Category: Stage IV

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Sad News

Thurman Lee Centers, my Dad

I have to admit, I thought my father would outlive me. I thought most people who were still alive in my family would outlive me. When I was first diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in December 2016, they didn’t think I had long to live. Yet, I have long surpassed the “average” length of time I should have lived. Every time I go in to see my doctor I am greeted by nurses and techs who smile with surprise and excitement to see me doing so well. My brother (Shawn), and now my dad, have gone before me in that period of time. Mom passed away in 2014, so it’s just me and my sister left.

Dad had just purchased a new scooter, 500cc. It was his second ride. I didn’t even know he was thinking about getting one. He sent me a personalized Christmas ornament with Tim and me on a motorcycle. We had talked motorcycles off and on because of our rides, and we had even texted that morning about something else. I didn’t know he was riding, or even contemplating it.

He thought the scooter he bought might be a bit too big for him, so he decided to try it one more time before taking it back. That’s when he had the accident which took his life. He was 85. They think he had a heart attack which caused the wreck, but no autopsy was done to confirm. They deemed it an accident.

It was a total shock, of course. I thought he would live to be 100, or 95 at least. He died on a Monday and the funeral was that Friday. I had chemo on Tuesday and an echocardiogram on Wednesday, so we jumped in the car and drove to Kentucky for the funeral right after that. It’s a two-day drive from Conroe.

I saw my sister, of course, and her family. Some cousins were there that I haven’t seen in probably 30 years or more. It’s funny how funerals tend to bring people together. An old friend of ours from college also stopped by when he saw my FaceBook post. He lives in the same town where Dad lived, oddly enough, and his wife had even heard about the accident because one of her work colleagues was a first responder to it.

Disney is right. It is a small world after all.

The older I get, the more I realize how small the world really is, and how short life becomes. Every time we turn another month over on the calendar, the days, months, and even years get shorter and shorter. The world is spinning faster and faster with every tick of the clock. Sometimes it feels like I’m on that merry-go-round we rode as children, and it makes me dizzy.

Providentially, I had been going through some old slides that my dad had taken when we were kids growing up. It was a thing. Taking pictures and then get togethers with family gatherings usually included watching a slide show. I’ve had these for a few years, since my brother died, but I had just gotten around to turning them digital.

We had planned on going through Kentucky during our summer trip, and we were going to get together with Dad and Phoebe (his wife). I was going to show him some of the pictures and ask about them. I thought it would be fun to reminisce a bit. I had written “Visit Dad” on my calendar. Little did I know that he would be gone before then.

He was only in a few of the slides, because he was typically behind the camera. Here are a few of my favorites when I was 5-6 years old. It looks like he made use of the timer on his camera. The pictures remind me of the good times, the fun times, and the moments when our family was a family.

This was a family vacation to Florida I think.
Merry Christmas!
I remember that aquarium, and fish netting.
Dad’s Family. My family, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Dad is working on someone’s farm, or maybe he’s just trying out the seat. I don’t think this was our farm.

It’s surreal. You’ve probably been there if you have lost a parent. This is different from when I lost my mom. Different circumstances for sure. her death was expected, and I was blessed to spend the last three weeks of life with her in Hospice care. I had a chance to say good-bye, and say things as well as ask her questions.

This was different. Sudden death is no easier or harder, just different in my experience. Dad and I were not what I would call “close,” and we were just starting to re-connect over the past few years after many years of distance. The disconnect was primarily due to my parents’ divorce and events leading up to their divorce. (It’s a very long story, which I will spare you.) He was always closer to my sister, and I was always closer to my mom. He came to visit when I was diagnosed with MBC, and we started having conversations via texts after that. I was hoping we would have a few more years to continue developing a deeper connection, but God had other plans.

The cemetery was in another city and country from the funeral, and I was impressed with how respectful people were as we processed to the graveside. They pulled over, put their hands on their hearts, took off their hats, and waited for our long line without incident. We held up traffic for an hour across two counties, yet that didn’t seem to phase them. They just waited. I was impressed with their level of dignity and respect.

RIP Dad. Until we meet again on the other side…

I was surprised they already had the date on his headstone.

I snapped a few selfies of me and some family members. I missed my cousin Glennis but he was there as well.

