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!