So, this has been a great week on the cancer front. I met with Dr. Fisher and Margreet yesterday and after a lot of teasing and hugging, he informed me that he thought I was doing great. He said that I’m getting excellent care with Dr. Smith and that things are going as well as we could have hoped for. They were thrilled. He was also very enthusiastic about my efforts surrounding getting the word out about cold caps and was amazed that Kenra had committed its charitable giving dollars to this effort.
Today I had chemo. Yes – I know it was supposed to be tomorrow, but Dr. Smith had an emergency tomorrow and asked if I could come in this morning instead. After some quick scrambling, my colleague and friend Matt came to my rescue and rushed me into the City.
Dr. Smith was also thrilled with my progress and said that if he had written a play book about how he was hoping my cancer and my body would respond to chemo, that I was following it to a tee.
We are changing my chemo regimen a little because of my extremely dry feet and dry hands. I will now take 4 Xeloda pills per day instead of 5 and I will go for 14 days on and 7 days off. I will also be getting Avastin every 2 weeks but on a lower dosage. In March I will have another CT scan and if it doesn’t show any cancer growth then we will schedule the take down of my ileostomy.
As a little gift, I’m going to share with you a new limerick from my very talented friend, Shana, that she wrote to cheer me up during chemo this week (it worked!):
There is a fine drug named Xeloda.
It don’t taste quite the same as does soda.
My feet it makes dry
But o’er that I won’t cry
As long as my feet don’t exploda.
I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Honorary Colonoscopies
Over the last few weeks, I had two friends tell me that they were having colonoscopies in my honor. Now mind you, this isn’t the first time that I’ve been bestowed with this honor. Over the last three years I have apparently inspired many people to go out and have this VERY EASY check done.
Many of the honorary colonoscopies were done by people who would have put off their colonoscopies, but went ahead and did it because of my story. Wow. It is an incredible feeling to know that in my small way, I am helping eradicate this disease since, as you all know, colon cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. With a colonoscopy, they can quickly find any polyps and snip them off prior to them growing and potentially becoming cancerous. I so don’t want any of you to experience what I (and my family) have gone through over the past few years and what we’ll continue to go through until a cure for cancer is discovered.
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. For those of you who have not had your colonoscopy and should have had it (you know who you are), I am giving you plenty of time to get it scheduled before March arrives. I’d be honored to hear it if you do…
As for me, on Tuesday I will go and see Dr. Fisher at Stanford to check in and make sure that I'm still on the right path(I also wanted to see him and Margreet - because I really miss them.) I will also be heading back to Dr. Smith's office this Thursday for chemo, although I remain in remission. Keep sending those positive thoughts and prayers!
Many of the honorary colonoscopies were done by people who would have put off their colonoscopies, but went ahead and did it because of my story. Wow. It is an incredible feeling to know that in my small way, I am helping eradicate this disease since, as you all know, colon cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer. With a colonoscopy, they can quickly find any polyps and snip them off prior to them growing and potentially becoming cancerous. I so don’t want any of you to experience what I (and my family) have gone through over the past few years and what we’ll continue to go through until a cure for cancer is discovered.
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. For those of you who have not had your colonoscopy and should have had it (you know who you are), I am giving you plenty of time to get it scheduled before March arrives. I’d be honored to hear it if you do…
As for me, on Tuesday I will go and see Dr. Fisher at Stanford to check in and make sure that I'm still on the right path(I also wanted to see him and Margreet - because I really miss them.) I will also be heading back to Dr. Smith's office this Thursday for chemo, although I remain in remission. Keep sending those positive thoughts and prayers!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Redefining Myself
During today’s chemo session I asked Dr. Smith if I was still considered a “Stage 4 colon cancer patient” or whether I have been restaged now that my body is showing no evidence of disease. He said at this point, I am considered to be in full remission. Wow – was that great to hear. For so long I have been walking around saying that I have Stage 4 colon cancer. I now will say that I HAD Stage 4 colon cancer, but am now in remission. Hallelujah. He said that if in 6 months my body continues to show no evidence of disease that my chance of long term remission triples.