Dad re-married three times after my parents divorced, so he had other families besides ours. I have a second sister who was also at the funeral. She was really little when we first met. We didn’t grow up together, but we keep in touch on FaceBook. It was good catching up with her at the funeral as well.

Terri, me and Bonnie, my two sisters. Bonnie is on the right. She’s two years older than me. Terri was in my dad’s second family. She’s about 12 years younger than me.
Me and Megan (Bonnie’s daughter) at the graveside. It was cold and windy, but it didn’t rain.
My and my cousin Lisa. I always looked up to her growing up.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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The Scent Keeper – Book Review

Our book for the month of March was The Scent Keeper, by Erica Bauermeister. This is an intriguing novel and a New York Times Bestseller. Once I got into it, I had a hard time putting it down. I may read it again. It’s an easy read, and the story was captivating. There is a bit of mystery, sadness, love, laughter, and of course family. Hmmm, I may have just described the majority of popular novels out there. 😂😂 🤩🤩

This book is unique in that it is based on the concept of capturing smells in a bottle, the same way we capture moments on a photograph. If you wanted to remember a particular moment in time, from a scent perspective, you could open the bottle and it would transport you back to that time. Not literally, but emotionally and in a very clear memory. The main character, a teenager by now, was raised on an island with only her father to keep her company. It reminded me of the movie “Nim’s Island,” except Emmeline had no contact with the outside world as Nim enjoyed in the movie. She questioned her father’s constant dedication to the scent bottles, and as her eyes were opened to some things on the island, this is when her life really changed.

Aside, it’s interesting how a riff with one’s parent can change an entire destiny. I’ve seen it so many times as children become teenagers and then suddenly turn into young adults. Young adults need to grow up and become independent. Oh how I wish we could keep them small! And oh how I wish I could spend one more day with each of my parents.

I went to my book club, and we left immediately after that for our trip to Kentucky. My dad passed away this week, so it is a quick trip. I’ll write about that later. After that we are heading to Florida for one of Tim’s work gigs.

I’ll keep this review a bit shorter due to traveling. After the meeting Carol sent out her summary of our discussion. As usual, she captured the heart of the conversation. I especially enjoyed the question, “what is the smell of childhood for you?” Maybe you’d like to consider that question as well. Is there a particular scent that takes you back to a certain moment in time? Smell is such a strong sense, and we often overlook its power. Anyway, here is our leader’s summary. I should forewarn you that our summaries may spoil the ending for you.

Nine of us gathered this afternoon to discuss The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister.  We started off the discussion with the question of what is smell of childhood for you…….  The answers were the Library, Root Beer, Railroad engine, Seaspray, a picnic in an apple orchard, fresh cut grass and the earth, the outdoors and a basement, Pine Sol, Mom’s biscuits and pineapple upside down cake, white shoulders perfume, Prell shampoo to name a few.  The majority of us thought it was an easy read and well written.  Most of us had no idea of how smell is used in marketing and the different layers to entice buyers.  We thought the topic of the book intriguing and interesting.  We talked about Emmeline/Violet and her isolation on the island with her father, the second part being on the cove and then the city with her Mother.  Lisa pointed out that the author named a lot of the characters based on what happens to them.  Fisher for instance because he doesn’t fish with his abusive Father  and Emmeline’s Father calling her Little Lark, which she does fly away.  Several of us thought the ending was confusing and many of us read the ending a couple of times. Twelve of us rated the book and gave it a 7.5 rating.  Sending condolences to Cindy who lost her Father and driving to his service in Kentucky.  Safe Travels to you!!!!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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She Has a Name!

We picked up our new 2023 Airstream Globetrotter today. After our “Maiden Voyage” a couple of weeks ago, we took her in for some warranty work. Here we are on the way home from Austin, where she is all put back together. AND…she has a name!

We conducted a poll of our friends and after much ado we have decided on her name. Why we think she is a female, who knows, but it seems right to us. You can learn more about the names we polled and why we did or didn’t choose a specific name by watching this silly and hilarious video.

In case you are wondering, no, I didn’t forget to wipe my mouth after I ate. 😂🤪😂 I was getting over some cold sores, so I apologize for the ugly face. They were nearly healed by this time, so you can probably imagine how they hurt. 😳🙄 Having MBC means it’s easier to catch things, and much harder to get rid of them. C’est la vie.

