Liver Lesions Take Another Beating!!!

I'm so excited!  My CT scan results are in and Dr. Wheler got to give me the good news today...all my liver lesions are still shrinking and there are no new lesions or tumors anywhere else.  My blood work looked really good as well.  All my tumor markers were in the normal range and my liver enzymes are normal too.  YAY!  I get to continue taking the Afinitor and Arimidex daily.  I will get CT scans again in 3 months.  


I was a little nervous today going into my appointment.  I went by myself because Clint had a really, really, really important meeting.  This was basically my very first appointment by myself when I was getting test/scan results.  I really had no expectations going in today.  All I know is that I am feeling great and had no reason to worry.  After, Dr. Wheler gave me the big news I just kind of sat there for a few seconds saying or thinking nothing at all.  Just didn't know how to process it...this is the longest I have been on a treatment regimen for breast cancer.  Taxol (3 months),  FAC (3 months), Tamoxifen (4 months), Abraxane (2 months), Xeloda (4 months), nothing for 2 months due to surgery and washout period, and now I have been on Arimidex and Afinitor for 6 months.  6 WHOLE MONTHS with 3 more to go!  Woohoo!!  So much to celebrate...Praise GOD!


So, I guess you guys have figured out that I get CT scans every 3 months.  I thought I would take a couple of pics of the experience. 


The lovely barium smoothie!  I chose Banana this time.  Other flavors include Apple, Berry, Mocha, and plain.  I have to drink 2 of them over 2 hour time period.

After 2 hours of prepping, I get to go in for the CT scan.  So, I drink barium, get a iodine contrast IV through my power port, and a barium enema...yes, you read that right, barium enema for the lower GI scan.  I am going to discuss skipping the lower GI scan next time.

It's a pretty quick scan - maybe 15 minutes at the most.  I love the "pac man" that lights up and tells me when to breathe in and breathe out.  He has such a nice soothing voice.


Anyway, good times!


My new boobs are healing just fine.  I saw Dr. Schusterman for my 2 week check up.  I hope to start working out again next week.  It's just killing me not to be able to run at the park.  I feel so lethargic.  I go back to see Dr. Schu in another month.  Then we will discuss when I get to have my procedure to make a areola and nipple for my left breast - that's the final part to the whole crazy reconstruction process (other than getting the new areola and nipple tattooed in his office for color to match the right side).


Me, Melanie, and Dr. Schusterman at this office last week.

I'm so thankful that the clinical trial I'm in allowed me to have my surgery without missing a single dose of treatment!! It's really amazing to get the results I'm getting with my liver lesions while not decimating my blood and immune system.  


Thanks again for all your prayers and words of encouragement.  I couldn't do any of this without my friends and family!!

The Wildlife Preserve in My Backyard!

Just recently I posted, on Facebook, a picture of a some "wildlife" found in my backyard here in Bellaire and got quite a reaction from several people so I decided to dedicate a blog entry to the critters.  Some of you may not know this but me and Clint live in a house in Bellaire which is right in the middle of HOUSTON!  We do not live in the country or the "burbs", we actually live 3 houses outside the 610 Loop.  Anyway, so far we have seen many animals running around our house in the front and backyard.  These animals have included raccoons, possums, squirrels, strange birds, baby snakes, geckos, and my all time favorite RATS!!  Clint and our neighbor, Mark, are in the midst of what they call "The Great Rat Wars."  We've seen rats run across our power lines in the backyard over the past couple of years, but nothing like we have seen lately.  Our dog, Preston, has even brought a couple of dead baby rats into the house.  YUCK.  So Clint and Mark are putting out traps, poison, etc. to downsize the rat population pronto.  While Clint has been in Africa the last week, I even found a large rat swimming in our pool.  I didn't want to let it drown and have a rat corpse in the pool, so I used the long handled net to help it get out of the pool and let it run away.  I can't believe I let it live to see another day.  Anyway, here are some pictures of wild life seen in our back yard the past year.  Oh, and could someone tell me exactly what type of birds these are.  I think they are some type of crane or heron? 


Birds!

