Friday was a whirlwind day. Paul, Shane, Liam and I left the house around 8:30 a.m. to drive to Ann Arbor for a walking tour of University of Michigan. Tyler would have appreciated seeing UofM, but he stayed home to take care of our boston terrier. I think he also appreciated the quiet house all to himself! :-)
The walking tour was a good experience. Shane is not sure the college is for him -- perhaps it is too urban and too big? He said his original plan was to apply at UofM (as well as Michigan Tech and others), and to go to UofM if he was accepted -- no matter what. After seeing the campus, he is not so sure anymore. We suggested that he apply... if is he accepted, he can go through the engineering tour and then make a final decision.
Next we made a quick stop for lunch, an unplanned stop at the REI Camping/Outdoors store, and then finally to my oncologist's office. The nurses there were so nice -- talking about how good I look since they saw me in January... a real boost to my ego! :-)
My blood work was fine... My white blood counts are still low, but my overall "composite" number that is used to evaluate my "infection fighting ability" is within normal range. The doctor is happy, so I am happy.
Doc wants me to have the follow-up MRI, but he doesn't anticipate a problem; concurs with radiologist's opinion that differences/concerns are related to scar tissue and surgery.
He wants me to also have a mammogram in October. Said that he just had a tumor board meeting that morning, and a woman had breast cancer detected by her mammogram that was missed on the MRI. Message to all the women --> mammograms are important! Don't put them off, no matter what you read in the media!
And, doc wants me to have the pelvic ultrasound again. He suggests having my ovaries removed if they are still larger than the ultrasound a few weeks ago. He said this as quickly and as casually as one might suggest throwing out an old pair of shoes?
So, between now and Christmas, I have three medical exams, three doctors appointments, and potentially a surgery. Paul's sister has heard of a homeopathic doctor near Detroit -- I think it is time to see him, as well. The medical doctors have saved my life; maybe another doctor can help save what's left of my body?? It is worth a shot...
After the doctor's visit, we visited quickly with Paul's parents, stopped at Trader Joe's, and then finally came home. We were home about 10:00 p.m. -- it was a long day!
But, I am not complaining! I am full of joy to go on a college tour with my son AND to get good news from my oncologist.
Life is good!
I have felt better in the past few weeks then I have felt in years -- the overall feeling of fatigue is gone. Thursday night, Paul and I rode bikes for over an hour on the rail trail. I am bouncing back, and getting healthier. I am working on losing weight, and getting healthier.
There is life after cancer.
Amen and amen!
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breast cancer. Show all posts
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Detroit "Race for the Cure" -- It's a Family Thing!
From the first day of my cancer diagnosis, I said that cancer is a "family" illness. One person is sick, but everyone is affected. For good and for bad.
My cancer journey, since September 2006, has been such a series of ups and downs. One bright spot was walking in the Indianapolis Komen race with my mom and three sisters in April 2008. I drove 7 hours to get to Indianapolis and to walk the 3K race -- even though I had been diagnosed with a recurrence of my breast cancer only a few weeks prior.
Trust me, I considered not going to the race at all. No one would have blamed me, given the circumstances. But that race day was thrilling for me -- to see cancer survivors lined up by year of survivorship. Some had survived 25+ years! To walk through the "survivor's parade," and see the look on my mom's face... a mixture of worry, hope, love and encouragement. A mother's look.
I decided that day that my family in Michigan needed to have a day like this -- to see the number of survivors, to feel the support and encouragement of so many others who have been touched -- for good and for bad -- by cancer.
On Saturday, May 30, my family will have that day. We will walk in the Komen Race in Detroit: Paul, myself, Shane, Tyler, Liam, my sister-in-law Karen and her husband Scott. It is a family affair. Just like the day of my diagnosis. But May 30 will be a day for reflection. For looking back, and most assuredly for looking FORWARD.
Susan G. Komen is a name that many people recognize as a leader in cancer research and funding. It has that recognition for good reason -- the foundation has invested more than $1 billion in breast cancer education and research since it beginning in 1982. But what many people do not know is that the foundation was started in Susan's name by her younger sister, Nancy G. Brinker. During Susan's fight with breast cancer, she focused her thoughts on making life better for other women battling breast cancer. Nancy vowed to carry forward Susan's legacy, and thus the Susan G. Komen Foundation was born. From the love of a sister. A family thing.