Anyway, I hope you like the video. Enjoy the West Airstream Adventures and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun and adventures!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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Globetrotter Maiden Voyage

From January 20 – 27 we camped near the Colorado River, in Columbus (Texas, of course), to try out all the bells and whistles on our new rig. We stayed in a Thousand Trails campground, so we didn’t have to pay (we are members). It’s a pretty good deal, really. As long as you use the membership, which we do!

Our GPS took us out of the way so it ended up being a longer drive to get there. But, it was good to finally get to try her out. We’ve been to the storage unit almost daily, and on Amazon nearly as often 🤪😂, getting her prepped, organized, and ready for action. Everything (almost) is reversed here, so I kept going to the wrong side to reach for stuff. But, it’s working out great so far.

The spot we got in was fairly level, but we did raise one side up just a notch. We ate at Joe’s Italian in Columbus the first night. Delicious bread and pizza! They showed a movie at the campground, but we were too tired the first day, so we watched the movie Dog Gone in bed. The TV is on my side in this trailer. It has 3 HDMI inputs, so we can use the iPad to stream (which we did).

Our home for the week, Columbus Texas.

Tim gave a quick ten-minute tour of our trailer the day we got set up. He talked about how it’s different from our other one. You can watch it here. We have almost decided on a name, so you’ll probably see another post about that coming soon!

The temperatures were mostly cold, then rainy, then sunny, then cold again. That’s Texas! It was a good test for all the different A/C and heating units in our trailer! We went for several walks by the River, sat in front of our camper and watched the sunset, and watched the deer frolic and play.

Resident deer. They were all over the park.
Walking by the Colorado River
Hiking through the woods.
Enjoying the sunset.

It was cold and rainy after the first couple of days, with a tornado watch 😳😳 to boot! But our girl did great. She did have a leak on the front door, so we’ll drop it off at the dealer to get that fixed. But, no damage from the storm was noted (Praise God!).

Rain Rain Go Away!
Uh Oh… It’s not supposed to rain on the inside.
No photo description available.
This town was a bit of a surprise. A gem, really. Lots of history and interesting sites here!

The skies cleared so we took an auto tour of historic buildings in downtown Columbus. We read a bunch of historic markers, re-telling historic stories. The first Texas Ranger started here.

I loved the courthouse, with a beautiful green stained glass ceiling in the courtroom.

They also have a LOT of big beautiful live oak trees. One of the largest in the world lives here. This one is in the middle of town. It’s a very cool town.

We ended that day with schnitzel at Schobels Restaurant. Delicious!!

Heading home, via the dealership. We left just after sunrise.
Our truck was covered in frost! 😳
The deer stopped by to say good-bye on our way out of the park.
All in all, a great week, and a successful Maiden Voyage!!

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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Chemo Day

For some reason, they didn’t do bloodwork today. I’m not complaining, mind you. I prefer not to get poked whenever possible. I’ve been told by the nurses they don’t have any requirements for my treatment so bloodwork isn’t really necessary. I like watching my glucose mostly, with all the diabetes in my family. Herceptin and Perjeta continue every three weeks. Other than that, not really much to report.

Tomorrow we’re leaving for a trip in the Airstream to try out all the bells and whistles on the new rig. Going somewhere close to the dealership, just in case something goes wrong. More on that later.

Short post today…enjoy.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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The Rose Code – Book Review

I joined a book club.

It’s sponsored by the Canopy, a cancer survivorship center at Memorial Hermann in The Woodlands. You don’t have to be a patient there, just a cancer survivor or friend of a survivor. They have a LOT of activities, from cooking classes to Spanish classes, to Yoga. I could make a full time job of attending everything they offer.

I joined the book club because I set a goal to read more books, and this can help hold me accountable. I also wanted to connect with other survivors, some of whom I already know, and some new ladies as well. We meet monthly, and rotate who picks the book. I’ve only been able to attend two meetings so far, because of our travel schedule. I am hoping to get to more meetings this year.

The first time I attended was in November, and we read Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus. I didn’t write a review on that one, but it was a very good book, currently being made into a drama television series on Apple TV. My main critiques for that book were the slower beginning, and the ending seemed to tie everything up a little too quickly. But it did have an interesting premise, and I loved the name she chose for her very smart dog. “Six-thirty”, because he followed her home and she looked at the time on her watch when she decided to keep him. Clever writing.

