am bored in. There is no challenge. No room to advance.
In 10 years if I stayed, I'd most likely still be doing the same thing. I want more. I deserve more.
I know that I have skills that I are not being used. That are being wasted.
But the fear of something new keeps me back from even updating my resume. What does that tell you?

I have a handful of things in my life right now the genuinely give me happiness. First amongst those are my boys.
But I can't give them the life I want to...the life they deserve. I can't even give them a home of our own.
I have some great friends, but I don't see them enough. Most of them also do not understand how I feel. They are not in the same situation. They have homes, and husbands and love. The things I can only see in my dreams. But once the light hits my face, the reality sets in and those dreams fade for another time...a time when my eyes are closed and the dream world exists.
I have the 3 day. That gives me joy...to raise money and walk for a good cause. It is about the only thing right now that I feel passionate about. The only thing I feel good about besides the boys.
And yet, there are those around me including family who do not understand that, who do not support that.

I don't know what to do...something needs to be done. I can't continue this way.
As my friend Steven aka GB said...I need to stop the negativity as its not healthy.
However, I am always honest with my feelings. And if they are negative, then I will express them. Sorry GB. Better to express them and get them out, then keep them in and go crazy.

This was supposed to be my year...I felt it. Then it started to fade. It's not going according to plan.
I guess it's time to rethink things, come up with a new plan.

Sherrif, mayor at odd over illegal immigration

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24097966



Read the article at the above link.



First let me say that I live in Maricopa County. This issue has been in the news for months now.



I am a registered Republican. Sherrif Joe is Republican, but I can assure you that I will never vote for him and have not in the past few elections.



Now with that being said, this is one issue in which I support Sherrif Joe.



Let me provide a little background into how these patrols began. A local businessman contacted the Sherrifs office to see of off duty officers could begin to patrol his business as "day laborers" were hanging out and tresspasing on his property. If you are not aware of what day laborers are, they are mostly illegal immigrants who camp out on street corners etc and wait to be picked up to do work. They get paid under the table in cash in exchange for thier services. They do not pay taxes on thier wages. They most often harras women as they walk buy, the litter, they even urinate on the property. I have had to go into my old daycare where the day laborers are hanging out and have seen the mess they leave. I've been wistled at, and had rude comments directed at me. That is why I no longer use that daycare or businesses where these people hang out. They are mostly men and yes mostly hispanic.



These people and the ACLU had the NERVE to portest against this businessman because he asked off duty Sherrif Officers to patrol his business and keep these day laborers away. They said their rights were being taken away. Really? What about this man's right to earn a living. He was losing business.



So that was how the patrols and the protests all began.



Sherrif Joe and his Sherrif's are only pulling people over who have commited a traffic violation. SO they have already broken the law and are being pulled over for that. What this article is not telling you is that people of all races are pulled over in these saturation patrols. Not just hispanic people which is what it wants you to beleive. And everyone is being asked thier immigration status. There have been illegals of other races that have been arrested. Again not just Hispanic or Latino which is what the media would like you to belive.



Sherrif Joe is doing what the Federal and local government have been to lazy to do, and that is enforce our laws.

While there is a lot about Sherrif Joe that I dislike (his huge waste of tax payer money, his constant need to have his ugly mug in the news and on camera and how everything sems to be about him), this is one issue that I am 100% behind him on.

I hope he does not stop them.

This does not make me racist, or a hatist.

I am sick of our laws being ignored and not enforced. I am sick of people making immigration a race issue. it's not, its a law enforcement issue. If you are here illegally, I don't give a rats ass where you are from. You are in the wrong. You do not have the protection of our laws so stop trying to hide behind the Constitution. You ignored that document to come to this country illegally but want to use it for your benefit to try and stay here illegaly.



Is our policy on immigration perfect. Oh hell no. I hate the fact that families can be and are ebing ripped apart because the children were born here and are citizens and the parents are here illegally. It sucks and something better needs to be done about it. I am not sure what that something is though. I admit that I don't know the best way to fix it, but it needs fixing.



We need securer borders, but we need to make sure we are allowing people in. This country was founded on immigration and we need to not lose sight of that. Immigration is not a bad thing. Illegal immigration is.



This past summer we had 2 police officers lives cut short by illegals. A few summers ago, an illegal immigrant killed his ex wives family and kidnapped the kids and went back to his home country. Luckily he was caught but the only way his government would turn him over for extradition to the US was if the death penalty was taken off the table. Night after night on the news there are reports of crimes and the people arrested. And night after night, the majority of them are here illegally.



It's getting old and something needs to be done. Sherrif Joe is finally doing something.

For this alone I commend him. ALthough he still doesn't have my vote :-) Sorry Joe.

You have to be kidding me:

This is my first official blog. I read a great many blogs each day and finally decided that instead of leaving comments all over the place I would start my own.

I saw this article at gateway pundit...check the link out below.

Gateway Pundit: Veteran Sentenced For Desecrating Mexican Flag at UNM Campus#comments

I cannot beleive that in this day and age we can sit back and allow someone to desecrate and American Flag in the name of Freedom of Speech but will prosecute someone for taking down a Mexican flag flying solo on a college campus. That act is a signal of war or that a territory has been taken over when it is not flying alongside an American flag.

This veteran did the absolutely right thing in taking that flag down and ripping it up. It had no place flying solo on American ground. The fact that the college did nothing about this is cowardly in my opinion. This veteran should not be prosecuted. And shame on whomever it was that found this man guilty and shame on the judge for sentencing him.

The saddest part of this is that if this man had done the exact same action to an American flag not only would he never had been prosecuted, it would been praised by many as a brave show of Freedom of Speech.

There is something seriously wrong with this picture.

I'm ashamed.