We would be honored if you would sponsor one (or several) of us in this year's race (just click on our names to get to our donation pages). The money raised in Michigan stays in Michigan: 75% of the race's net income funds breast cancer screening, treatment and education programs. A minimum of 25% of the race's net income supports the Komen Award and Research Grant Program, which fund breast cancer research, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. It is an investment that you can feel good about. Thank you in advance for being generous.
My cancer journey, since September 2006, has been such a series of ups and downs. One bright spot was walking in the Indianapolis Komen race with my mom and three sisters in April 2008. I drove 7 hours to get to Indianapolis and to walk the 3K race -- even though I had been diagnosed with a recurrence of my breast cancer only a few weeks prior.
Trust me, I considered not going to the race at all. No one would have blamed me, given the circumstances. But that race day was thrilling for me -- to see cancer survivors lined up by year of survivorship. Some had survived 25+ years! To walk through the "survivor's parade," and see the look on my mom's face... a mixture of worry, hope, love and encouragement. A mother's look.
I decided that day that my family in Michigan needed to have a day like this -- to see the number of survivors, to feel the support and encouragement of so many others who have been touched -- for good and for bad -- by cancer.
On Saturday, May 30, my family will have that day. We will walk in the Komen Race in Detroit: Paul, myself, Shane, Tyler, Liam, my sister-in-law Karen and her husband Scott. It is a family affair. Just like the day of my diagnosis. But May 30 will be a day for reflection. For looking back, and most assuredly for looking FORWARD.
Susan G. Komen is a name that many people recognize as a leader in cancer research and funding. It has that recognition for good reason -- the foundation has invested more than $1 billion in breast cancer education and research since it beginning in 1982. But what many people do not know is that the foundation was started in Susan's name by her younger sister, Nancy G. Brinker. During Susan's fight with breast cancer, she focused her thoughts on making life better for other women battling breast cancer. Nancy vowed to carry forward Susan's legacy, and thus the Susan G. Komen Foundation was born. From the love of a sister. A family thing.
We would be honored if you would sponsor one (or several) of us in this year's race (just click on our names to get to our donation pages). The money raised in Michigan stays in Michigan: 75% of the race's net income funds breast cancer screening, treatment and education programs. A minimum of 25% of the race's net income supports the Komen Award and Research Grant Program, which fund breast cancer research, meritorious awards and educational, scientific and community outreach programs around the world. It is an investment that you can feel good about. Thank you in advance for being generous.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Two Years and Counting...
Today is my two year anniversary as a cancer survivor.
Two years might not sound like very long to some, but in the last two years we've brought home our puppy, Oreo.... we took a whirlwind vacation in Orlando... I started working at the library... Paul and Shane went with scouts to Boundary Waters.... Shane and Tyler have been on two mission trips.... Liam has learned to read and the older boys are both high school... and we've started, and almost finished, our cottage up north....
That is a lot of good living in the past two years, despite the trials of battling breast cancer. People comment on the positive attitude I seem to have, even with the cancer. But I look back on the last two years and consider what a shame it would be to waste them on feeling bitter or constantly upset. There are ups and downs of cancer treatment -- some physical and some emotional. There is no way to escape that. But at the same time, I believe that life has more blessings than curses, and that we sometimes have to make an intentional decision to find the good in life.
It has not been easy to deal with my cancer, twice in the past two years even. Just last week I sat in front of Dow High waiting for Shane, and I was quietly jealous of the moms who seemed to be so carefree in comparison to what I have to deal with. The ones who can sign up to volunteer at prom time, without wondering how they'll be feeling then. Etc., etc., etc. Those feelings are real, and I try to balance them. To let myself feel them for them a while, but then to pull myself back and focus -- to make a real effort to listen to what my kids and husband are saying, to focus on the blessings of the day at hand, to be grateful. It is a choice.