Possums!

My favorite, the RATS!  (all three different rats!)

Anyway, kinda crazy since we live in the middle of Htown.




Something really exciting happened last night at church - Houston's First Baptist.  Pastor Gregg announced that the church is purchasing a condo around the corner to provide a place to stay for cancer patients coming to Houston for treatments.  They are calling it "House of Hope!"  I was really excited!  First thing I thought was that my non-profit Suites of Hope is definitely a great idea since HFBC is doing the same thing - it was a confirmation from God that I am on the right track and there's a huge need for housing for cancer patients.  Second, we need all the condos we can get - I don't think there could ever be enough people or organizations buying up condos for this reason.   Just so everyone knows, I did go up to Pastor Gregg after church was over and talked briefly about it all.  He gave me the Mission Pastors info and told me that we need to network, discuss, etc how we can work together and help each other out.  YAY!   So excited about it.  I will continue to keep you guys updated.


Keep praying for me, my next CT scan is a week from today.  Praying its all good news!!!

Got Harpooned Today and Almost Eaten by a Giant Armadillo Last NIght!

Today was my day to go get my monthly "harpooning" at MD Anderson.  No, it's not a new sport!  It's my monthly Zoladex shot.  I've often mentioned my monthly Zoladex shot in my Caringbridge postings but have never really gone into detail about it.  All I have to say is that you know it's gonna be a bad shot when MDA won't give you the shot until you have had lidocane cream on for at least 15 minutes and if you didn't happen to bring any cream with you they are more than happy to give you a sample.  What?  I thought MDA DOESN'T DO SAMPLES!!!  I guess they make an exception for Zoladex shots.  I have to have these shots every month to put me into menopause.  Why do I have to be in menopause?  One of the drugs I am on in the clinical trial (Arimidex) is an aromatase inhibitor and can only be given to post menopausal women...this is where the Zoladex come in handy.  Anyway, it's not really a shot but more like an implant.  Think of the movie Matrix, people.  The Zoladex comes in a handy dandy spring-action, pre-filled syringe and has an 18 gauge needle, which is a huge needle!  The funny thing is that I've had many different nurses give me the shot and they ALL (with the exception of 1) tell me how they don't really like to give Zoladex injections.  GREAT!!!!  Just what a girl wants to hear!  They probably see me on the schedule and have a rock, paper, scissors contest to see who gets the honor of "harpooning" me.  Here's some pics of the lovely syringe! Oh, and it's given sub-q in my stomach.  Thank God not in my a$$!

Last night I got to take my Connecticut friends, Suzanne and her husband David, out to eat BBQ at Goode Company.  They were in town for Suzanne's monthly MDA clinical trial visit and for a LIVER BIOPSY!  Suzanne was really nervous about the biopsy - she had already had one done at Sloan Kettering last year.  Thankfully, it went very well with no pain... just a little soreness afterwards.  Things are going well for her so far on Arimidex and Afinitor.  She has two more months before her first CT scan.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  We had a great time hanging out at Goode Company and afterwards we just had to walk across the street to Armadillo Palace for a photo op with the giant red-eyed armadillo!!!  Sorry, Seger - next time I'll get a photo with you and the armadillo too!

Finally, I want to leave you all with a quote that I picked up at a store... yes, it's one of those quotable magnets.  I'm a little late to the game.


Happiness is like a butterfly;
the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, 
but if you turn your attention to other things,
it will come and sit softly on your shoulder...
(Thoureau)


Christin, I know we always talk about happiness and it made me think of you!!  


It also made me think of an old friend that I heard from this week, that I haven't heard from in what seems like forever.  Friend, I'm dedicating this quote to you. I hope you find happiness that seems to elude you or is just out of your reach.  Actually, I think happiness is all around you, but you are just too busy to enjoy or even notice it.  I wish you so much happiness, my friend!


I wish you ALL much happiness!

