Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to take some time to wish you all a Merry Christmas as I sit here in my living room relaxing with Clint, Buddy and Preston while listening to Christmas music... specifically "Santa Baby" the Miss Piggy version!  I just hope I can make it without having to hear the songs, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" or "Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey" again.  Note to XM/Sirius Holly station: Please for the LOVE OF GOD, take those two songs out of your rotation.  They are really annoying!!!


It's been a very different Christmas this year.  I think it all started when me and Clint were both out of town the first weekend of December.  I've felt a little "behind" ever since.  We missed our High Altitude Bible class party, we missed seeing "Celebration" at Houston's First Baptist even though we had good tickets.  I even went home early from the Deep Trend Christmas party this year due to being extremely tired and run down from the Vegas Half Marathon.  I missed a couple of gatherings and parties that friends had - I even missed out on my bunko friends' Christmas party.  I think what was really strange is that my sister and her family stayed in North Carolina for Christmas this year.  I'm really happy that they got to spend some much needed down time at home, but I missed them very much.  


Even though it was a really "different" Christmas, it was still REALLY good.  Sometimes quiet and relaxed isn't so bad.  We still got to spend time with Clint's family on Friday evening...

This was the 12th Christmas without Clint's sister, Sheila.  We still miss her very much, but we know that she is celebrating Christmas in Heaven with Christ himself.  

We had Christmas lunch today with my mom and dad.  We had a great time and it was nice not having to worry about doing the dishes!

Like I said...my sister Rebecca and her family stayed in North Carolina, but I woke up this morning to a text picture from my nephew Chilton wishing me a Merry Christmas!

This is my 3rd Christmas in CancerLand.  I still remember my very first one where I wondered how many more Christmas's I would get to enjoy.  I was still in so much shock and everything was so new.  I was just beginning my FAC combo of chemo after 12 weeks of Taxol.  I still vividly remember New Year's Eve day when MD Anderson called to tell me my appointments with the stem cell transplant people were all canceled as the clinical trial was closed.  I was so devastated. Here I am two Christmas's later and things are so much different...so much brighter and filled with so much hope.  I'm looking forward to the next part of this CancerLand journey.  Where will it take me next?  It's all in God's hands which gives me plenty of reason to sleep at peace at night and have confidence that no matter what, he is taking care of me just like he takes care of each and everyone of you.  

Merry Christmas!  I hope you and your family had a blessed day!

Cancer rant about fellow Metastatic Survivors :(

What a great day!  I finished up work for the rest of the year and got to have dinner with Clint and my good friend, Joe Wheat.  I have to brag on Joe before I get into my blog entry.  We were celebrating Joe's newly aquired PhD status.  Now he's a "double doctor"!  LOL!  Congrats, Joe.  We are so proud of you.


Now we are back at home relaxing.  I was hoping to catch a new episode of our new favorite TV show REVENGE, but no joy... no new episodes until January.  It's killing me trying to figure out who Tyler shoots.  I'm thinking it's faux Amanda (not the real one, aka Emily).  Anyway, won't get an answer for 2 more weeks.  Ugh!


So here I sit with my blog.  I know I told you guys I would be back quickly to talk about financial controversy!  So here it goes...


Every now and then I go peruse a breast cancer message board on breastcancer.org specifically for metastatic/stage IV BC survivors.  I go there mainly to read about the various treatments women are on, etc.  Many times there are threads regarding financial and work related issues.  This is where I get a little frustrated with some of my fellow survivors.  Many of them find out they are Stage IV and immediately want to go on disability at work.  I'm not judging them, but I decided a long time ago that I would keep working until I just couldn't do it anymore.  I don't have children and I just think that I would go insane hanging out here at the house day in and day out.  I mean, what the heck would I do?  Most people who go on disability can only count on getting around 50% of their wages and then have to get on COBRA and pay higher insurance premiums.  That also doesn't sound very enticing to me.  I have great insurance and really don't pay a lot for it.  Yet another reason to keep working as long as I can.  I also really like my job.  Anyway, so keep in mind a lot of these ladies are on disability.  Then many of them decided that the "deserve" to get accelerated life insurance benefits.  Anyone familiar with this?  I find it kinda creepy.  Basically, if you have an illness deemed "terminal" and your doctor signs documents saying that you only have 6-12 months to live depending on the insurance, then you can collect your life insurance before you actually die.  Many of these ladies do this so they can pay off debt, take their families on once in a life time trips and vacations, etc.  What's weird is that these same ladies get really annoyed if people/doctors/friends of family say that they are dying, but yet turn around and make their doctors sign paperwork saying that they ARE dying!!!  I don't know about you guys, but that's just WRONG in my opinion.  


