Babe Mug

Morphing Mug

A truly unique mug. When it’s cold, it’s just a simple black mug.

When you add any hot beverage (water, tea, coffee, etc.), your mug turns white and the image comes to life in vibrant colors.

11 oz. Hand wash only. Imported.

Glassy Dots Tie

Tie

What’s a tailored suit without a custom tie! Create one-of-a-kind ties for yourself or your loved ones. Upload your own images and patterns, or browse thousands of stylish designs to wear in the office or on the town.

• 55″ long, 4″ wide (at widest point).
• Unlimited colors.
• Made of silky 100% polyester fabric.

Life..The Other Four Letter Word Long Sleeve Shirt

Ladies Long Sleeve

Tailored for women by Bella, our Long Sleeve Tee will quickly become your favorite.

Made from 5 oz, 100% super-soft cotton, baby jersey knit with custom contoured fit.

Has cover-stitched ¾” bottom hem and sleeve openings.

NOTE: Sizes run extremely small. Order 1 to 2 sizes larger than normal. Imported.

Life..The Other Four Letter Word Key Chain

Basic Button Keychain

Set your keys apart with a custom keychain. Create your own or choose from thousands of cute and cool designs. The sturdy clasp keeps keys together securely, and holds up well through daily wear-and-tear.

Diameter: 2.25 inches, great for purses and pockets.
Depth: .19 inches
Weight: .25 ounces

• Full-color, full-bleed printing
• Waterproof
• Add Photos, Artwork and Text

Life..The Other Four Letter Word Ball Cap

Trucker Hat

• 100% polyester foam front
• Wide area to feature your design
• 100% nylon mesh back keeps you cool
• Adjustable from 17″ to 24″
• Available in 11 color combinations

4 The Fight Against Cancer

4 The Fight Against Cancer

Here you will find some fantastic items to not only show your support towards the fight against cancer but also helps fund efforts for research and treatment.

Not So Much Back To Normal….

Well, wouldn’t you know it?  The so-called going back to normal for a family that has a loved one battling cancer didn’t last very long.

My husband is BACK in the hospital.  Thursday he had an appointment to have an Echocardiogram done in order to make sure his heart was doing okay.

Halfway during the testing, the nurse hops up, tells us she has to go check his chart for something and then moved so quickly out of the room, she practically kicked up a breeze as she darted by me.

Next thing we knew, the Cardiologist came into the room, asked us which hospital we preferred and then proceeded to tell us that there is fluid in the sac surrounding Troy’s heart.  He didn’t say if there was a lot but we figured that with how everyone was acting, that there must have been a significant amount there.

Go figure….

So, the nurse comes back and finishes the Echo, which took only about 5 more minutes.  Then we headed on over to the hospital so Troy could be admitted in order to get ready for surgery the next morning.

Friday morning comes, the surgeon comes in and talks to us, going over step by step of the procedure and making sure we understood everything.

What they were going to do was to make an incision under his sternum, go in and make their way up towards his heart, cut a couple of holes in the Pericardial Sac and drain off whatever fluid is present.  Those two ‘windows’ as they called them, will stay open in order to allow the fluid to automatically be drained away from his heart since this is going to be a repeating occurrence due to the cancer and the chemo that Troy is going through.  

They also made another little hole beneath the incision to place a drain tube to allow whatever fluid remains to drain on it’s own.

Well, the surgeon told us that when he’s gone in and drained fluid from around hearts before, he usually takes off 30cc’s (a cc-cubic centimeter is the same as a ml-milliliter) or less…this would equal to the size of a medicine cup, so imagine that and anywhere from a little bit in that cup to being completely full is what the surgeon said is what he normally would take off of a heart.

Wouldn’t you know it?  MY husband just HAD to do more than that!  The initial drainage during surgery amounted to 700cc’s…yes, you read that correctly…700!!!  If you take a 24 ounce soda bottle, this is about how much he had drained off of what was around his heart initially.  Then to top it off, when he left the recovery room and made it back to his room on the Oncology Ward, they drained off yet another 300cc’s (=’s to 10 ounces), so in total Troy had over 1000cc’s of fluid drained from the sac around his heart…that is equal to about a quart of milk!!  Can you IMAGINE having that amount of fluid crushing a human heart?  My husband literally could have been sitting there talking to us or laying in bed next to me sleeping and then without warning just DIED!!  This was the scariest thing I had ever had to hear and/or imagine!

Luckily he did NOT leave the kids and I.  He’s still in the hospital though.  I miss him so much.  This is the second time in a week and a half that he’s been away from us…stuck in the hospital.  He received two units of blood last night because he was a bit anemic.  This also is due to the chemo wreaking havoc on his body.  

He’s unfortunately had yet another problem pop up.  Yesterday the poor nurses kept running down to the room to check on him because his heart rate kept jumping up to the 150′s and reached even higher, to the 190′s.  So, the surgeon thought it could possibly be that the drain tube may have migrated up a bit and was touching or just too close to his heart, so they removed the tube.  For about 3 hours there was nothing wrong then all of a sudden, while he was just laying there talking to me, the nurse came running into his room again.  He had jumped up past the 150 rate yet again.  She put in a call to the surgeon and next thing we know, Troy was hooked up to a Magnesium drip and given a beta-blocker which was supposed to slow down his heart rate.  So far, so good.  Only bad thing is that he just seems too sluggish.  I don’t know if it’s just because of all that’s been going on, all the meds, the anesthesia, the anemia or if there’s something else going on.

