# Soap Friends & Freindship



## Cindy2428 (May 12, 2015)

I wasn't going to post here, but I feel like I've let some soapy friends down... Sonya and Relle I am sincerely sorry I haven't been able to get your samples out. I still have them reserved for both of you and can hopefully prioritize when I return home.

Unfortunately I will be hospitalized today for surgery and mgt for a pretty large brain tumor. I have been struggling with this since January and it's time to get fixed. (I would rather post a pic of soap, but here is my resident demon...)






I wanted to thank all the soapy friends I've met here and look forward to learning and discussing soap soon.


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## El_Granado_Loco (May 12, 2015)

Cindy, I wish you all the best! Be strong!!! 
And get back here safe and free!!


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## PinkCupcake (May 12, 2015)

Healing thoughts coming your way.


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## Susie (May 12, 2015)

Know that my thoughts and prayers are with you!  Please keep us posted.


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## shunt2011 (May 12, 2015)

Thoughts an prayers are with you.


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## hmlove1218 (May 12, 2015)

I pray your surgery goes well and you heal quickly.


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## valerieinthegallery (May 12, 2015)

I am pretty new here, so I don't think we've met,  but I wanted to wish you luck with your surgery and I hope that this is the beginning of only wonderful things for you once that nasty tumor is evicted. (That's a pretty crazy picture of it!) I look forward to getting to know you better once you're feeling better and back on the boards!


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## dixiedragon (May 12, 2015)

Praying for you!


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## Dahila (May 12, 2015)

Good luck and come back soon.  Keep strong and everything will be ok ))


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## ourwolfden (May 12, 2015)

The thoughts and prayers of me and mine go out to you and yours.  We will be here waiting to discuss soap once you are better.


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## not_ally (May 12, 2015)

Cindy, sorry to hear this news.  No matter what, this kind of stuff is scary, please know that you have many heartfelt good wishes and energy coming from your internet soapy friends.  Take good care of yourself, let us know how things go, and very much hope that you will be home and soaping soon.  Imagine BIG hug emoticon here.


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## Seawolfe (May 12, 2015)

Aw Hugs!!
Hang out here while you're recovering


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## snappyllama (May 12, 2015)

Cindy, I'm so sorry to hear what you're going through. You have my best wishes for a successful operation and speedy recovery.


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## KristaY (May 12, 2015)

You're on my prayer chain, Cindy. Praying for the excellent skill of your doctors, quality, compassionate care from your nurses and strength & love for you and your loved ones. Stay strong and positive Cindy! We'll all be here ready to talk soapy things when you're back with us & hopefully that will be very soon. Huge hugs flying your way!


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## lenarenee (May 12, 2015)

Cindy, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I'll be thinking of you until we hear from you again; hoping and praying you will be surrounded by the people and support you need.


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## Cactuslily (May 12, 2015)

While we've never met, and I'm pretty new here, I too will be sending positive energy, thoughts and prayers your way. Looking forward to seeing you back on the board having all of this behind you. Just on this forum alone, you have support and prayers from all parts of the world.


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## IrishLass (May 12, 2015)

Lifting you up in prayer Cindy! 


IrishLass


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## newbie (May 12, 2015)

Holy mackerel!!! It never ceases to amaze me how adaptable we are. To think that you have been able to manage to live successfully while having a tumor that size is really flat out jaw-dropping. I'm glad you are getting it removed so you can feel your best and I really really hope that either you will be able to get on or you let someone in your family come on and let us know how you are. I will be thinking of you as well and wishing you the speediest of recoveries!


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## galaxyMLP (May 12, 2015)

Although we have not met as well (also pretty new) I'm sending good thoughts and prayers your way. I hope for your speedy recovery so that you may enjoy life to the fullest once again. As newbie said, it is amazing how the body can still function with a tumor that size. I'm sure if your body is resilient enough for the tumor it will be speedy in recovery once it is removed!


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## Pepsi Girl (May 13, 2015)

Cindy I'm praying wisdom, skill and a steady hand for your doctors. Peace and comfort to you and your family. Im asking for a speedy recovery with no reoccurrence.

  Be encouraged that many people are offering  prayers for you and we will be waiting to hear the good report from you real soon.


