Wayne called me to come over one night to Shave his head bald! I was so nervous because it was my first time bicking someones head.. his life was literally in danger! As soon as we started Wayne's new hair due, Aiden, my 5 year old nephew was sure that he wanted to do it too. And then came Carson to the party so by the end of the night all 4 of us were bald. Brock joined the bald crew the next day and to see more cute pictures go to Michelles blog, her link is on my page.

Once Kristie started shaving it all off... I started to get a little sad.. so I started singing.. and if you watch the video long enough, you'll hear all my sisters join in with me. Thats what I call love:) We are not very good.. but it is my favorite song, and after we slaughtered it with our amazing voices, it remains a top favorite!!

HAIR CUTTING TIME!

I finally decided after many other hair pulling out incidents like my video below that it was time for the hair to go. So my family being the coolest people ever that they are, decided to make a family event out of it haha. We all got together over at Jackie's house and not only shaved my head.. but all the guys went through it with me:) first we cut it into a baby looking haircut... i was sooo not cute ha.. and then onto the MOHAWKS! I definately found my inner punk once I got the haircut I've been too scared to get but always wanted to try. My families sense of humor makes it so much easier for me to keep my own sense of humor up and running through the tough times. Without them, this would be so much harder. I love you guys!!

Kristie's Favorite Looks

Wigs, Hats & Scarves!

Well if I've learned anything, it would be that theres a first time for everything. I never pictured myself actually going wig shopping or looking for hats and scarves to cover up my bald head.. But as usual, life never goes as planned. So here I am documenting my experiences. First we hit up the wig shop, and if I was worried before we got there, it was nothing to how worried I was once we finished. At the first wig shop I tired on everything... red wig. long wig.. short wig... blond wig.. and NOTHIN! I did finally find a cute wig at a different store that you will see me in from now on so i'm not going to ruin the surprise by posting pictures ;) My next experience was with my too fabulous sisters and my mother. We hit up about every hat and scarf store in the mall and these were the best we could come up with! haha jk not for reals.. but like the wig, those are a surprise:)

This was performed on SYTYCD right after I found out I had cancer.. I can't watch it without crying!! Its dedicated to people struggling with cancer!

Apparently this is normal... :(

I don't recommend you try this at home.. its quite disturbing, even when your expecting it!

Hospital Time!

As soon and my doctors at Primary Childrens Hospital got a better grasp on what was going on, they decided to start me on a "high risk protocol".. this meant 54 weeks of chemo, and Radiation starting at 20 weeks. The drugs they planned to use were really strong and have major long term side effects. This was scary to me, but like the side effects I obtained from the first time around, you just learned to work around them and live your life the best you can. I went in on Friday, August 21st for surgery to get a port put in my blood stream, which is where the chemo and all my drugs are put into my system. During surgery they performed a bone marrow biopsy, and if I have one thing to say about it, it is- i'm so sorry if you ever have to have one! haha.. Right after surgery I was admitted for a possible 5 day stay in the hospital where I recieved my first 5 rounds of chemo. I didn't know what to expect and I don't remember a whole lot, but I do know that the minute the chemo was in my body, my entire stomach jumped to my throat and it was all I could do to not throw up and that feeling hasn't quite gone away yet 2 weeks later. The hospital stay wasn't as bad as I worked it up to be in my mind, but thats because I had amazing family and friend visitors and my mama didn't ever leave my side! I had awesome nurses that taught me all about how to handle cancer and take care of my port and my nutrition plan. The most amazing part about it all is that I have some of the same doctors and nurses that treated me 20 years ago! I love Primary Childrens, if I have to be anywhere, I would choose to be there. Since I came home from the hospital I've had 2 more chemo treatments. There really is no way to descibe how chemo drugs make you feel, so I'm not going to try, but those of you that have had it.. you know... IT SUCKS! haha but the constant support, love, prayers, and visits that I get help to make it through. My mom always says to me, you just have to take life one day at a time, and thats just what I'm doing:)

How it all started...

Well as many of you know I had Rhabdomyosarcoma cancer as a 5 1/2 month old baby. I went through chemo and radiation at that time and they considered it completely cured. I had checkup for the following 15 years and still no sign of it. Then 20 years later, I was at home in P.G. going to school at UVU but about to return to Dixie State. I felt a lump the size of a marble on the front of my hip and with my history we were quick to get it checked. We were told it was a swollen lymph gland and that it wasn't threatening. When I moved back to Dixie the thing just kept growing and growing and to be honest I was a little freaked out. It wasn't until I was dancing one night for Misty's Adult Company and rolled over the top of it and thought i POPPED whatever it was, that I decided it probably wasn't normal to have a lump the size of a golf ball on my hip. I went home the next day and had an ultra sound and then went back to Dixie because I had alot to do. I was teaching the Snow Canyon Drill Team when my nurse called me and told me it was a possibility of cancer again. I'll be honest, I didn't take it seriously, so instead of going home immediately and getting it removed I went to Rebelette Camp in California with all my best friends! I'm so happy I got to go because it was my last time dancing.. I'd imagine for quite awhile. Once I got home, the doctors knew it wasn't something to mess around with right away and they moved very quickly. Within a day of meeting my surgeon I got the tumor removed and the next week was filled with hours at the hospital getting every test you can think of done. They knew right away that we were dealing with Rhabdomyosarcoma again. My doctors were completely baffled at my case because they don't believe that this is a re-occurence of the first time. The odds of me getting a rare childs cancer twice, and it coming back in an adults body is almost unheard of. Rhabdo is also a tumor of the muscle, and amazingly enough it found its way into my lymph node. Also they were questioning treatment because I'm not the typical cancer patient. I have heart problems and other issues from the chemo and radiation 20 years ago that make it really difficult for them to treat me like a first time cancer patient. It took a few weeks, that felt like years, of waiting to finally figure out what was going to happen. The whole time I was just thinking NO WAY! This can't be for real, but at the same time it never really hit me till later in my journey that it was for real. So there it is, thats how it all started! My friends and family have been amazing. My mom is amazing, it was pretty hard for her in the beginning to think about going through this a second time, but she is really just an amazing person! I love you all!

Saying Goodbye For Now..

The hardest part about all of this cancer stuff is having to move home from Dixie. I have amazing friends there! The slide show below shows only a few of them. One of the hardest parts about leaving was saying goodbye to Super Steppers and Misty. I have learned so much from her, she is amazing! At the performance I lucky to run into Heather who has taught me in dance for the past two years. I was so lucky to be able to see the Super Stepper girls perform for one last time before I moved back! Thanks for everything, you guys are amazing!

Dance for Tiff!!

Good Quote!!

The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart. ~Nikolai Lenin

Tiff we know you'll never lose heart cause you have so much to give:)

Cancer Awareness

Cancer has stricken nearly every family in one way or another. Our talented amazing teacher Tiffanie Shoell, was recently diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a type of aggressive cancer. She had surgery this past month to remove the tumor they found, but she will be receiving chemotherapy for the next year. Tiffanie was a big part of the dance community in St. George & especially here with the Super Steppers. Throughout the year we will be honoring her and remembering the many who struggle with this vicious disease, on a daily basis, by paying tribute to them in various events. We hope that you will keep Tiffanie & the many cancer patients fighting with her, in your thoughts throughout this challenging time. We have also created a support blog for Tiffanie and would love for you to keep up with her progress on her blog or her website