Anyway, many times I've felt like chiming in trying to convince these ladies not to go on disability until absolutely necessary or that taking accelerated life insurance benefits is just plain creepy and wrong, but I don't want to get into petty fights with them.  Just this week, though, I saw a thread entitled something along the lines of crazy, wrong fantasies with cancer.  I looked at this thread and became just so angry and sad at the same time.  A stage IV woman was really mad and angry about her situation.  She had been diagnosed Stage IV years ago and immediately decided to go on disability.  She now makes 50% of what she once made and is now on Medicare since her Cobra ran out.  She has high out of pocket costs with her medications, etc.  She also took out accelerated benefits a while back and has gone THROUGH IT ALL!  She is now broke and can't make ends meet.  She now is thinking about taking out all kinds of credit cards running them up and buying a new car with no intensions of paying it back since she is Stage IV and may die soon.  She also stated that if she continues to live and can't pay any of it back then she will just declare bankruptcy.  REALLY???!!!!!  I wonder if she realizes that even if she dies, someone has to pay that back.  It may be taxpayers, but someone pays for all that.  The lady is really angry and unhappy even though she went on trips and bought stuff with her accelerated benefit money, but still thinks that a new car and credit cards will bring her happiness.  Never mind that she is still ALIVE!  She even complained about that.  AND get this...she has only been on anti hormonals for the last few years.  That's right folks, she hasn't been on chemos in a long time but complains that the side effects from each and every anti hormonal has been so hard on her.  WOW!  I feel like I'm in heaven on an anti hormonal and Afinitor.  Yes, I have joint pain and other side effects like this lady, but it's not that bad.  


So there's my rant.  I just want to know how some of you feel about this.  Should people with "terminal" cancer get to go around and spend $ willy nilly and take out accelerated benefits?  Do we "deserve" fabulous once in a lifetime trips even if we can't afford them?  What do we "deserve" from this world or society?  I guess I'm just a raging lunatic for thinking I deserve nothing and have been blessed with so much.  Am I losing my mind?  Is anyone else frustrated, angry and annoyed at this lady and others like her?  I know I talk a lot about cancer bringing out the best in people, but I will say that it often brings out the worst as well.  I really haven't talked much about that.  I will talk about it more in future posts.  I've been meaning to blog about "Competitive Cancer in CancerLand" too!  That's a whole other topic that's pretty amusing.  


By the way, I wanted to post a pic of me and my clinical trial oncologist, Dr. Jennifer Wheler.   I have talked about my breast oncologist, Dr. Litton, but haven't written much about Wheler.  She is pretty amazing just like Litton.  I see her once a month in the main building...many times waiting 2 hours to be seen.  She is super busy trying to save those of us who need answers and treatments sooner than later.  Also, she is SINGLE (FYI for you eligible bachelors out there)!

Until next time!!!

I Have Finally Realized that I Have Been on an Emotional Spending Spree for Years and I am now Emotionally Bankrupt!

My little furbaby, Buddy (aka Budmuffin).  It's such an appropriate shirt for him, by the way!  Preston has one too, but wouldn't sit still long enough to get a good pic.

My friends, Laurie Earls and her sister Charlene, came into town last week for Laurie's CT scans, MRI's, and 3 month visit with her oncologist here at MD Anderson.  As some of you know, Laurie actually lives in California and I met her at a local restaurant back in February while she was here for treatments.  I'm so happy that Laurie got to go back home finally but I have missed her.  It was really great to hang out with them.  They actually stayed with us at the house for a few days.  

I have to tell you what dear, sweet Laurie and her sister pointed out to me during their visit...I am emotionally in debt, maybe even bankrupt, due to poor choices in spending emotional energy over the years.  What?  Did I really say that?  Is there even such a thing as being emotionally in debt or bankrupt?  As some of you know, I've always been pretty good at keeping out of debt financially.  I don't go willy nilly spending $ on crazy things (OK,  every now and then but nothing too crazy) and I have many good choices when it comes to finances.  Not so much on the emotional side of things.  Let me explain!  Many of you have pointed out that I can be emotional...I have that figured out, but what I didn't know is that I need to be more selective on who and when I spend my emotional energy on.  I'm not saying that some people, things, situations are not worth it, but I need to be more careful in the amount of emotional energy I expend and prioritize where I spend it.  A lot of it has to do with timing as well.  I may have a big CT scan coming up the following day... guess what, I may not have a lot of emotional energy for anyone that day.  Why am I explaining any of this to you guys?  I just need you all to know that I still care about my friends and family.  I love you all so much.  I just may not be able to emotionally invest in certain people, things or situations at certain times and THAT'S JUST GOING TO HAVE TO BE OK!!!!