2 Year Anniversary of my Breast Cancer Diagnosis!

That's right, it's been 2 years since I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It's such a strange thing, when I found out that my breast cancer had spread to my liver and I was Stage IV I asked my wonderful oncologist at MD Anderson what was my prognosis.  Remember folks, I asked...she responded by saying that with cases like mine a textbook answer is 2 years.  Here I am 2 years later!  Me and Dr. Litton have had a good laugh about it.  I count myself very blessed to have her, Dr. Wheler, and Dr. Schusterman looking after me.  As I have told many of you, it is by the GRACE of GOD that I am still here today living my life.  


So how did I celebrate 2 years of being a cancer survivor other than getting a boob job and sitting at my house all last week recovering?  Me and my good friends got together for Saturday brunch on the 13th.  Thanks to Kayla and Sherri for putting it together and also Natalie who couldn't be there, but made an incredible collage for me with memorable pics from the last few years.  Here are some of the pics from the big day!

I also got to celebrate with my good friend Martha (aka Dynamo stalker) at the Dynamo game on Sunday night.  I actually caught a t-shirt that the Dynamo cheerleaders were throwing into the stands.  It's actually quite comical considering my recent surgery.

So now it's back to work, back to reality.  I feel like I've accomplished so much in just two short years.  I've spent a little time this weekend thinking about what the near future may hold for me.  


1. Of course I have CT scans again on Monday, August 29 to determine if I will continue in my clinical trial.  My doc is expecting great results - keep praying for God's will.  


2.  I've finally sent all my info to my attorney to file my non-profit with the IRS.  Again, the name will be Suites of Hope.  I already own the domain names of suitesofhope.org and suitesofhope.com.  Nothing is up yet, by the way.  Laurie (my MDA friend who inspired me to start all this madness) is designing the logo with a graphic designer friend of hers.  There are 3 of us that will serve on the board:  myself, Clint Coker, and Laura Kalokowski.  There will be more people added later, but just 3 for now. My next project is opening up a checking account for the charity and liquidating my stock-nest egg that will start funding the charity.  I will post more as time goes on.  Hopefully we will be legitimate with the IRS by October 1.


3.  I will be riding 47 miles in the Tour de Pink on September 18 with Team Bella Rachel!  


4.  I'm looking forward to Clint and Nathan's fundraiser - Pink Pigeons on September 30 as well as the Komen Walk on October 1.  I've got other breast cancer awareness stuff going on in October and will talk about it as things get closer.


5.  I got the VEGAS Half Marathon December 4 with the girls and HOUSTON Half Marathon with my buddy Braun in January.  


Obviously I will be keeping busy for at least the next 6 months.  


Finally, I want to remind everybody about others in my life who are just starting their battle with cancer or winding it down.  My childhood friend, Jackie (Blahuta) Garcia-Rameau will be having her mastectomy for Stage I Breast Cancer this coming Friday.  Good luck, Jackie - we will be praying.  It will all be good...trust me!  Clint's cousin, Peggy Duren, has been battling metastatic ovarian cancer for the last few months and has decided a couple of weeks ago to stop chemotherapy that wasn't working and enter hospice at home.  Please pray that Peggy has peaceful time with her family as her journey here on earth comes to an end.  

Houston, We Have Boobs!

It's been 48 hours since my Reconstruction surgery and all I have to say is WOW!  Over the last 6 months, I've looked at a lot of before and after reconstruction images online - I wasn't expecting much because of what I saw.  I am just amazed at what Dr. Schusterman did for me.  It's beyond what I ever imagined - woohoo!  Many of you have asked what size I got.  He placed a 700cc silicone implant in my left mastectomy breast (no breast tissue left on that side) and a 350 cc silicone implant in my right breast.  I'm not in very much pain.  I have been taking pain medication but stopped taking it this morning because I have been feeling so good.  I'm a little sore this afternoon, but nothing I can't handle.  I'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the week and make sure I heal up really well.  Otherwise, I really will be rocking my rack with "Team Rock your Rack" at the Komen walk this October 1.  LOL!