Our book for January was The Rose Code, by Kate Quinn. A very long novel, at over 600 pages, I was unable to finish before our meeting. (We were out of town during most of December, and then arrived on Friday before our Wednesday meeting.) I got about half-way through and vowed to finish before starting the book for February. The further I got into the book, the harder it was to put it down. I had rated it 8.5 at the meeting, but after finishing it and attending the meeting, I give it a 9.

The Rose Code is based on Bletchley Park in the UK, where codebreakers worked during the second world war. Men went off to war to fight, and since women were not permitted to fight, they often worked behind the scenes. Codebreaking was one of those jobs. It is said that this work shortened the war by at least two years.

Three heroines are the primary codebreakers followed throughout the book. They are three very different women, who come together in an unusual and unique way, sharing a common purpose. It reminds me that friends will often come from the most unlikely places, and friends may enter our picture for a specific purpose and season in life.

Maybe you’ve seen the movie The Imitation Game, with Benjamin Cumberbatch. This book refers to his character, who was a real person, in addition to some other real people like Prince Philip and Princess Elizabeth. The book kept going back and forth between the week before their royal wedding, and the days of breaking code, which helped to explain some of the “current” events.

I won’t give it away, but I will say I enjoyed reading it. I liked the references to historical facts, codes, and processes that helped with the war efforts. I also enjoyed reading the author’s notes, as she describes in detail which characters are based on real people and how she came up with the idea for the plot twist. She did her research! Now I want to visit Bletchley Park, which was restored and turned into a museum by Kate Middleton (her grandmother worked there). Fascinating history, and great book to honor the codebreakers.

February’s book…Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers. Appropriate for the month of love, don’t you think?

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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We Got a New Rig! Accompanied By a Bit of Drama.

This past week was a bit crazy.

Grab a cuppa…this is going to be a doozy!! ☕️ Oh, and Happy New Year by the way!

We came home from our Christmas trip and noticed the slow leak in our Airstream tire had turned into a flat.

All along we have been working with Airstream Of Austin on a deal to trade in our 30’ International for a 27’ Globetrotter. There are many reasons we decided to do this, but that story is for another time.

📖

This is a story of many more lessons learned about the Airstream. Like how to change the tire, how not to change the tire (because if you do it wrong, you’ll actually break the rig), how to deal with insurance companies, and the one bright spot in all of this mess: the wonderful people at Airstream of Austin.

Because of the trade, time was of the essence. We were driving to Austin on Friday to do the deal, and we discovered the flat after my infusion appointment on Thursday, the day before.

Our garage looks like we are having a garage sale but in reality we were emptying out our Airstream to trade it in. This happened on Wednesday.

I don’t think our Chrome Home was too happy about our decision to turn her in. She gave us several reasons to reconsider the deal. 😩😆 The flat tire should have been an easy fix. But it turned into a major ordeal.

We called Coachnet, our roadside assistance program through the DFW Airstream dealership, and they sent out a technician to change the tire. It took him nearly three hours to arrive, and by that time it was dark and rainy. Fortunately our trailer was parked in the storage lot, with plenty of space to work around it.

The culprit!

The first thing he did was try to jack up the camper, as expected when changing a tire. He managed to take off the flat. After seeing the screw in our tire, we were grateful we had made the decision to change the tire rather than just air it up. Or we might have suffered further damage. We were surprised it made the trip home from Oklahoma! 😳😳

Next part gets juicy. This is when the “fun” really started.

The tech was about to put on the spare, but he could not jack up the trailer high enough to put it on. Back down, add blocks to raise the jack. After several attempts, he pressed the floor jack one more time, and that’s when I heard Tim say “oh no oh no OH NO,” in a very loud voice. When the technician added blocks underneath of the jack, he did not properly place it in the correct spot on the rig, where it has to go to raise it up. There’s a very specific square metal piece that has to be used or, well, this happens. When he lifted the jack, the square piece broke off and the jack tore through the bottom of the rig. We now have a nice breezeway on the bottom of the belly. 😩😭😭

Fortunately, it did not go all the way through the floor, but the gaping hole said it would require a major fix. In case you’re wondering, since the floor jack didn’t work we used our level under one tire to put the flat tire up in the air. Tim found this on YouTube and it worked! We had to release some air from the spare to fit it on, but he did finally get it on.

At this point we didn’t even know if we could trade it in. 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Coach-Net took our claim information. We sent pictures. They were very accommodating.