Where it all seemed to dawn on me was when me, Clint, Laurie, and Charlene were at El Tiempo (where else would I be?) and Laurie was really trying to help me solve a problem.  Laurie started doing the pros and cons thing with me with Equal packets being the pros and Splenda packets being the cons.  I'm always pretty good at listing the pros and cons of situations,  I think my dad started teaching me that the moment I came out of the womb.  Unfortunately, there with Laurie I couldn't even get past one Equal packet to one Splenda packet...I couldn't even come up with the actual pros and cons!  It was like I didn't care one way or the other.  It's like it didn't matter but I know that it should have and I should have come up with way more sweetners either way.  That's when it hit me.  All these years I've been saying that I wish I had on "off" switch for me caring so much about things.  That "off" switch is called being emotionally in debt, empty, or bankrupt.  I've now decided that maybe an "off" switch isn't what I need, its more like I need one of those sliding dimmer switches.  Am I making any sense what so ever?  What do you guys think?  This is probably common sense to many of you and I'm just late to the party on this one.

Anyway, I would like to give you guys a quick update on Laurie's visit to MD Anderson.  She got some good news.  All her tumors/lesions shrunk on Nexavar except for one.  She has numerous tumors all over her body so having all but one respond is really GREAT!  Her eye is doing a lot better (she was having problems because of the tumor on her brain stem).  The radiation seemed to help.  Her hair is growing back and she seems to be in good spirits.  She is in a lot of pain so please keep her in your prayers, especially that God would lessen the pain in her leg.  She is now in Tuscon, Arizona staying with Charlene and her husband.  Yay!  We are all excited that she will be celebrating a lot this Christmas.  

I also want to update you guys on my friend Lindsey, the one decorating my house that I have talked about on previous blogs.  She is my friend who has metastatic cervical cancer.  Since I have last talked about her, she has been in the hospital dealing with horrible pain in her back.  I was getting really worried about her since I had not heard from her in a week or so.  She has had a surgical procedure to get a pain pump.  That seems to be helping somewhat, but she still is in pain.  It's all from her FOUR fractures in her pelvis.  OUCH!  I just saw her a couple of nights ago and she says she is getting her MOJO back.  She looked amazing as always.  Please keep her in your prayers.  

I will actually be back blogging in a couple of days.  I have something else I want to blog about that's been on my mind relating to cancer...but this time the financial side to cancer.  Might be a little controversial.

I Survived Vegas and the Media Mayhem!

Viva Las Vegas!  Yes, I survived the Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon at night.  It was fun running the strip at night, but it was an EXTREMELY crowded run the whole 13.1 miles.  Nothing like running with 44,000 other crazy people.  At least I got to run with a few of my friends.  In the pic above is Heather Keister, Laura Kopytkiewicz, Ashley Paulsen, me and Martha Aguilar.  Let's just say Ashley left all of us in the dust and finished in 2:12.  I finished with a 2:34... I did really well until I got to mile 10 which was coming back to the strip at the Wynn Encore.  Oh well, I still got the Houston Half coming up in January.  I'm just glad we had a really fun girls weekend.  I also need to give a shout out to my friend Ellie Bane who gave me the absolutely fabulous pink sequin skirt to wear in the race.  I also started out wearing light-up glasses and necklace, but they weren't made for running. LOL!  Here's a few other pics of us having fun in Vegas.  

I came home late Monday night and barely had time to recover before my liver biopsy at MDA on Tuesday.  This time, it wasn't as "fun" as the last time.  They were running 3 hours behind due to difficult cases before me.  We arrived at 10 am but didn't walk out the door until 7:15 pm.  Don't feel bad for me...feel bad for Clint.  I actually slept for an hour and a half before the procedure and then slept the entire 3 hours afterwards while Clint got to sit around and read a book.  Again, just like last time, my blood pressure was low and the alarm kept going off on the monitor but I didn't notice since I was fast asleep.  This biopsy was a little different than the one I had last year.  They decided last minute to do it MRI guided instead of CT guided.  They also went in at a different angle.  It was definitely more painful than last time as well.  However, this time they wouldn't give me more meds as my blood pressure was "too low".  NEWS FLASH MDA:  my blood pressure is low normally!!!!  I was frustrated, but I survived.  I hopefully will find out more information on the results of the biopsy next week at my next appointment with Dr. Wheler.  