Paul deserves credit for keeping the boys' lives so much on track. When I was originally diagnosed, I wanted to pull them out of all of their activities. With both of us healthy and able, it was already hard for us to keep up with all of their activities. Knowing that I had chemo and surgery ahead, I couldn't see any way that we'd keep up at all. But Paul was adamant that their lives should be impacted as little as possible. With his determination and the support of family and friends, we were able to sustain the activities that are most important to each boy. Looking back on that decision, I see it as very wise and beneficial for our boys.
Cancer has helped Paul and I communicate better. Not perfectly, but better. I realize that we (I) have put too much emphasis on making our boys' lives happy/comfortable/memorable, and that our own relationship has often been neglected. That is a lesson that I think most couples learn much later in life, probably as "empty nesters." Paul and I have a strong relationship, but the cancer has caused us to cherish it more, and to begin to nurture it better. That is a good effect of a very bad disease.
Two years and counting... I'm looking forward to two more good years, and to many more after that. This is not a battle that I fight on my own -- I have many family and friends who love and support me. An encouraging and able medical team. And most importantly, I have my faith which sustains me. As the verse says: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Two years might not sound like very long to some, but in the last two years we've brought home our puppy, Oreo.... we took a whirlwind vacation in Orlando... I started working at the library... Paul and Shane went with scouts to Boundary Waters.... Shane and Tyler have been on two mission trips.... Liam has learned to read and the older boys are both high school... and we've started, and almost finished, our cottage up north....
That is a lot of good living in the past two years, despite the trials of battling breast cancer. People comment on the positive attitude I seem to have, even with the cancer. But I look back on the last two years and consider what a shame it would be to waste them on feeling bitter or constantly upset. There are ups and downs of cancer treatment -- some physical and some emotional. There is no way to escape that. But at the same time, I believe that life has more blessings than curses, and that we sometimes have to make an intentional decision to find the good in life.
It has not been easy to deal with my cancer, twice in the past two years even. Just last week I sat in front of Dow High waiting for Shane, and I was quietly jealous of the moms who seemed to be so carefree in comparison to what I have to deal with. The ones who can sign up to volunteer at prom time, without wondering how they'll be feeling then. Etc., etc., etc. Those feelings are real, and I try to balance them. To let myself feel them for them a while, but then to pull myself back and focus -- to make a real effort to listen to what my kids and husband are saying, to focus on the blessings of the day at hand, to be grateful. It is a choice.
Paul deserves credit for keeping the boys' lives so much on track. When I was originally diagnosed, I wanted to pull them out of all of their activities. With both of us healthy and able, it was already hard for us to keep up with all of their activities. Knowing that I had chemo and surgery ahead, I couldn't see any way that we'd keep up at all. But Paul was adamant that their lives should be impacted as little as possible. With his determination and the support of family and friends, we were able to sustain the activities that are most important to each boy. Looking back on that decision, I see it as very wise and beneficial for our boys.
Cancer has helped Paul and I communicate better. Not perfectly, but better. I realize that we (I) have put too much emphasis on making our boys' lives happy/comfortable/memorable, and that our own relationship has often been neglected. That is a lesson that I think most couples learn much later in life, probably as "empty nesters." Paul and I have a strong relationship, but the cancer has caused us to cherish it more, and to begin to nurture it better. That is a good effect of a very bad disease.
Two years and counting... I'm looking forward to two more good years, and to many more after that. This is not a battle that I fight on my own -- I have many family and friends who love and support me. An encouraging and able medical team. And most importantly, I have my faith which sustains me. As the verse says: I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The saga continues....
This is the first post to yet another "update" website. I like this format better -- mainly because it does not have any irritating advertisements or surveys to bother people! :-)
My cancer journey has been a "good news, bad news" kind of saga. The bad news of course is that my recurrence happened so quickly. Less than a year after my standard treatment ended. We knew that my cancer ("triple negative") had a high recurrence rate (due to the lack of meds available for it?), but we have been literally stunned that it came back so quickly.