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## Saponista (May 13, 2015)

My thoughts are with you cindy. I hope the operation goes as well as possible and that you can get back to normal life soon. xxx


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## Jstar (May 18, 2015)

Sending up prayers for you Cindy..May the Lord guide the hands of your surgeons, and may you have a speedy recovery. Let us know how things are going ok?

Huge HUGS


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## Rowan (May 18, 2015)

My thoughts and prayers are with you. May you be cradled in Gods arms and his healing energy help you to recover really fast.


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## Relle (May 18, 2015)

Thinking of you Cindy. A friend of dh's had a brain tumour removed about 3 yrs ago and no recurrence, keeping fingers crossed for you.


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## jules92207 (May 19, 2015)

Sending you healing thoughts and prayers Cindy! May the light heal you and bring you a quick recovery.


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## Jstar (May 19, 2015)

7 days..has anyone heard anything?


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## cmzaha (May 19, 2015)

Not sure how I missed this thread, but I will be adding Cindy to may prayer list also. Praying all is going well


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## Susie (May 19, 2015)

Jstar said:


> 7 days..has anyone heard anything?



Speaking as a former Neuro ICU nurse, even if everything went perfectly, she probably won't get home until Tuesday at the earliest.


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## navigator9 (May 19, 2015)

Adding my best wishes to those above. Wishing you strength and resilience and looking forward to seeing you back here as soon as you are feeling better.


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## Sonya-m (May 19, 2015)

Oh gosh forget the samples!! Please just take care of yourself and get well soon!! X


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## LBussy (May 19, 2015)

Oh goodness, missed this earlier.  POsitive thoughts coming your way Cindy!


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## Khanjari (May 20, 2015)

OMG! I have missed this chain as well 

I wish good luck and best wishes.  I loved newbie's idea.... we understand if you can't come on here and post anything but please allow any family member to post where abouts even if they be just one liners. We are already worried  sending flowers your way! 

HUGE HUG TO YOU! BIG GROUP HUG!!!!!


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## Jstar (May 21, 2015)

Susie said:


> Speaking as a former Neuro ICU nurse, even if everything went perfectly, she probably won't get home until Tuesday at the earliest.



True that..was just hoping maybe a close friend here may have heard something.


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## Jstar (Jun 2, 2015)

Has anyone heard anything yet?


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## Cindy2428 (Jun 19, 2015)

I am so sorry for not posting sooner. One problem resolved, another one found..... Anyway, on 6/17/15 I was cleared by my neurosurgeon - it was a benign tumor; stage 1, so the likelihood of re-occurrence will be rare. The not-so-good news is that with the ups and downs of my recovery, I developed colitis - c-diff; a nasty bug not uncommon when dealing with high powered antibiotics. I went through my 1st course of meds with still active c-diff. (By this time I was home from rehab). I went to have more blood work done, and the next day I got a call from the MD office to go to the emergency room.... My white blood cell count was 4x what it should have been. Anyway, 6 hours later and after an abdominal CT scan, I find out I am being re-admitted due to a new abdominal mass. 

So, after I get admitted upstairs, who walks in my room but my hero friend Dr. Matthew Carr, hematologist/oncologist. After he chews me out for finding out I was back in the hospital by a floor nurse, he informs me that a surgeon will be in to see me and that from now on he is my primary MD.  He proceeds to show me the CT - a 5# basketball that has encased my right ovary and compressing my bladder in half.... No wonder I'm peeing all the time!! (I thought it was the [email protected]#$!!).

Anyway, to bring this to a close.... Dr. Carr and his amazing surgeon, Dr. Podulinski; a female gynecological surgeon, feel we caught this very early - the CT shows mostly fluid with some solidification around the right ovary. (I'm almost 54 - I don't need these parts anymore). On 7/9, I go back for surgery #2. 

I just renewed my membership here, so I'm looking forward to another year of soaping friendship.  Thank-you all for your good wishes and prayers. I feel like I've been granted a miracle with my brain surgery, and remain positive for my next surgery.

I resumed driving short distances with my husband's disapproval..... but my MD's okay so hopefully Relle and Sonya will get their mica samples.

It's good to be back!!


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## Seawolfe (Jun 19, 2015)

Oh my gosh I'm glad they found it! But I'm so sorry you have to go through more surgery and stuff. Gentle hugs and keep on keeping on. I wish you an unremarkable surgery and a smooth recovery with no more surprises.  And thanks for the update


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## dneruck (Jun 19, 2015)

Great to have you back Cindy. Praying for a speedy recovery.


