Clarity...Prayers are Answered

You are all incredible prayer warriors...you are all the bomb.com for sure!!! Clarity is what I wanted and clarity is what I certainly got! If you remember, I was completely confused and torn between the two chemo options I was given though UCSD and didn't know how to make the decision.

My consultation/second opinion with Dr Traina at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York was great and so was she. Cameron went with me since the rest of the family had headed back home by then. I was so glad he was able to go and hear everything that she had to say. First of all she was so kind and positive, I liked her from the moment she came into the room. A lot of information was given but to put it all in a nutshell she told me that I need to go on Xeloda (the oral chemo) and that they wouldn't even contemplate putting me on carboplatin at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She said based on my residual tumor that she highly recommended me doing adjuvant chemo and not leaving things the way they are and just hoping for the best. It left no doubt in my head as to what I am supposed to do and I am so very thankful for that! Clarity is a wonderful thing and thank you all for your prayers!

I will be meeting with my oncologist here on Tuesday and start Xeloda this coming week. I don't have all of the nitty gritty details yet but as soon as I do I will let you know. Put your seat belts on...here we go again on the chemo ride! 

The Big Apple

Our family trip was amazing! We all traveled to New York to join Cameron there for our last "Sczempka, family of 5 trip". With Kendall getting married in August it will probably be the last time we will all get away together. Needless to say, we all had a blast. 5 crazy Sczempkas set free in NYC...how could it have not been a blast!?! We walked tons of miles (about 20,000 steps a day), rode bikes for hours, ate incredible food, saw 4 shows and learned a lot about the subway system! Cameron was an incredible guide, host and social director...he even fit in a couple of auditions and a voice lesson to boot. We stayed at his apartment in Harlem to add to the experience. It is actually an historic building and I loved it! Did I mention RATS? Yeah, can't leave that part out. It is one thing I will never get used to. When we would walk on the neighborhood streets at night time the little darlings would come out in hoards! One place in particular that we had to walk past every night to get to the apartment was the best for the rat experience. There would be 20 to 30 of the lovely things scurrying about. They were the size of small cats...I swear to you! YUCK!!!

The little cutie if front of me
kept my mind off of the guy by
poking her hands through the
seat and playing peek a boo!

 

The guy next to me on the
plane coming home. Other than
his snoring, breathing on me
and taking up part of my seat
it was lovely!

Our family has always cherished and appreciated our time together but in light of the recent health "hijacking" we certainly value it even more. My heart is so full with joy to have had this time all together and now we get to focus on the joyous occasion of Kendall and Christian's upcoming wedding! We couldn't ask for a better man for her to spend her life with. It was an extra bonus for me to get to spend a few extra days there with it just being Cam and I. We went on a VERY long bike ride (that put us in another world. We ended up in a huge hasidic Jewish neighborhood...oy vey...very cool), saw another show and had some incredible one on one talks. I will put all of these gems in my little treasure box of life for sure. I am so grateful for it all!

Blessings

One of my many blessings in this life has been a very special group of friends that I have known forever! Some of them I met in elementary school and the rest of them I met in junior high. We are a small bunch and we have never lost contact with each other. Our lives have stayed beautifully intwined all these years. They are family to me and I love them all dearly. They are the ones that all pitched in and blessed me with my wig!

Our sweet Kyle, he will be so very missed

Unfortunately I received some incredibly sad news today. One of these dear friends passed away early this morning leaving his beautiful wife and 2 young sons behind. Kyle was a great dad, husband, friend, and devout Christian. He actually called me while I was in New York and I am so glad I missed his call because I have a voice message from him that I will save forever. What I am not happy about, and have been dealing with the guilt over, is that I didn't call him back. I was going to actually call him today since I flew in late last night. The whole trip was a whirlwind and I wanted to be able to call and catch up without the distractions. I am thankful to have been given the news in person. Tom and his wife Donna drove to our homes to let each of us know and I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been since Tom and Kyle were best friends. This is the second person we have lost from our group of old friends and my heart aches thinking about it. First Chris and now Kyle...sure reminds us all to treasure each moment and each loved one. Life is so delicate and short. Please keep Kyle's family in your prayers.