They called the service provider who blamed Airstream. Bottom line, they probably won’t pay. It would likely become an insurance claim.

The next morning we drove to Austin as planned to start the trade, with the Airstream riding on the spare. After much discussion they were not panicking. In fact, they were super helpful. They agreed to cover the cost of our deductible if our insurance had to pay. That was a blessing! In hindsight, the dealership is probably going to make money off of our insurance claim, so it might have made the deal even sweeter for them.

So, we started a claim with our insurance company. Or at least we tried to! More drama 🎭. Their system was down and it took them all day just to give us a claim number. Airstream had to have the claim number before we could sign the paperwork for the trade.

At one point, the insurance agent said she couldn’t find a “cause” for the claim, meaning she didn’t know if they would pay. 🙇‍♀️

Cra—-zy!!

Rachel was our salesperson. She’s a go-getter! I think we gave her a migraine. Actually, she had one before we arrived, but she stuck it out.

While we were waiting for the insurance company, Josh did our walkthrough. The smart plug that came with our new rig had a fault. (Seriously! You can’t make this stuff up.) They didn’t have one in parts, so he “borrowed” one from another new rig. Well, that’s now our electric chord. He showed us all the features in our new model, and he was very thorough. It was a little easier this time around, as we understood what types of questions we needed to ask. We got a new hitch as well, that seems a bit easier to install.

At the end of the day, and it was a very long day, the insurance company agreed to pay, and the staff at Airstream of Austin made it all work. At this writing, we are driving home pulling our new 27 foot Globetrotter. And it tows beautifully. Tim almost forgets it’s back there.

Another Day, and another lesson learned…Be sure to double check your old Airstream for all your outside tools and gadgets before leaving it at the dealer. 🤦‍♀️ Everything was so chaotic while we were there, and moving so fast during the trade, we left some things behind. On the last day of the year, we took yet another trip back to Austin (3 hours one way) to clean out all the outside storage compartments. We didn’t even know what we had left behind until we got there, but it would have cost a few pennies to replace. Our tools, tire chock, leveling blocks, spare keys, and more. Things that would not only cost money to replace, but would also take time and become a hassle while doing so.

Fortunately, everything was still there. I double-triple checked every single locker. Inside and out. I no longer had that “I feel like we’re forgetting something” feeling on the drive home. You know the one.

They told Tim they already had a deal working on our old rig when we got there. 😳

After we got all of our goodies and made the trek back home, we hosted our family for New Year’s Eve. Good-bye (and good riddance) 2022! Here’s to another year in the books! I am thankful for every day of life, as we never know how many breaths we have left.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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Back to Reality

Christmas is over and we are back to reality. I’m sitting here at MD Anderson getting treatment, after seeing my oncologist for the last time this year. I’m looking forward to what 2023 has in store!

I’m so thrilled to be here, SIX years after my diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. I am so blessed, and I thank my God daily for giving me the strength and life to live. My nurses are always a bit amazed at how many times I have been here for treatment.

Tim and I just returned from our “Hallmark Christmas.” We enjoyed Christmas with four of our grandkids at the beginning of the month since they would not be available on Christmas Day. Our other two have moved out of state, so it was just the two of us this year. To do something different, rather than sitting at home, we decided to go on a trip. It would be our first winter camping trip for this long of a time. It was a blast!

If you are my friend on FaceBook, you’ve seen all the updates. We shared some of our woes and joys in various videos along the way. We demonstrated our “MacGyver” trick to insulating the bottom of the trailer, fixing a flat tire, and other things. The last video has a special message of inspiration from my hubby, also known as “Padre” or “Pastor Tim.” Click here if you want to watch it. You can catch up on all the other videos on my YouTube channel, including a gift to you on my ukulele (I’m still learning).

We knew it was going to be cold, which is what we wanted for Christmas this year, but we couldn’t see the forecast that far into the future. Little did we know a Siberian freeze would be coming to town. 🤪🥶 Temperatures fell to single digits, with wind chills at – 22 (that’s MINUS 22!). Our tanks froze and we crossed our fingers and prayed that nothing was permanently damaged. They thawed out on Christmas Day, and we were able to leave two days later.