Now, on to all the media mayhem.  Many of you noticed that I was on the news, in the paper, on the internet, etc last week.  I found out about it all so last minute I didn't get to tell all of you about it.  I had an interview with NBC nightly news which also was on the Today show, an interview with Channel 13 locally, an AP phone interview, an AP video interview, an AP photographer shadowing me at the Vegas Half Marathon.  It was absolutely crazy.  Let's just say that there was a lot of interviewing, filming, photographing and its hilarious to see what actually comes out of it.  It was really fun, but I felt like a big GOOB doing a lot of it.  Acting natural while there's a big camera in front of you is really hard.  Anyway, if you did not see any of it, all this media excitement was due to some exciting Afinitor breast cancer data coming out of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium last week.  MD Anderson got me and my friend Suzanne Hebert to talk to the press about our experience with the drug.  I was really excited to tell everyone how great this drug has been for me.  Dr. Jennifer Litton, my breast oncologist, was also featured in an interview with ABC nightly news and Channel 13 here locally.  It was a big media week for us all.  Here are some links to some of the news stories:


http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45590165#null


http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/health&id=8458492


http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Big-promise-is-seen-in-2-new-breast-cancer-drugs-2373366.php


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Therapy-combo-shows-promise-in-breast-cancer-cases-2376796.php




Thanks to all of you who have emailed, facebooked, texted, called, etc to let me know you saw me in the news.


On a final frivolous fun note, I do have to say congratulations to the Houston Texans on securing their first ever playoff berth as the AFC South Division Champs.  It's been ten long years!  YAY TEXANS!!!

Thanksgiving just FLEW by!!!

Well, Thanksgiving came and went in the blink of an eye!  I had such a great time visiting with friends and family and just enjoying my great scan results.  


It all started with a fun dinner out with our friends Les and Ann at El Tiempo.  I think that is my favorite place to celebrate good news!

Thanksgiving day started bright and early with me doing the Turkey Trot down in the Galleria and Clint coming along for moral support.  I actually did the 10k this year in preparation for my half marathon.  I did great and had a lot of fun.  

After that, we packed up and headed to College Station for some good ole Aggie tailgating and the A&M/UT game.  Let's just say the game was really a stinker, but we still had a really good time.  I haven't been to a game in years and I almost forgot how amazing AggieLand is on game day.   I really miss the good ole days!  Here's some pics.

Parsons mounted Calvary - they were right next to where we tailgated!

Our hosts and Clint tailgating!  Thanks to Cameron for the tailgate party.

The Aggie band marching in

Clint and friends!

Me and Clint - his orange shirt is so UGLY!!!

I had some pictures of Coach Sherman and the football team marching in but who wants to see pics of our ex coach.  DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!

The next day we drove down to our little ranch near Sequin for a quiet weekend.  Clint's parents joined us out there for the day on Saturday.  It was so nice to get some peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of Houston.  We even heard coyotes howling at night.  Yikes!  One night me and Clint went out to a deer blind to hog hunt (we have tons of hogs on the property and they are tearing everything up).    This was my first time to ever be in a deer stand!  Woohoo!  It was so exciting I actually fell asleep about 15 minutes after we got in it...and it was only about 9:30pm.  I'm becoming such a snoozer.  At least Clint couldn't complain about me being noisy and driving the hogs away. 

So now I'm back here in Houston preparing to go to Vegas tomorrow for a fun filled weekend with some girlfriends and a little half marathon on Sunday night.  Am I ready for 13.1 miles in the cold Vegas night?  Ummmmmmm...not really but we will definitely have fun trying!  We are booked for a couple of nice evenings at good restaurants and Friday night we have tickets to see the Jaberwakeez (go ahead and laugh, I know you want to).  I just can't go to a Cirque de Soliel show.  I will fall asleep in record time.  

I come back home Monday night and get to have my liver biopsy on Tuesday at noon!  Exciting!  Before the biopsy, a camera crew and reporter from a local news station will be interviewing me for a news story.  I can't tell you about it yet, but it's BIG...I think.  We'll see what comes of it.  Supposedly if all goes to plan, the story will air next Wednesday night.  I will get back with you on Tuesday about the details.  Don't want to spoil the surprise.  

Well, I'm signing off for the evening.  Wish me luck in VEGAS!  

Good News...AGAIN!!!!

So after my grumpy, crabby, down in the dumps pre-CT scan blog entry, I have good news to report!  My large liver lesion is now down to around 2 cm!!!  WOW!  Remember back in March when I had my baseline scan to enter this trial it was around 7.5/8 cm.  Such remarkable results.  I still have one other small lesion that is barely detectable, but there's really nothing other than those two remaining that can be seen.  My blood work all came back great again except for my WBC and ANC are a little low as usual...nothing that another shot of Neulasta couldn't fix (too bad I'm not a Neulasta rep!).   


