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January 24-30, 2011

YIPPEE!!!!    We have good news to report from my favorite oncologist, Doc Romer.     I had a CT scan on 1/18/11, and an appointment with him on 1/20.    The CT report started off with the words “Marked improvement”.    It continued to say that  the “pleural efflusion” (that was the fluid on my right lung that was giving me such problems) has “completely resolved” and “there are no longer any pulmonary nodules visible”.   There is no mention of anything on my ribs.   There are still some evidence of cancer in my lymph nodes, left adrenal gland and my liver, but all are showing definite improvement.    It’s not remission yet, but we’re definitely on the right track.

Apparently I was waiting for that good news to motivate me into writing again!    I have been doing well since the Breast Cancer Walk last year.    Jeff and I still have “the girls” nearly every weekend.    I’ve lost about 30 pounds since my diagnosis in August and with my new wigs and some jeans that fit, I’ve never looked better!  Getting back into work has taken some time.    But I’ve started going into the office at least 1 day a week.   Starting next week we’re going to try for two days a week.    I will still have chemo for at least 2 more months (3 weeks on, one week off) and then we’ll re-evaluate the treatment plan.    Jeff is starting to travel more – neither of us is wild about that but it’s part of the job.  

Mom is doing well and this weekend gained a new housemate!    Both of her cats, Shadow and Little Bit, passed on in 2010, and she was getting used to a house with no cats.    But when Jeff and I picked up the girls on Friday, there in the snow was what was once a beautiful kitty.    The girls told me that it belonged to a family that had moved out and left it behind.    Some other residents had put some food out, but no one was taking care of it.    It came right up to me, let me pet and pick it up.   When the girls came out and we headed for the car, the kitty followed right behind me.    I looked at those sad eyes and said “I’ll be back”.    An email with this picture sent to Mom got the response “OK…. bring it over”.    It was filthy and smelly, but when I went back to find it, and picked it up and put it in the cat carrier, there was only one “meow”.    When we  put it in the bathroom / laundry room at Mom’s, it was just fine.    After I left, Mom and the cat-previously-known-as-“Brutus” (c’mon…. look at that face… does that look like a Brutus to you???) began to bond.   By morning, he was sitting in a kitchen chair next to her while she read the paper.   If she sat down anywhere for a minute, he was laying at her feet.   If she moved 5 feet, he moved 5 feet.  By evening, he was sitting in the kitchen chair again while she had dinner.    By Sunday he was answering to “Romeo”.    Welcome to the family.    Sorry about that little incident at the vet……   Don’t you think he’s smiling now?  

We haven’t really had any vacations since my diagnosis in August.    We had a great time with our friends Todd, Lora and their daughter Rachael.    We took the girls and met them in Sandusky for a weekend and a visit to Cedar Point.   Rachel and KiKi are great friends.    And they share a love of showing off for the camera!

Mom, Jeff and I have booked a trip to Padre Island in a few weeks.    Hopefully we’ll get some warm weather and at least we’ll get to visit for a few days with Charlie.  

We went to the dance party at Golden City Friday night.   Great time.   They’ve changed their format, so Vitaliy taught a ChaCha lesson that was very good.   I had chemo that day so was still high on Decadron (steroids) and danced probably 3/4 of the dances.   To start the evening Jeff and I had an Argentine Tango lesson with Irina, then the group ChaCha with Vitaliy, then 2 hours of social dancing….   I’m pretty darned proud of myself!!!  On Saturday, Jeff and I met our friend Duante and his friend, at El Meson, planning for some salsa dancing.   It was crowded, the floor was bad, but the company was good.   We ended the evening at SideBar in the Oregon District.   By tonight, Sunday, I’m winding down.  

Here’s another one of my strange thoughts…. I want some Mr. Potato Head eyebrows.   My eyebrows are mostly gone.   So every morning I draw on my eyebrows.   But every morning I have to decide if I was “inquiring” eyebrows, or “surprised” eyebrows, or even my “angry” eyebrows.   I’d like to have some eyebrows I could change in the middle of the day if my mood changes!   Oh, and I’d like some fake eyelashes that would stay on for a week.  

I heard from my new friend, Tiana, today.   She had a double mastectomy a couple weeks ago, and she and I met at Panera just before her surgery to talk.   Luckily the chemo she’d had before surgery had shrunk the tumor considerably and there were no signs of cancer in her lymph nodes.   She is still facing a long road of possible radiation and reconstruction.   I’ve added her to my list on the side of this page.    I’ve also added my dear cousin Jim.   Jim recently had a stroke, though he is only in his mid 60’s.   He’s currently in a nursing facility and doing rehab.   Your healing thoughts, prayers and oms for both of them is greatly appreciated.   My BFF Michael had a friend, Marsha, who fought against esophageal cancer.    Marsha recently lost her battle.   Our best wishes go out to her family and friends.

Closing tonight with a quote from Lance Armstrong.

If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them.  When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?  We have two options, medically and emotionally:  give up, or fight like hell. 

Namaste.

Late October – Early November, 2010

Yeah…. I’m bad at this.    I know.  