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## Ellacho (Jun 20, 2015)

Oh my Cindy~~  I am so sorry to hear this news..just found out today. My prayers and thoughts are with you. I know you make beautiful soaps but I want to send you my flower cake soaps for you. May I? If it's okay, please PM me.  I make soaps so I can share with people who can be uplifted by with my soaps in a small way. Big hugs to you.


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## galaxyMLP (Jun 20, 2015)

You have a remarkable positive attitude. It is good to hear from you and I'm glad that we will be hearing more from you to come. Wishing you speedy recovery and a safe surgery.


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## Susie (Jun 20, 2015)

So very glad that the brain tumor was benign, but keeping on praying about the other!  I am so glad you are back with us!


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## Pepsi Girl (Jun 20, 2015)

So good to hear from you Cindy!  I will continue to pray.


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## not_ally (Jun 20, 2015)

Cathy, so good to hear from you.  I have been wondering how things are going and wishing you well.  This new news sucks, but somehow it seems less scary than the first.  I hope everything goes really, really well and we have you back for good very soon.  We need you around for those great FO reviews.  I would send you some soap too, but I have a feeling you have lots of it and yours is better than mine, anyway


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## Obsidian (Jun 20, 2015)

I was just thinking about you yesterday. So glad to hear the brain surgery went well. Suck you have more surgery but I bet you will feel a whole lot better once everything is said and done.


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## Relle (Jun 20, 2015)

All in all, I think it sounds like good news. Everything happens for a reason - even though we don't know sometimes what it is. I'm sure you will get through your next op with ease after the last one. Recover quickly .


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## Cindy2428 (Jun 20, 2015)

Relle, you are so right. My Dad always said I learned things the hard way and needed to get a 2x4 across my head sometimes to get the message. I've learned not to take the "little things" for granted, and it may seem weird, but for the first time in a very long time I am truly happy. I can't say I'm looking forward to another surgery and probably chemo - my hair is just coming back..... but I'm confident in my medical team, and I've got stuff to do; so bring it on, baby!


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## KristaY (Jun 20, 2015)

Hi Cindy, my Cappie Buddy! I'm sooooo glad you were able to come on and update us with your progress. It sounds like the c-diff was a blessing in disguise leading to the discovery of the abdominal mass. Wow! I'm so thankful the brain surgery went well and wish you a speedy recovery with the next surgery. Going in with a positive attitude can make all the difference in success and recovery. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!!!!!


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## jules92207 (Jun 20, 2015)

Cindy I am so glad to hear progress is being made and I am confident your going to be just fine. So good to hear from you and I am sending much healing energy to you for your recovery and next surgery.


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## Saponista (Jun 20, 2015)

I'm so glad the first surgery went well cindy, and that the tumour was benign. I'm so sorry about all your other problems, hopefully you can get them removed fairly quickly too and look forward to getting back to your old self soon. xxx


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## snappyllama (Jun 20, 2015)

It's so good to hear back from you, Cindy!  Thank goodness the operation was a success.  It sucks that you're having to face other other medical issue.  I know that isn't eloquent/hopeful/inspiring, but I've sometimes found that acknowledging the suckiness of a situation, grabbing some ice cream and watching trashy TV helps.  I hope TLC comes out with a new series about ex-Amish little people with absurdly large families that horde wedding dresses for the day that one of them will pick from the eligible bachelors who didn't know each other but now live together in a massive trailer and flip houses from finds they get from storage auctions and spend their spare time dancing, doing karaoke and rebuilding cars. 

So: best wishes, hun.


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## newbie (Jun 20, 2015)

I'm with Relle on this. I think it sounds good that your brain tumor was benign and whatever you have around your ovary was caught early. That's all actually fantastic news (although yes, NOT having a basketball eat your ovary like a pac man would be better, but still...). I don't understand why they don't take out our uteruses and ovaries once we're done with them just for this sort of reason. Yank 'em, I say!

Adding my thought and wishes that your second surgery goes well and you bounce back quickly!


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## Dahila (Jun 20, 2015)

Cindy hopefully the other one is small and soon you will be like new, wishing you the best and we will wait for good news


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## boyago (Jun 20, 2015)

Thanks for posting Cindy, I've been thinking of you and hoping for the best when I come around here.