My clinical trial oncologist, Dr. Wheler, asked me today if I wouldn't mind getting another biopsy of my liver to do some more genomic mapping stuff and see what comes up - I'm all in for that for sure.  Something really exciting is that she will be putting together some of the preliminary results from this trial to submit for a poster at ASCO.  I would be so excited to be part of a clinical trial presented in a poster at ASCO (I've warned you guys about me being a big NERD!).  Just a fantastic day at MD Anderson for sure.  I even heard from my rock star breast oncologist, Dr. Litton, who just wanted to follow-up with me regarding my CT scan.  She's so excited too!


Thank you all so much for your continued support and prayers!  Please continue to pray for me, but most of all please continue to pray for all of us in CancerLand and especially Laurie Earls and Lindsey Apostolo.  


As far as my last blog, I heard from a lot of you.  Again, so appreciate all the support out there.  I'm really struggling with going back and forth between days at MD Anderson where so many miracles happen but so many lives are hanging by a thread, and then the "real" world outside of MD Anderson where "normal" life goes on.  Sometimes the faces I've seen at MDA haunt me...I think about the couple I saw a month ago where the wife had stomach cancer and looked like she was at the brink of death, I think about all the people with radiation burns I see there, the people with oxygen tanks, and the stem cell/bone marrow transplant patients.  It haunts me, but then it also makes me feel so grateful for what I have.  Which leads me to my list of things I'm thankful for:


1.  God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit taking care of me and my family and blessing us!
2.  Clint - he's been a ROCK!
3.  My family (yes, this includes my furbabies Buddy and Preston)
4.  My friends (old and new, near and far)... you guys keep sticking by my side through all the craziness.
5.  MD Anderson - all the oncologists, nurses, staff, volunteers who are helping God perform miracles every day!
6.  Houston's First Baptist - where else can someone go and hear a sermon that speaks to them right at that very moment they need it the most?  It's like Pastor Gregg is reading my mind!!!
6.  My job - I LOVE my job.  Yes, it's a job and not perfect but its such a great job and UCB has been really good to me through all this as well as the many physicians and office staff I call on.  Oh, and my health insurance has been AMAZING!
7.  Memorial Park... such great therapy running there. Just so sad that all the trees are dying because of the drought. :(
8.  Living in Houston.  Yes, I'm probably the only person that has admitted that, but I can't tell you how convenient living here has been for me for many reasons!
9.  My new boobs!  Thanks, Dr. Schusterman.  I really LOVE them.
10.  El Tiempo.  Where else can a couple of girls get fajitas and sit on the patio and solve the world's problems?
11.  I'm thankful that A&M is leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.  This will be so much better for my marriage!!  (For those of you who don't know, I'm married to a Longhorn)
12.  Finally, I'm thankful for a few men named Andre, Arian, Matt, Owen, Brian, DeMeco, etc!  And thank you Dallas for firing Wade Phillips.  


I wish all of you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope to be back in a few days to post some pics and highlights from the last A&M/UT game for a very long time.  Gig em, Aggies!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!

I'm having my next CT scan tomorrow.  I report to MD Anderson at 7am for bloodwork and then to prepare for my scan at 9am.  This happens every 3 months so I'm getting pretty used to it.


What I am not getting used to....people complaining about mundane stupid stuff, 


"Oh no, I'm not gonna be able to breast feed for 6 months like I want to!" 


"Raising a kid is a tough job, you'll understand one day when you have your own."


"My kid didn't make the A team for basketball. they are so devastated!"


"Team X should have won this college football game if it wasn't for lame XYZ reason"


"I'm the golden child at work but I still complain about stuff that doesn't go my way even when I don't deserve to be the golden child at work and what I complain about doesn't matter!"


Sorry, but this is what I deal with on a day to day basis...before you say anything, yes I know, I complain about mundane stupid stuff too.  But if you guys have noticed me feeling a little down lately let me tell you why.  I really don't have much patience left for those of us who have been given so many blessings and don't even realize it.  Yes,  some of my best friends are the worst ones and you probably don't even know it.  I'm at my wits end with many of you.  You don't even realize how good you have it.  Meanwhile, back in CancerLand, some of my friends are really struggling.  


Laurie had to go to the ER today, they thought she had a lung embolism but didn't, thank goodness.  She has had to stop her cancer treatments back in California due to issues with her bloodwork.  Her family is worried that the cancer will have its way while she has her treatment break.  She isn't due back at MD Anderson for scans until December 7.  Please pray, it is a difficult time for her and her family.  Here lately I find myself trying to "wheel and deal" with God for a miracle where she is concerned.  I'm not gonna go into details, but I feel very strongly that Laurie needs some good news and needs to be delivered from her cancer.  That's just what I want...I want a "normal", wonderful life for Laurie.  I want her to be married and have children and live happily ever after.  That's what I want for her so desperately...