I had my first three chemo treatments and then had a week off.    I’ll finish my 2nd round of 3 treatments this Friday (Nov 12th) and see Doc Romer the following Tuesday.    

On  Saturday. Oct 18th we had two events; the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk and Masquerage 2010, a fundraising party to benefit the AIDS Resource Center Ohio.  

To prepare for the Walk, I borrowed my Cousin Suzie’s now unneeded wheelchair from Cousin Sandy and my dear friend Carol helped me to decorate it.   I had some vague ideas of what I wanted to do to it, but Carol really pulled it all together.   The “flag” has pennants with “Survivor” and “Warrior”.    We all wore signs on our back, naming those we were walking for.  Jeff walked in honor of me and his mother.   Michelle and Melanie for me. Stuart in memory of his mother.  Amanda and I wore Cousin Jamie’s name proudly on our backs.   She was an 18 year warrior and my inspiration.  This disease touches everyone…. mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, friends.   And it sucks.

I was very pleased that I walked about a mile of the 3.1 mile route and didn’t have any problems with running out of air.    We had quite a group of people walking for “Team Diva” – Cousin Amanda and a group of friends (who had t-shirts made!) , a number of my sister’s coworkers, and of course, Michelle, Stuart, Melanie, Jeff and I.    It is so inspiring to see how many people show up for this event.    After the walk we went out to lunch at Mel’s favorite Dayton restaurant, Los Tres Amigos.    It was good, but not as good as usual.    May have to find another “favorite” Mexican place! 

So after lunch we headed home to take a nap to get ready for the big Masquerage party!    I’m certain that my BFF Michael could have found more exciting company for the party, but we had a great time with him, his partner and sister.    I had purchased a mask on our last trip to New Orleans and Jeff borrowed one from Michael.    Other than that, we didn’t have “costumes”.   We were very, very tame in our masks.    It’s not often that you can go to a costume party where some attendees appear to be wearing nothing but body paint!!!   Masquerage is a fund raiser for the AIDS Resource Center and Michael and I had worked on the Marketing Committee.    While it may border on the outrageous, it supports a great cause.   I was proud to be part of the event.  

On Wednesday, October 20th, we had an appointment with Doc Romer.    He seemed very pleased with my progress.   Jeff asked what he attributed my improvement to — a sign that the cancer was disappearing or just improvement from the lung surgery.   He indicated that he believed it was the chemo kicking some cancer butt.   He expects that I will have 4-6 months of chemo, and then we’ll repeat the PET scan and see what it shows.   In the meantime, he gave me a prescription for a non-narcotic pain reliever (Tramadol) and Lyrica to try and get the nerve pain under control.   We’ll know more in a week or so.

Have I mentioned the new toy my fabulous, incredible, wonderful husband bought for me?    I’ve been wanting a convertible for several years…. probably since we sold our last one.   We finally decided now was the perfect time to buy one.    Here it is, a 2002 Lexus SC 430, with a retractable hard top.   It is way cool.    So, now that we have the way cool car, we had to go somewhere!   We thought about heading south to the Smokies, but when we go there we want a nice chalet with a great view of the mountains, not too far out of town (so we can take advantage of all the great restaurants).    Well, it seems that a lot of other people wanted those chalets as well, and we couldn’t find any places we wanted to stay.   Instead, we headed north to our condo on the lake in Sandusky.   We had a quiet, relaxing weekend, ate well, and drove around the area enjoying the car.  

You’ll remember we recently took a trip to Nashville to see Dolly on the Grand Ole Opry.   She was great.   What I forgot to mention before was that Taylor Swift was also on the Opry that night!   She did a great show and I have to admit I really enjoyed it, but I would never have gone to a Taylor Swift concert.   Here are a few pictures that my talented photographer / husband / traveling companion took!

 

Of course, Dolly was the star of the show (so you could say that Taylor opened for Dolly) As always, she put on a great show.  For those of you who may have seen her in concert before, you’ll recognize the “signature move” in the last picture as going with the song “Nine To Five” when she sings “And you spend your life puttin’ money in his wallet” (accompanied by patting her hip.)   OK….. maybe I’m the only one who recognizes it.   Oh well.  

I am now taking Tramadol (the non-narcotic pain reliever) and Neurontin (insurance declined to cover the prescription for Lyrica) to help with the rib pain.   They help.   I went back to work part-time last week, though I’m definitely “easing” into the work life!   I managed about 6 1/2 hours last week!   So far this week we’re doing a little better. 

I recently saw a post by one of my Facebook friends that said “I love being me, it’s sooo much fun!”.    And I thought about that and had to agree.   I love being me, and even though there are some things in my life I would change, there is no one I’d change places with.   I have met so many wonderful people, and am so thankful for all the good things,  I wouldn’t trade the last year and a half of my life for anything.    Breast cancer isn’t fun.   But it changed my life and I’ve never been happier.   

I saw a signature from one of my BC sisters, that I’ll use to close this evening… from Psalm 91:10-12

No harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.   For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;  they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Namaste.