The good news is that it appears we caught the recurrence before it had a chance to move elsewhere in my body. My bone and CT scans were all "clean." My lymph nodes were removed from my previous treatment, but the cancer can still move elsewhere in my body through the blood vessels. The safest course of action is do chemotherapy again. My oncologist is considering a new drug, approved late 2007, which has shown to be helpful with my cancer.
But, cancer treatment never moves very quickly. I talked to my oncologist on the phone last night, and he said the pathologists are still having a hard time with my cancer -- trying to determine how much is "precancer" versus full grown cancer. I asked my oncologist about getting a second opinion, about going to a center that deals only with breast cancer. He answered that instead of doing that, he'd rather send my tissue samples to M.D. Andersen and get their opinion.
Long pause.
"You can do that? Without me having to travel to TX?" (and uproot my family and spend our family savings and... )
"Sure. In fact, I'd feel best about doing that. Why don't we do that? I'll get it set up and ready to go tomorrow."
Another long pause.
Wow.
So now my tissue samples are being sent to one of the best cancer center treatments in the country, for their analysis and recommendation. A second, stunning moment for me!
In the meantime, I am setting up appointments to meet with oncologists here in Midland -- the bulk of my treatment will still be in Royal Oak, but some of it (follow up shots) will be done here at home. Hopefully, a good compromise for my health and our family schedule.
God is surely in the details of my situation. Just when I thought we had one defined course of action, He opens the door to another set of experts and treatment possibilities. It makes me feel more hopeful -- to have the folks at M.D. Andersen look at my tissue samples, and for the treatment discussions/decisions it might influence. If only to confirm that the course of treatment we are considering is the best -- that will help bring a more complete sense of peace to me in this situation.
We all have said it at one time or another -- myself, Paul and my oncologist -- that more needs to be learned about treating triple negative breast cancer. Treatment decisions at this point are very random (think "Wheel of Fortune"). I feel much better to think that God is the one spinning the wheel.
I'd like to buy a vowel, please...
My cancer journey has been a "good news, bad news" kind of saga. The bad news of course is that my recurrence happened so quickly. Less than a year after my standard treatment ended. We knew that my cancer ("triple negative") had a high recurrence rate (due to the lack of meds available for it?), but we have been literally stunned that it came back so quickly.
The good news is that it appears we caught the recurrence before it had a chance to move elsewhere in my body. My bone and CT scans were all "clean." My lymph nodes were removed from my previous treatment, but the cancer can still move elsewhere in my body through the blood vessels. The safest course of action is do chemotherapy again. My oncologist is considering a new drug, approved late 2007, which has shown to be helpful with my cancer.
But, cancer treatment never moves very quickly. I talked to my oncologist on the phone last night, and he said the pathologists are still having a hard time with my cancer -- trying to determine how much is "precancer" versus full grown cancer. I asked my oncologist about getting a second opinion, about going to a center that deals only with breast cancer. He answered that instead of doing that, he'd rather send my tissue samples to M.D. Andersen and get their opinion.
Long pause.
"You can do that? Without me having to travel to TX?" (and uproot my family and spend our family savings and... )
"Sure. In fact, I'd feel best about doing that. Why don't we do that? I'll get it set up and ready to go tomorrow."
Another long pause.
Wow.
So now my tissue samples are being sent to one of the best cancer center treatments in the country, for their analysis and recommendation. A second, stunning moment for me!
In the meantime, I am setting up appointments to meet with oncologists here in Midland -- the bulk of my treatment will still be in Royal Oak, but some of it (follow up shots) will be done here at home. Hopefully, a good compromise for my health and our family schedule.
God is surely in the details of my situation. Just when I thought we had one defined course of action, He opens the door to another set of experts and treatment possibilities. It makes me feel more hopeful -- to have the folks at M.D. Andersen look at my tissue samples, and for the treatment discussions/decisions it might influence. If only to confirm that the course of treatment we are considering is the best -- that will help bring a more complete sense of peace to me in this situation.
We all have said it at one time or another -- myself, Paul and my oncologist -- that more needs to be learned about treating triple negative breast cancer. Treatment decisions at this point are very random (think "Wheel of Fortune"). I feel much better to think that God is the one spinning the wheel.
I'd like to buy a vowel, please...
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