My friend Lindsey who has metastatic cervical cancer is having a difficult time too.  She now has pelvic fractures and a new tumor.  She is now on new chemos, but is in a lot of pain and looking to go on disability with work.  She also needs to find a new place to live as her roommate situation is not working out.  We have offered her a place to stay at our house - Clint's idea too!  I love my wonderful and thoughtful husband.  We hope she accepts our offer to stay at our house.  She would bring so much life and love to our home!  


I guess I have been a little worried about my CT scans coming up, but I have been reminded daily about how wonderful my life has been since cancer.  I am so THANKFUL for meeting all my CancerLand friends and appreciate everything they have taught me about life.  No matter what my results are on Tuesday, I know that I can face the results knowing that God is on my side and I have wonderful cancer friends to look up to like Laurie and Lindsey.  So many of you have commented on my courage and strength, but it is nothing compared to my two sweet friends.  They are the true heroes...not me.  


So excuse me if I'm a little annoyed with our comfortable lives.  WE HAVE IT SO GOOD and don't even realize it.  I hope we all realize what we truly have and appreciate every minute of it before its too late.  


I will let you all know how my scans go, but either way...does it really matter? 

OK, so I've been really busy lately...

Clint's been gone a little over three weeks now - he's been working in Africa.  So I've been trying to keep myself busy while he's gone.  It just makes time go faster!  I've been so busy I just haven't gotten the chance to blog.  


First of all, I'm happy to report that my good friend Amber, her husband Jack and their son Max haved finally moved here to Houston from Manchester, UK.  Yay!  So glad to have you back, Amber.  Me and Amber got to have some girl time a couple of weeks ago over sushi - good times!


I also got to go to the Tour de Pink "Thank you" party.  The Tour de Pink bike ride raised over $400,000 for Pink Ribbons Project.  I raised $5300 individually and just under $10,000 for Team Bella Rachel.  Thanks to all of you who supported me.  I will be sending out thank you cards soon.  Look for them in the mail.   Those of you who forgot to donate...you will have other opportunities with Suites of Hope! ;)


Speaking of Suites of Hope, we have had 2 board meetings and have accomplished a few things.  Dr. Namieta Janssen has a condo ready for us to look at to purchase.  Maybe we can have a condo by the first of the year?  Just waiting to hear back from the IRS.


I also got to go to Chicago for 5 days for the American College of Rheumatology Conference.  I got to hang out with my UCB peeps and some Rheumatologists from the Houston area.  This was the first time I've been to Chicago (other than the Chicago Airport Marriott with Wyeth years ago).  It's a great city, but the cab drivers are really crabby and rude!!  They are way worse than New York.  Here's some pics.


Me, Dr. Martha Aguilar, Kurt Schoppe, Dr. Joan Appleyard

Me, Dr. Prashanth Sunkureddi, and Tiffany Moake at Dr. Sunkureddi's poster

Me, Tiffany Moake, Kierstin Cleary, and Shawn Dauber at a Chicago Pizza Place (I forgot the name)

Christin Croll Carlson and Dr. Sunkureddi before the REF 5k that started at Soldier field and made its way down to the Navy Pier and back along Lake Michigan.  Such a fun 5k!!!  Dr. Sunk left me and Christin in the dust.

Me and Christin Croll Carlson at dinner (had to put an awesome pic of Christin in to make up for the 5k pic sans makeup)

By the way, Christin rode 60 miles with me last year in the Tour de Pink if some of you think that she looks familiar.  Christin, you are so awesome!!!!

When I got back, my cousin Kay had tickets for us to go to the Nutcracker Market Preview Party.  Four hours of shopping...I was really exhausted but it was all worth it.  I got some really cool Christmas decorations for the tree this year.  Look out for an animal print decorated tree! :)  Thanks for the tickets, Kay.  I know I was cranky and hard to deal with, but I really appreciate you inviting me!

Doesn't Kay look fabulous?  Everyone was commenting on her beautiful blouse.  WOW!

Finally, I got to have a girls night out and host a slumber party at my house.  Amy Poland Preyer was back in town from Denver and we just had to all get together for dinner and drinks.  

By the way, I wasn't wearing the fedora to be fashionable - I had a photo facial (IPL) and had dramatic results.  Basically my whole face turned red and all my sunspots and sun damage really came to the surface so I had to hide all of the mess on my face that I could.  No worries, all the dark brown sun spots are now flaking off and the redness has gone away.  I thought the fedora looked pretty good regardless!