My parents came into town to help Clint look after me.  Mom even got to give me a ride to the Komen Survivor Party last night at the Houstonian.  I was determined to go since I was a model in the Western Wear Fashion Show.  Me and mom had a really good time.  I got to introduce her to many of my breast cancer survivor friends and she met other ladies her age that were survivors.  I have included a few pictures below of the Survivor Party.  I also have included a pic of a HUGE rat that Clint caught on our backyard fence.  A old dilapidated house two doors down was torn down about a month ago and we have had a problem with rats ever since.  They haven't gotten in the house that we know of, but they have been traveling back and forth across the fences and power lines in the back yard.  YUCK!!!

You Can't Keep a Good Man Down!

Wow!  Sorry guys, it's been over a week since my last post.  I've been a busy little bee having lots of fun with my friends while Clint was in Singapore.  He got back safely this past Monday.  Yay!  Here's a few updates on my cancer and surgery status:

• I'm still on for my 2nd Reconstruction surgery on Monday, August 8.  So excited! I'm still just getting my tissue expander swapped out for a permanent silicon implant and then getting an implant in my right breast so they are symmetrical.  I will not be having a mastectomy on my right breast - total false alarm last week.  Thank God.  
• I saw my clinical trial oncologist this past Tuesday for my monthly follow up.  My bloodwork continues to look GREAT.  Everything is in the normal range except a couple of things like WBC and ANC which were just barely out of the normal range.  Things are looking good.
• I will be "restaged" in four weeks (probably the end of August) which means another CT scan to see how I'm responding.  No progression or stable means I continue on therapy.  Progression means that I have to move on to something else.  Please be praying that I continue on therapy.

Now, on to what I really wanted to write about today.  This last Tuesday, I got to catch up with my old manager from my days at ICOS, Steve Seger, while he was here in Htown for business.  We keep in touch fairly often, but I haven't seen him in 3 years.  We had such a good time talking about old times, showing off pictures of our families (he's got the most beautiful wife and kids!), and talking about breast cancer as Steve's wife Melanie is a breast cancer survivor, too.  At one point in the evening,  Steve told me how proud he is of me.  He went on and on about how strong I am, etc, etc.  I have to say I was just dumbfounded - I just didn't know what to say.  Life hasn't been all roses for Steve the last few years.  It all started back in 2006 (I think).  Steve's father passed away during heart surgery.  If that wasn't bad enough, it wasn't very long after that his wife, Melanie, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy, chemo, and radiation.  While she was going through treatments, Steve was laid off from a job he absolutely loved because the FDA didn't approve the company's drug and basically went under.  OK folks, just ONE of those three things would be TRAUMATIC, but to actually have all three of those happen within a year is insane.  I think I joked with him the other night that if it would have been me, I may have just went ahead and slit my wrists.  

Anyway, I kind of dropped the ball and didn't say what I really needed to say to him.  I know when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was looking at a mastectomy, chemo, etc, I just kept telling myself "if Steve and Melanie can get through it and be strong, so can me and Clint".  Of course, one of the first people I called after my diagnosis to get advice was Steve.  He and Melanie have been so helpful through all of this and made things so much easier.   It's the reason why I have been so open to talk about my experience with breast cancer and why I always have time to talk to other women who have just been diagnosed.  It's just too scary to do it alone.  

Anyway, the really cool part about catching up with Steve is to see where he is today compared to that crazy year that started when his dad passed away.  He took a chance and took a job in Memphis outside of pharma sales.  He commuted from Dallas to Memphis for 18 months.  He finally moved his family there last year and just recently got promoted to Vice President of something or another (Sorry Steve, I forgot the rest of your title!) and seems to be really loving his new job.  His wife Melanie is just 6 months away from being a 5 year breast cancer survivor which is a HUGE deal - she has beautiful long blond hair which I'm very jealous of, by the way.  His two daughters are growing up so fast and are doing really well in school and tennis.  Life is good for Steve - it's good to see so many blessings come out of such a dark time in someone's life.  I'm just glad to have such a wonderful role model to look up to - he never gave up and just kept fighting, all the while making it look so easy and staying so positive.  Congratulations, Steve!   You, my friend, are the strong one and I am so proud of YOU! :)

Finally, I just wanted to post some pics from last week's various activities!