Happy and Positive Updates!

Hello everyone!! 

It's been a little bit since last blog, but here is a little update and overview of the last few weeks:) And yes this is Maria again writing her own blog! YAY! 

Since round 4, I have been doing REALLY great! Both physically and mentally! It's been quite incredible! We couldn't be more thankful for my energy level and just my health in general. I have been able to live a pretty "normal life" which has been so nice. We stayed in the hospital in Oslo for the 3 days of treatment and then were able to drive HOME after that! No ambulance transportation! No additional days needed at the hospital in Oslo nor in Lillehammer! WOW! Just this was a huge victory for me and us. Being able to drive home with Ryan and just stay at home is amazing and we are very thankful for that opportunity. 

Now that Ryan and I have been able to live a more "normal" life lately, we have been a little bit more active on social media, so we have been doing little updates and posts here and there for people :) Hope that's also helpful for people to follow along with our journey. But I am still planning on keeping up with the blogs at least every few weeks. I really enjoy writing them and I think it's a nice way to share my story and what we are going through. It's especially enjoyable when I can write happy and positive updates like now! 

Like mentioned in the last blog and on Instagram, Ryan and I have gone the extra mile to do EVERYTHING we can to beat this cancer. We have done a lot of research on vitamins and nutrition and we are doing what we can to help my body heal and deal with this fight alongside of liquid sunshine in a natural way. And guess what?! We are FIRM believers that it's all WORKING!! The last scans and all my blood tests have proved it to us, and not only that, I have also been feeling soooo good and it's very obvious that what we are doing is the right thing! We have gone completely vegetarian/vegan (don't worry, we did a gradual transition and prior to all this we were probably doing this at least 60% of the time) and I have also completely cut out all white sugar! (I am sure a lot of you have heard that sugar feeds cancer). In addition, I am taking additional vitamins that help decrease inflammation, boosts my immune system, helps with blood pressure, improves heart and kidney strength (very important for the body to tackle liquid sunshine) etc. We have done a lot of research on what foods and spices are important for me for the same reason and we try to make sure to get ALL the right nutrients for my body every single day. You guys! I am not kidding, it has been an amazing change for us. Few weeks ago, my intestines were extremely inflamed, my liver was inflamed, I had lot of fluid collection in my body, etc. and on the scans I had prior to round 4 if liquid sunshine, I had NONE of that! It proves that you are what you put in your body :) I also have had great appetite! Better than I have had since at least September last year! How crazy is that! We are just so thankful! 

This change has been a lot easier than I thought it would be, but it definitely is time consuming, especially in the beginning. But our priority now is my health and beating this, which makes the hard work so worth it! Ryan and I have also really enjoyed doing this together, making meals, baking and researching. You can say it has kinda become a new "hobby" or a passion of ours :) 

Here is a link to the book that was recommended to us by a friend that has been extremely helpful and very mind opening for us during this time! We have been able to relate to it so much and use a lot of reliable sources from it in our research. It's written by a medical doctor and is extremely educational and we highly recommend it to everyone. They have it both as a hard copy and on audio book for people that prefer that. 

Anyway, enough of that, just wanted to share some of the incredible change we have seen. We want to share more of what we have done with all this and different recipes that we are/have been using on my instagram as the time goes, so if you are interested, we will be doing it there :) 

We have had some fun visitors the last few weeks, which has been amazing! It was also kinda a perfect timing, since I have had so much more energy and actually been able to hangout and do things more than before. My sister has actually partly moved to Lillehammer now to be closer to us and so she can spend more time with us. It's very nice to have her close by and be able to just meet up whenever :) Myy cousin who lives in Denmark came visit for few days and then I have been able to spend more time with my parents and my brother too! THEN my best friends from Alaska came for a whole week and stayed at an AirBnB very close to our apartment! It was the most amazing time ever and my heart is so full. It was a very relaxing time, but we still did quite a bit together. Just a perfect mix, going with the flow, spending time together. They were also here for May 17th (the Norwegian national day), which was very fun for them to experience. I did my first bike ride with them (biked 5K while they ran), did my first stair workout (went up the ski jump in Lillehammer), we spent a day at a spa, had bonfire at the beach and so much more. I will attach some pictures below :) 

When the girls left on Thursday, Ryan and I decided to do a little trip to Gol (about 2 hour drive from Lillehammer) where my cousin Margret lives with her boyfriend (Johannes) and their little baby girl (Saga). Johannes had a play that night that we watched, which was a super fun experience and seeing him perform was super cool! We spent the night with them and had a wonderful quality time together :) We will for sure be going back to see them. Ryan and I also did a little "hike" the next day before driving back with the dogs and loved it! I also did my first "long drive" and drove the whole drive home! Yay for small victories and independence! 

BTW! This time around, I didn't need to get any blood! My blood tests results (taken 2-3 times per week) have been great aaaand I have been able to decrease a lot of my medication during the last few weeks. I am taking less pain medication, a lot less nausea medication and I have been able to completely take out my relaxants that I was taking before bed to help me rest/sleep. How amazing?! We are just very thankful and happy! 

Tomorrow we are headed back to Oslo for round 5/6! Can't believe we are there already and that it's time for another round already. However, I am ready and we are ready to get it done! I am feeling very strong going in and we believe that this round will go just as well as last round (or even better). Ryan and I are doing some meal prep today and will be focusing on the same thing throughout the treatment; getting the right nutrition and fuel while fighting alongside of the liquid sunshine. When we get to the hospital in Oslo on Monday, I will be doing new scans and blood work and then starting liquid sunshine on Tuesday morning. If everything goes well and as planned, we will be done and headed home again Thursday afternoon. 

Please send all the good vibes, good thoughts, and prayers if you can :) and of course! Keep spreading those smiles! I really appreciate the positive feedback on my quote and love that you guys are using it. So thank you for that! Smiling through this is so helpful for me and I will keep doing that as much as I can. 

Lastly! I wanted to share one more exciting thing :) Ryan and I just booked a CELEBRATION trip that we will be going on at the end of June for 10 days! It's a triple celebration trip for us and we are so so excited. The two of us are going to Athens, Greece for 4 nights and then flying to Zadar, Croatia and spending 5 nights there before spending one last night in Split, Croatia. This is like a dream vacation for us! Little bit of culture and exploring, little bit of beach, lots of sun and fun times. Neither of us have been to either countries either so that's kinda exciting. 

You might be wondering what we are celebration?! WELL, I will be DONE with liquid sunshine (last day is June 16th!!! OMG), my birthday (I am turning 29 on June 29th so it's my golden birthday), aaaand it's our wedding anniversary (July 7th). So lots to celebrate :) 

Thanks again for ALL the support we have been getting! We can feel it from all over the world and it's incredible! We would not be here without any of you. 

Here are some pictures to enjoy at the end :) hope you enjoyed the little update/reading! 

May 17th celebration with the fam! So much fun :) I also got to wear my Icelandic outfit that I got from my grandma. Felt very fun and special! 

Dressed to go out for dinner for my sisters birthday :) 

Exploring downtown Lillehammer

First bike ride! I had so much fun! 

A little stair workout with my best people (and dogs) with great view over Lillehammer

A day spent at the spa with the girls! 

Perfect little Alaska tradition with bonfire at the beach! So cozy :) 

Gol theater! So cool to experience a local play with Johannes performing

Few pictures from our little "hike" in Gol with the dogs. Super refreshing and fun

Lastly! Let's keep SPREADing those SMILES!