Sadly when we got back to my house I immediately feel asleep on the couch like an old geezer while the others sat around and had a good time catching up.  The same thing happened the last time I had girls night/slumber party.  I think I'm a 39 year old girl trapped in the body of a 70 year old!

I'm so ready for Clint to be home - he's supposed to be home in two days.  It's been a hard 3 weeks without him, but I'm surviving.  

I'll be back in a couple of days to let you guys know that he got back safely and to talk about some other stuff going on with me.  

No Time to Waste!!!

Ok people, I just sent in the IRS paperwork for Suites of Hope and my friend Laurie Earls has already found a metastatic breast cancer patient in California who desperately wants to come to MD Anderson but can't because she can't afford a place to stay.  Laurie called me today to tell me about her and sweetly asked if there was anyway that she could be the first person to stay in the new condo once we get it.  Of course I will agree to whatever Laurie wants since she is the inspiration for all this.  Of course this woman's husband has a good job and she has insurance, but $2000 a month in just motel bills here in the medical center is too much for anyone to really handle.  Good thing is that the woman is in the middle of chemo in Cali and it will be a few months until she gets her next scan results. We have time until she will be ready to come to Houston, but I feel like I need to get moving on this...NO TIME TO WASTE.  


I had my monthly visit to MD Anderson for my phase 1 clinical trial.  This time they added cholesterol and triglycerides to my usual crazy bloodwork - amusing thing is that I have NEVER had my cholesterol checked.  Drum roll....I have GREAT cholesterol and triglyceride numbers.  ALL my blood work came out fabulous except for, yes again, ANC and WBC which were really low.  Maybe that was how I caught that nasty stomach bug this last weekend?  So of course I got another Neulasta shot.  They also want me to come in every 2 weeks now to follow my ANC and WBC better and maybe catch it before it gets too low again.  Otherwise, great visit and my CT scans will be scheduled for the  Monday before Thanksgiving.  


Sometimes I feel really guilty about all the success with my clinical trial.  I LOOK GOOD and FEEL GOOD.  Many people just can't believe I have cancer.  When I go to MD Anderson I see so many really sick people.  Yesterday there was a wheelchair derby going on in the diagnostic center.  They were everywhere - I think there were more people in wheelchairs than people walking on their own.  When I got up to the 10th floor I saw this emaciated young woman who looked near death waiting to see a doctor.  I asked her husband what type of cancer she has - stomach cancer.  She looked like death - I sat there and silently prayed for her.  I was just so sad and felt so humbled.  It made me think...does anybody really care what's going on in CancerLand?  I see so much going on about the whole Occupy Wall Street Movement.  I really don't mean to be political, but I really feel like I'm caught in the middle.  I don't agree with the Occupy Wall Street people and I don't agree with the "greedy wall street 1% people" either. I find myself somewhere in the middle.  I'm not a "have not but want a lot" and I'm not a "have a lot and take a lot."  I feel like I'm a "have a lot and don't really deserve it but work hard for it".  I'm really having a hard time with all this student loan whining and crying though.  I had student loans out of college and was expected to pay it back even though my first job out was a teaching job making $22,000.  I doubled up and paid it off in 5 years.  No one bailed me out.  No one bailed my dad out when he was out of work for 18 months back in the 80's.  No one is helping me or many others pay our medical out of pocket expenses annually for chronic diseases even when we have GOOD insurance (mine is over $3000 annually and I have AMAZING insurance).  By the way, every cent I pay towards my medical care is TRULY worth it for what I am getting in return.   Then again, why are we paying CEO's millions to leave a company when they do a horrible job?  Why are banks being bailed out just to turn around and make bad loans again?   When will we all just learn to live within our means and learn to find value and fulfillment in what really matters?


Here's a wonderful article I ripped off from my friend Bobby Cude's facebook status regarding the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  Thanks Bobby!  It has insightful scriptures.  When I'm faced with a financial dilemma I have sometimes thought to myself, "What would Solomon do?" 


http://www.irvingbible.org/blog/2011/10/26/on-occupy-wall-street/




Here's a thought, maybe we should be investing more in people!  At least that's what I've been trying to do with Suites of Hope.  I also have made the exciting decision to invest in a friend of mine.  My friend, Lindsey Apostolo, is a metastatic cervical cancer survivor who I met at a MD Anderson event.  I really liked Lindsey instantly.  She is fighting a tough battle with cancer, but is still working as a school teacher and out trying to have a good time with her friends.  Some of you may remember that I posted on facebook asking for names of interior decorators.  Lindsey got in touch with me and asked if I would take her on as my designer.  While she is a teacher, her real passion is in interior design and wants to try and start her own business.  Would I help her get started?  ABSOLUTELY!!!  So far we are having a blast and I love every idea she has.  Paint and wallpaper coming soon and faux alligator skin around the bar!  Yay!  I will keep you guys up to date on our progress.

