Wow, 29 viewers ina few short hours!  Here's a recap of my situation so tou don't have to scroll all the way back to whereever it is I posted my story ( can't believe I've done 45 since I started in jan!, wi th 499 views total!!
I was always a sick child, catching every cols.  U sneeze I was guaranteed to get it.  By the time I got out of highschool my immune systwm seemed to be a little steonger, hut the pain became more frequent. *had pain a lot with sick, but parents thought I was seekeing attention*   over the courcourse of 4 years in college I had a procedure for endometriosis which gave me temporary pain relief.   Then it came back and got worse .  Pain I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.   In 2009i was diagnosed eith non hodgekins lymphoma large b cell in about 85% of my skeleton.  I went through 5 months of chemo and was very fortunate that the drugs took away the tumors and healed the bone!!  It took me a ehile to process what I went through, I went back to school and graduated and continued to masters and graduated!  I'm feeling better then ever. The pain stopped half way through treatment and my family is clos er then ever, I've worked on forgiveness and moving forrward and understanding what I went through how I've changed and where I'm going.

When one chapter closes, another begins

Summer is coming to an end, and fall is begining.  I will be having my new job orientation starting monday and was already called yesterday to ask if I'd like extra hours due to another employee takin maternity leave!  Its so exciting, I can't wait to meet both of my new bosses (two different buildings /locations within the large facility) and figure out my new schedule.  I bought a new date book so I can't wait to start filling it in!  Considering where I was four years ago this thanksgiving the idea of it all is almost surreal.  Was I going to survive vs I'm a masters graduate with job and internship! ( internship slow to start but that's ok). 

I also met a drama therapist at my internship who was visitng, and we have kept in touch. For anyone else interested in the creative arts therapys and hemodialysis units, we are considering teaming up to start a research project!  No clue when or where yet but we are in the process of looking up grants and scholarships, and a potential music therapist tp join us!

With all this employment excitement, I can finally take responsibility for my financial concerns and am that much closer to living on my own!  (Yay bills, car phone loans etc).   I'm fortunate to say my bills from cancer treatment are almost if not finished thanks to my dad, but I have everything else to take over and loan repayments start in november.  I have been looking at other blogs though, and wondered if any other viewrrs have questions of my experience with cancer.  As I have mentioned,  the financial burden was horrendous and I was very lucky to have my family support me in that aspect.  I would be glad to answer any questions in my next entry, either post them here or privately.

Omg I'm officially an adult!

I have recieved the offical job offer for life enrichment assistant!!! Qualify for benefits and everything even with part time!  So instead of school shopping I bought a brand new planner for all the activities ill be planning for my neww job and new blouses!!!  Omg so excited. Bright and early tomorrow I get to fill out paperwork and either wait till sept 9 for orientation or start sooner!!!

Has it really been 4 years?

4 years ago at this time I was getting a handicap pass to go back to school.  The fall of 2009, I was in my final year of undergrad, my sister inlaw was pregnant with my lil nephew, and I was preparing for a internship at a community center with an art therapist.  I was also in severe on going pain, and needed the handicap pass to get closer parking on campus and other places.  My chiro was onl y minimally taking the pain away by that point but I was determined to continue school, my part time in class aid job, and do my internship. Hell I made it that far right? What was another school year of pain when I could at least park closer to my destination.

Now, my brother is getting a divorce, I survived the pain, chemotherapy, my undergrad and masters program, am interning at alocal hospital chain with an expressive art therapy program, and today had an awesome interview as a life enrichment assistant at an assisted living facility! !!!!!!!

  I thought the pain would kill me, but here I am stronger then ever finally reaching my goals.  Its totally awesome!  On top of that since I'm back in state I get to see my nephews, last week me and the older one went to a snake show!   And the younger one learned how to use learning games on my ipad :) yay for elmo!  But he has also discpvered our ols big bike and soccer!  The older one enjoys frogs and reading about squids.  Oh the joys of little ones.   

Now that I'm finally doing art therapy, its time to move to next goals and not let my medicall history haunt me from meeting my prince charming and giving my nephews some cousins!  Who knows, maybe santa will help me out this christmas :)   yay for no pain and doing what I enjoy! ( now keep ur fin gers crossed that I get this job, should find out by friday)

Cards galore

Hey again, I just want to post a shout out to two friends who are making some spare gas money with their hobbies. http://www.etsy.com/people/kittycup , my old roomie and http://www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyPawsbyTrisha my other old roomie!  Both have amazing selections, crafty paws has been around a bit longer so the selection is greater, but kittycup has a nice variety of cards and decorations, and is slowly growing, so please take a look and send them message for custom made cards and decor!

Wooohoo!!

Soo excited, am officially at my internship, just need to finalise my schedule, and today I got called for an interview!!!!!!  Tuesday afternoon I may have a new part time job!  And also made plans for an expressive art therapy card workshop that my friend and I are leading this fall! *refering to the minion crafter who will for sure be commenting here ;) *  any who,  such an awesome day, had to share!

Art therapy, the new begining

Since I will be volunteering and recieving supervision I started a new journal!

Every semester in my program we recieved a brand new journal to use during our practicum and internship for self reflection, questions, supervision notes, etc.  This time however I am trying something new, I am creating a journal via  "altered book" method.  I raided half price books for some cheap books that had good illustration with decent weight pages and tonight I was finally inspired to start!

When this project was originally introduced to me back in freshman year I said "no way am I destroying a book to make another book"  ( also wasn't explained well in my opinion) .  It was not introduced during my latest program, and now that I'm back in the midwest, its what everyone's doing!!!   When I first visited art therapy interns at my new site, they all whipped out their journals which were really altered books.  Same at supervision, and then at the latest open studio, a cancer patient shared with me her story, and her altered books.

Her story was very powerful, and she was working  on a 3 book series using old medical books from the research library.  She incorporated words, images, modgepodge, tissuepaper, you name it she had used it.  I felt honored that she shared with me, not everything of course but at least her feelings toward the subject and let me leaf through her books,  such a great way to release thoughts and feelings toward such a painful time in such a positive way!  Knowing what ik now about this project I totally recommend it.  Its one thing starting a brand new sketchbook with empty white pages, but its another to bounce off of other words and images prewritten to make it your own.  (If this worked, I included the first few pages of my altered book)