So that’s my new goal – stay cancer free for 6 months. With your prayers and my sheer determination - I just know we can do it together!
So that’s my new goal – stay cancer free for 6 months. With your prayers and my sheer determination - I just know we can do it together!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year!
Boy, am I excited to begin 2011! With 2010 now officially in the rearview mirror, I am now ready to embark on a new year that I know will be so much better than the last one.
The family and I just got back from a ski vacation that took us to Squaw Valley in Tahoe and Alta Sierra near Lake Isabella. Last year at this time, I was recuperating from my hysterectomy and couldn’t go skiing with the family. This year, I was up there with them, swooshing down the mountains and watching my little girls carve up the slopes. As I dug my pole into each mogul, I thought to myself “take THAT, cancer!” I felt more energized and alive than I’ve felt in a very long time. Although my hands and feet were extremely dry from the Xeloda, it couldn’t impact my spirits.
We arrived back last night, in time to ring in 2011 with our dear friends and neighbors. How wonderful it is to be surrounded by laughter and love as the new year begins. Today, I went to my first yoga class of the new year. Our instructor told us that we were setting the tone for the rest of the year – and we could all consider ourselves to be yogis. How great is that??!!
Before heading off to the slopes, I met with my Chinese herbal medicine advisor and he has set many goals for me – with the most difficult (at least in my mind) being giving up sugar and walking 20 miles per week. (Apparently, the Xeloda chemo will be approximately 10% more effective with all of this walking since my circulatory system will move the drugs throughout my body thus killing more of the cancer.) Since I’ve decided that this is going to be the year that I really get my health under control, I’m going to prioritize these goals. I have offered to walk my neighbors dogs (of course, they have to come with me, since I am not picking up after the dogs) in an effort to force myself to hit my goal.
On Thursday, I head back to San Francisco for my next round of Avastin. Fortunately, that chemo doesn’t seem to produce the most dreaded side effects.
Finally, I can’t express how grateful I am for all of your love and support over this past year. It was a very difficult year for me and my family, however, knowing that we weren’t going through this alone made a tremendous difference for all of us. It really is impossible for me to put into words how fortunate I feel to have all of you in our lives.
May your 2011 be filled with peace, love and unending laughter.
The family and I just got back from a ski vacation that took us to Squaw Valley in Tahoe and Alta Sierra near Lake Isabella. Last year at this time, I was recuperating from my hysterectomy and couldn’t go skiing with the family. This year, I was up there with them, swooshing down the mountains and watching my little girls carve up the slopes. As I dug my pole into each mogul, I thought to myself “take THAT, cancer!” I felt more energized and alive than I’ve felt in a very long time. Although my hands and feet were extremely dry from the Xeloda, it couldn’t impact my spirits.
We arrived back last night, in time to ring in 2011 with our dear friends and neighbors. How wonderful it is to be surrounded by laughter and love as the new year begins. Today, I went to my first yoga class of the new year. Our instructor told us that we were setting the tone for the rest of the year – and we could all consider ourselves to be yogis. How great is that??!!
Before heading off to the slopes, I met with my Chinese herbal medicine advisor and he has set many goals for me – with the most difficult (at least in my mind) being giving up sugar and walking 20 miles per week. (Apparently, the Xeloda chemo will be approximately 10% more effective with all of this walking since my circulatory system will move the drugs throughout my body thus killing more of the cancer.) Since I’ve decided that this is going to be the year that I really get my health under control, I’m going to prioritize these goals. I have offered to walk my neighbors dogs (of course, they have to come with me, since I am not picking up after the dogs) in an effort to force myself to hit my goal.
On Thursday, I head back to San Francisco for my next round of Avastin. Fortunately, that chemo doesn’t seem to produce the most dreaded side effects.
Finally, I can’t express how grateful I am for all of your love and support over this past year. It was a very difficult year for me and my family, however, knowing that we weren’t going through this alone made a tremendous difference for all of us. It really is impossible for me to put into words how fortunate I feel to have all of you in our lives.
May your 2011 be filled with peace, love and unending laughter.
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