1 Down 7 to Go! 

1 down, 7 to go!

So I finished my first cycle of Xeloda and I am now enjoying my week off. Woo-hoo! As a reminder I do 2 weeks on and 1 week off for 8 cycles. I have decided to just stick with focusing on them as cycles because 6 months seems way worse than 8 cycles to me...don't you think so?

The good news is that the 2 weeks went fine! No body parts fell off, my head didn't spin around and I obviously still have my sense of humor! ;o) I really haven't felt any real symptoms, maybe a little extra tired but I just don't give in to that. You know me, the ever ready bunny that likes to keep busy! I am working about 3 days a week and hanging in there. I love being there spending time with the girls (they really keep my spirits up) and with my wonderful clients that are so much more than clients...they are friends. My neuropathy from my other chemo is still giving me some trouble. It's only my arms and hands but I am learning to accept it as a part of life. Oh well! ;o) My big toe nails are also slowly trying to leave me...gross! The new ones are growing in underneath and I hope they win the race before the others come off...polish seems to help...a lot! (sorry for the TMI) I have decided that it is important to keep going to the gym and stay in shape. They released new evidence that our "killer cells" are more productive in someone that works out so that is another benefit to it all. Those cells go out in the body to hunt down and destroy cancer cells. I only do the upright bike for my cardio since I need to be good to my feet but also do the different seated type machines there too. GO WORK OUT EVERYONE!

I will start cycle 2 this Monday and we will be increasing the dosage since I tolerated it so well. I love that I have to wear gloves and not touch the pills! Really? Don't touch them to your skin, just get them inside your body! Oh yeah, I filed for a tier exemption with my pharmacy provider and got my copay reduced from $200 to $10 a month! I had never heard of it before but I am glad I have now. That was SO worth it! Now with the extra dosage the pills cost about $7000 a month! Yowza! Thankful for my insurance.

Blessings

Speaking of being thankful...you may find it strange that I have never felt so full of thankfulness. I wake up every single morning feeling so full of gratitude and count my many blessings. It is like I have put on a pair of magical glasses and see everything that I am blessed with so much more clearly. It's like going from black and white to technicolor! With the fear of this coming back I could be focusing on the "why me" or letting the fear over shadow my joy. Fear can be completely debilitating and blind you to everything good. Instead my eyes see past the fear, which I hand over to God every day, and feel my heart fill with gratitude. Why let tomorrow's fear ruin today's joy!!

Hitting milestones in my life are also so much more special. Joe and I celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary on May 18th and had a lovely dinner out at Roy's last night. Speaking of marriages, our house is becoming wedding central. Kendall and Christian's wedding is quickly approaching and it is such a wonderful distraction to everything for me. They are such a strong and faith-filled couple and have such a great life ahead of them! 

A couple of other really super cool things happened last week. My wonderful kiddos at church made their confirmation after 2 years of preparation. I am so proud of them! Watching them grow in their faith and as humans has been an incredible gift that I will always treasure. They have truly touched my heart. What is this gold pin you ask? (even if you didn't ask you get to hear about it!). One of my former students who is now heading off to college achieved his Eagle Scout Award and honored me with this pin. He was allowed to give one pin to whom he felt impacted him in his life. I am blown away from this and touched beyond words. Thank you so much for this honor Eric Bermudo!

Prayers

I humbly ask for your prayers that I will continue to tolerate my chemo well with no side effects. It is a long road ahead and I need my body to stay strong and heathy through this. I also ask that you pray that if there are any rogue cancer cells in my body that this chemo and my awesome killer cells are out there destroying and annihilating them! Thank you my sweet friends and family, I pray for all of you as well! 

Spend your day seeing all the things you have to be thankful for!  

Here We Go Again!

Tomorrow is the day that I start the new chemo, Xeloda (capecitabine). I am keeping a very positive outlook about it and feel I will soar through this with flying colors like I did with the other 2 chemos! I will be starting out by taking three 500mg pills after breakfast and then again after dinner. I will do this for two weeks and then have one week off. If/when I do well on this dose she will increase it. I will repeat this for 8 cycles which takes about 6 months. Not thrilled about that but it is what it is! ;o)

The warnings and instructions are interesting to say the least. First of all I am not supposed to touch them without gloves on. Hello...so don't mess your skin up, just get it right into your mouth and digestive track! The nurse went over things I am supposed to avoid during this time and said...

• no standing for long periods of time
• no long walks or hikes or aerobic activities
• keep my hands and feet dry and well moisturized
• no hot or cold water on hands and feet
• do not use kitchen or garden tools that involve repeated opening and closing of the hands

There were a few more things but I said, "You just described my job!" I mean really?! This is going to be very interesting but I am just positive that I am not going to have problems with all of this! So I am putting my seat belt on, holding on with white knuckles and am ready for this ride. Let's throw all we can at this dang cancer and beat it!

A Little Scare

SO...just to keep things interesting I thought we'd throw a little scare into it all. I saw my radiology oncologist for a skin check on the radiation area. It looks great by the way and you can't even tell I had radiation. I happen to mention to her that I found a small lump on my other breast the night before and I had her examine it. She didn't seem alarmed but said that I was due for a mammogram on that side anyway (my poor little left booby has been ignored). I didn't think much of it all and was focused on the fact that my port was coming out on Wednesday. WELL...my oncologist thought it was a big deal and the next thing I know I am being rushed in for a mammogram and ultrasound to get to the bottom of things before the port is removed and before I start the chemo. Just the thought of cancer in my other breast was too much for me to handle so I just gave it over to God. It was amazing how much I just went with the flow after that. Let's face it, there wasn't anything I could do about it so I just handed it over.  It all turned out fine and now have a new baseline for my mammograms since my breasts are very different now.

The Arnold-ectomy...aka The Terminator Has Been Terminated!

This was in me, cord and all!

Don't look so sad Arnold!

Last Wednesday my friend Lucia was my hand-holder and designated driver for my port to come out. It took way longer than we both expected but we had time to really get to talk and catch up while we were waiting. The waiting was way longer than the procedure and let's face it, it went fast because I was sleeping, lol! It all went well and NO MORE PORT!!! One less physical reminder of all of this! The terminator served me well but I am happy it is no longer there!

Blessings and More Sorrow

This is my all-time favorite Bedison photo! Mike is photo
bombing in the back. Love this family!

First we all had the shock of my friend Kyle passing away and then a few days later my friend Mike Bedison also passed away. Mike's daughter and son, Jen and Mikey, were my kids choreographers back when they were in children's theater. Our families were instantly intertwined through theater, our faith, hair appointments, trips to Europe, and many celebrations throughout life. It has been about 17 years that we first met and quickly bonded. Mike has been battling an undetermined illness since last December with much frustration. It has been a long and tough road for them all and he lost his battle last weekend. Both Mike and his lovely wife Marilyn were regulars at Tease and I always looked forward to spending time with them and catching up on life. I can't look at the little chair in my suite at the salon without thinking of him. It brings a smile to my face picturing him there but an ache to my heart at the same time. I will truly miss this sweet, funny, kind, wonderful man. His rosary will be tomorrow night and his service will be Tuesday. Of course it will be a huge Aloha as we send this native Hawaiian off and bid him aloha oe!

 Lucia and I getting one last good hike in before I can't, due to my new meds. What a beautiful day it was! What a beautiful friend she is!

Speaking of beautiful friends, this is some of our high school friends group that got together to celebrate Kyle's life and our many wonderful memories of him. They are blessings in my life and more like family than friends!