This cancer has sure proven to be a formidable foe for my poor husband.  It’s just been one obstacle after another but we’re coming through them, one by one and Troy has done well with taking on all these small battles…but he still has a long way to go before he can finally win the war against this cancer.  If anyone can do it, I have faith that he can be the one.

I have no clue when he’ll be able to finally come back home.  We’re thinking maybe today but not totally sure considering how he’s been feeling as of late.  He’s not wanting to stay there but also not wanting to come home if things aren’t taken care of with him 100% and then goes downhill once home and then ends up back in the hospital again.  So, we will see how this goes today. 

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

If you enjoy cheesecake, then you will love these cupcakes. They consist of cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, a layer of homemade raspberry jelly, and are topped with cream cheese whipped cream. Can you say yum?

Ingredients:

Cheesecake

(3) 8 Ounce Packages Cream Cheese
4 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon and 1 Teaspoon Flour
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Fresh Raspberries for Garnish

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream

2 and 2/3 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream, liquid not already whipped
3 Tablespoons Cream Cheese, softened

Raspberry Jelly

1 and 1/3 Cups Raspberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Water

Graham Cracker Crust

1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/3 Cup Butter, melted
2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Step 1Make the Raspberry Jelly

Bring the raspberries, sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix well, breaking apart the raspberries with the end of your spoon. Allow to boil for 7 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Then put it in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 2Make the Graham Cracker Crust

In a small bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar cinnamon, and graham cracker crumbs. Add the butter, and mix well. It should get kind of clumpy now, and should stick together if you press it between your fingers. Set it aside.

Step 3Make the Cheesecake

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and cream cheese until well blended. Add the heavy whipping cream and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.

Step 4Assemble the Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Get out your cupcake pan and put in cupcake liners. Place 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture at the bottom of each cup, pressing it into the bottom of the cup gently with the backs of your curled fingers. Then, place 1 teaspoon of the raspberry jelly in the center of each of the graham cracker crusts. Next, fill each cup 3/4 full with the cheesecake mixture. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and continue to bake for another 12 to 16 minutes, or until the tops of the cheesecakes are golden. They will crack at the top, and that is okay, because we will be covering the cracks with whipped cream.

Step 5Make the Whipped Cream

While the cupcakes are baking, make the cheese whipped cream. Put the heavy whipping cream and cream cheese in a medium-sized bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the mixture on high for about 2 minutes, or until a dense and thick whipped cream forms. This will be much thicker than store bought whipping cream, and it will pipe out of the frosting bag quite nicely! Cover and refrigerate.

Step 6Chill the Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature. Then, place them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill. Now they are ready to be frosted.

Step 7Frost the Cupcakes

Fit a frosting bag with a size 13 closed star frosting tip. Now fill the bag two-thirds full of the whipped cream and roll down the empty top of the bag until the whipped cream is nice and compacted inside, as air bubbles will cause the frosting to sputter out messily rather than in nice, clean strokes. Grab a cupcake and start icing it around the outside edge, continuing around the edge until you are about to meet the point where you started frosting. Curl the frosting into the center of the cupcake, and you are done! It is basically like making a single, large spiral.

Repeat this process with all of the cupcakes. Garnish the tops with a single raspberry. Serve immediately and refrigerate any leftovers.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Cheesecake-Cupcakes/?ALLSTEPS

Paper Flower Key Holder

Here’s how:

1. Cut out a circle in the cardboard that is a bit larger than a quarter.

2. Cut your wire hanger in a section that is about 10î long.

3. Bend it like you see in the photo. It should have a hook and an area where you can glue it down. Each end should have a tiny loop. The tiny loop at the top is for the nail.

4. Hot glue the wire on top of the circle of cardboard.

5. Cut out 6 layers of book pages in a flower pattern provided using straight edge scissors and pinking shears so that your flower has texture.

6. Staple the layers together in the middle in an X (this is my big flower making secret)

7. Fold up the top layer to cover the staples and continue folding up the layers to make your flower come to life.

8. Lightly spray with the Krylon Clear Coat and let dry.

9. Give it several more coats of the Krylon Clear Coat but only a little at a time. Do this until the flower is nice and sturdy.

10. Hot glue the flower on top of the wire and disk and hang it with a nail.

Back To Normal….Sort Of….

Well, my husband finally back it back home after 5 days in the hospital.  It’s been really nice having him back…I sure did miss him!  He had a bit of pneumonia going on which of course is expected with cancer patients on chemo.  His Oncologist prescribed him some antibiotics for this week and today he ended up having some I.V. fluids administered.  Hopefully he’ll start to feeling better so he can continue with his chemo which is supposed to be given on Tuesday but he’ll more than likely end up having to take a bit of  break…maybe a week, in order to let his body try to recover because we sure don’t want him to get chemo again, become even sicker than what he was before and then land back in the hospital.  

Which is why I listed this post as Back To Normal….Sort Of.  Normal would be no more cancer but since this isn’t possible now, the routine of taking things day by day, dealing with all the bad parts of cancer and chemo and treasuring each day is what is now our normal. :/