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## biarine (Jun 20, 2015)

I am pleased that you alright, take care of yourself and plenty of rest. Please eliminate stress, stress is a killer. I been in surgery last 2009 and I got 13 cm cyst in my left ovary ( chocolate cyst)


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## boyago (Jun 20, 2015)

biarine said:


> I am pleased that you alright, take care of yourself and plenty of rest. Please eliminate stress, stress is a killer. I been in surgery last 2009 and I got 13 cm cyst in my left ovary ( chocolate cyst)



mmm, chocolate cycst...
That's worse than chocolate lard!


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## biarine (Jun 21, 2015)

Yes lol but it's more worst because it's look like chocolate but can't eat it


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## ArtisanDesigns (Jun 21, 2015)

Lots of prayers going your way. Sorry you life has been turned upside down. Hopefully when all this is done and you have fully recovered, you will be feeling better than you have in a very long while


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## El_Granado_Loco (Jun 22, 2015)

Cindy, so glad you are recovering, even with those drawbacks... Keep strong and optimistic!!


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## Jstar (Jun 26, 2015)

Awesome to hear from you Cindy! Sooo glad you are recovering nicely from the 1st, but it is kinda sucky about another round. However I feel you will do just fine, and bounce right back and I bet for sure you will feel much better having all the yuckies out and not bothering you anymore. Im continuing to pray 

*Hugz*


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## Unlimabun (Jul 1, 2015)

Cindy, you can add to the many, many prayers and healing vibes being sent your way. I can't help but think that all the generosity and care you have spread to numerous members of this forum (and undoubtedly to countless other people you have encountered in your life) will end up being transformed back into pure positive light and coming right back to you! 

Many wishes for a speedy, healthy, pain-free, complete and total recovery!


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## Cindy2428 (Jul 1, 2015)

As I take a break from cleaning - All these years I denied being a hoarder to my husband, but it is something about books and papers I just can't throw out! - Do I really need to keep a college paper written in 1982??#$%!

Thank-you all for your prayers and friendship. I initially spent most of my time post-hospital communicating on FB. Lots of soapy friends there too, but my mentors and original soap family is here. To be honest, I stayed away initially because I really didn't think I would be able to soap anymore. Reading about the challenges; the amazing pictures and interesting diversity that just seems to work here literally caused me pain. 

My long-term goal was to become a good enough soaper to create a fragile skin recipe that hopefully I could wholesale to assisted living or upscale long-term care facilities. This forum always challenged me to be better. When I couldn't safely manage my ingredients - strength and dis-coordination deficits,  I packed away my workshop and started working on a spreadsheet for my husband so that when he sold everything off, he could at least capture a fraction of my investment. (I've since deleted that file ). 

I come back here grateful and newly inspired. My husband caught me with 2 orders of FO's that I hadn't even opened before my first surgery. We negotiated that if I shredded 2 lawn and garden sized bags of papers, he would help me make some soap this weekend...... I have 1/2 a bag to go! Christmas/Holiday soaps; gifts are going to be well cured, 'cause I'm a soapin' the 4th of July!!  Now the only challenge is limiting my choices... Hubby's generosity did not include clean-up.....

My next surgery is on 7/9 - I had an apt with my surgeon yesterday and even though again the mass is large, she feels confident about a positive outcome. 
 I have my Faith, my belief in my awesome family and medical team and the support and prayers of all of the friends I have made. It truly does not get better than this. If I have any regrets, it's that it took me so long to realize how good my life actually is.

Thank-you all. I look forward to participating in this forum for many years to come, Cindy


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## not_ally (Jul 1, 2015)

What an awesome post, Cindy.  Thank you so much for catching us up on all that stuff.  I spend so much time with all of you here, and it is really good to get to know these things about your lives.  I think you had all of us worried, even if we were trying to keep a collective stiff upper lip.

I am so glad that news is good, that there is soap-making in the immediate future (if your DH is establishing a quid pro quo for soaping help and making you do the cleaning, it seems pretty clear that he thinks you are in pretty good shape ) and in the distant future.  A very warm welcome back.


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## jules92207 (Jul 2, 2015)

So good to hear from you Cindy, you have such a beautiful spirit which gives me all the confidence everything is going to work out awesome!


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## Sonya-m (Jul 10, 2015)

So pleased to hear this Cindy - welcome back!! I hope everything else works out too x


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