What are some of you investing in these days?  Let me know!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot...

The song of the week:  

No Time to Waste   

By:  Beckwith, featuring Ineabell

Celebrate your Princess!

Well, obviously it's that time of year...Breast cancer awareness month.  I've been participating in various activities and parties, but one of my favorites is "Celebrate your Princess" walk out in Fulshear at Cross Creek Ranch.  Last year I was an honoree and it was so much fun.  This year my Aunt Mary who is a two time cancer survivor was honored.  Yay!  Unfortunately, I got hit with a really horrible stomach bug and couldn't make the event.  I wanted to include a pic from the event anyway since I'm so proud of my aunt.

Earlier in the week, me and Clint got to go to dinner with our friends Laurie Earls and Charlene Hamburger before they flew back to Sacramento.  Laurie finished up her radiation and was cleared to go back home for a nice break.  Before they left, we got to celebrate that I finally mailed off the paperwork to the IRS for my non profit status for Suites of Hope - one step closer to getting this thing going.  Hopefully I will hear back in about 6 weeks if I was approved.  Laurie and Charlene's friend designed a logo for us too!  I have already posted in on Facebook, but will post it here for those of you who aren't Facebook people.  

I already miss Laurie and Charlene, but I'm so thrilled that she finally got to go home.  Laurie has been here in Houston since January.  Please pray that her new treatment works and shrinks her tumors, especially the one on her brain stem - she is having trouble with one of her eyes because of it. 

I Still Believe!! It was a good week in CancerLand!!

It's been a good week in Cancer Land!!  Thank goodness, because the week before was not that great.  Let me start by telling you guys the really good news.  Some of you may remember my friend from Connecticut, Suzanne Hebert.  I met her online in on breastcancer.org and got to meet her in person when she came down here to MD Anderson.  She ended up in the same Phase I Afinitor trial I'm in.  Her first CT scan since she started the clinical trial was this last week...GREAT news!  Her liver lesion was 21% smaller!  Yay!!!  This is only after 3 months on therapy.  Suzanne was really excited and I was so excited for her.  She is like me, and had not had good scans for some time before Afinitor.  I know we have not won the war on breast cancer yet, but we are winning some sweet little battles!  Suzanne is going to celebrate next week with her sister out in LA.  She even has tickets to the Ellen show.  Have fun Suzanne, you deserve it.  I forgot to tell many of you this...I figured out a couple of months ago that I had read about Suzanne in a NY Times article back in January of this year.  It took me a while to put "2 and 2" together to realize it was the same Suzanne.  What a small world. Her article really inspired me.  I am glad that I can call her my friend.  Here is the NY Times article from January 2011.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/health/18cancer.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hpw




I also got to spend time with my dear sweet friend, Laurie Earls, this week.  Unfortunately it was in the MD Anderson hospital.  I haven't told you guys this yet, but Laurie's angiosarcoma cancer has spread to her brain stem.  She is currently getting daily radiation treatments.  So far this and the Nexavar treatments seem to be working.  After her radiation is over, Laurie and her sister Charlene will be flying home to California on Thursday.  I am so excited Laurie is getting a break and will get to spend some much needed time back home.  I will miss her terribly but she will be back in a few months.  Please pray for Laurie!! While the current treatments seems to be working on her cancer, she has had such a tough time.  I know God has a plan for Laurie.  It's just so hard to watch her go through all this.  It's been a cake walk for me compared to what her and her family have had to endure.  


For me, things are good.  I am working hard at my job, working out, running to prepare for my half marathons, and trying to enjoy breast cancer awareness month.  My hair continues to grow and I just got it cut and colored and LOVE it.  Here is a current pic of me and Clint.  My hair is actually longer than it looks - I have it behind my ears.  Good news is that the front of my hair is now even with the back...no more mullet!  LOL!

Pic of me and Suzanne from this last summer

Congrats on the good news Suzanne!  So happy for you, David and the kids! 

In honor of all the good news, me being a music lover, and also a big dork, I am starting something new...a song of the week!!  I will have a new song every Sunday night.  

My first "Song of the Week" will be an oldie but goodie!  "I Still Believe" by The Call.  Download it people!!! It is a GREAT song.  I always think of my Lamesa friend Ginna Treadwell when I hear it - I think she introduced me to The Call.  Anyway, it was also in the movie "The Lost Boys" which is a favorite of mine.  Just a good kick a$$ kind of song that will get you inspired if you are a little down.