Before the miserable freezing weather, we enjoyed small town Christmas as well as Oklahoma City Lights on Broadway. We saw millions of Christmas lights, ate some great food, spent time with friends, watched movies, played games, and even put together a Christmas puzzle. And yes, we got our White Christmas! In spite of the cold, our heater worked well and we slept soundly.

Our Airstream was so pretty all decorated, with snow in the foreground.

We maintained traditions like attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service followed by a Chinese dinner, and opening presents on Christmas morning. We also read a devotional book together daily for the entire Advent season. It was one of the best I’ve read, with lots of historical references and food for thought. The emphasis was on Emmanuel, God with us. The Incarnation. I felt closer to Jesus with each turn of the page.

We left on December 9th and didn’t go home until the 27th; it was quite an adventure! It was a wonderful time camping in our Airstream travel trailer. Along with the normal gear were our Christmas decorations, lights, and of course the presents. It felt so much like Christmas the whole time we were there. The staff at the KOA (just outside of Oklahoma City) were so friendly, encouraging, and knew us by name by the time we were heading out. I gave them one of my children’s books as we were leaving.

We learned a lot of lessons on this trip. We learned a lot about winter camping that we didn’t already know. We learned that we are more resilient than we could have believed. No matter how much life throws our way, we will persevere. Our perspective on our limits has changed. For one, 30 degrees doesn’t sound as cold as it used to! Sometimes we may go through a test to determine how much our bodies (and minds) can handle. I am grateful to have the Lord and my husband beside me, and a body that keeps going in spite of my cancer diagnosis.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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Quick Trip Between Treatments

One of our Florida friends has cancer. Not the same kind as me, but his has also metastasized. Many of you know him. We were planning a trip to Florida in December and wanted to spend a few weeks, but when a friend goes home on palliative care, you do what you can to encourage them. NOW.

Tim had some free rental days, so we rented a nice car and drove to Florida. We looked at my oncology schedule, and found about a week when we could go between treatments. We got home late last night.

We might not have recognized him had we run into him on the street. The long beard that matched ZZ Top has been replaced by a clean shaven face, thanks to several rounds of chemo and radiation to the neck and head. I believe this is the first time we have ever seen him without facial hair. His appetite has wained. He is thinner, by about 100 pounds. His voice sounds different. He walks a little slower, but he is not bedridden.

In spite of his many physical changes, we can see he’s still the same person. He loves to play games, and he even sat at the table for several hours while the boys fought battles during Axis and Allies. (I went to dinner with the ladies.) After the game, we all reminisced. We went to church together. Played in a band together. Traveled to other countries and did rock concerts. He was our tour guide because of his impeccable memory regarding historical facts. He told a joke (I was the brunt). We all laughed. It was a great night to see our friends and hopefully provide them with a bit of a distraction from every day concerns, anticipatory grief, doctors’ visits, major life-changing decisions, and so forth.

We’ve been there. We are there. We know what it’s like to be told bad news. I am so fortunate the Lord lead me to MD Anderson and a team of specialists who found treatment to keep my body alive years longer than they expected. Not everyone’s body responds to treatment the way mine has. Not all cancers respond the same way. Sometimes treatment options run out. Many times they do. I’m praying our friends find doctors who are willing to try something else to keep going.

While I was talking to his wife, I was reminded of a song I recently heard by Dolly Parton and four other women. It’s a hope for the future where “pink is just another color.” The fact is, the researchers are closer to a cure than they ever have been. That’s what I’m praying for! If you’d like to watch the music video, here’s the link. Have some tissues handy.

We saw lots of friends on this trip, in spite of the brevity. You know who good friends are when they drop what they are doing to see you while you are in town. I wish we could have seen more! Maybe next time sick friends will be feeling better and we’ll have more time to get around town to see the rest.

I just did bloodwork, and now I’m waiting for my chemo appointment. They will infuse Zometa for my bones today, in addition to the normal Herceptin and Perjeta protocol. My oncologist got the blessing from my bone specialist. We try to plan our trips in the three weeks between visits. Tim and I often sit in a café, sip hot tea or Diet Pepsi, eat lunch together, work on projects (mostly separate ones), and bounce ideas off of each other for our next trip to wherever.

It was a quick trip all the way to Florida and back, and I’m so glad we went. We have decided not to question ourselves when the Holy Spirit leads us in a particular direction. Marker on the dry-erase wall calendar has been erased and replaced multiple times. We have learned to be flexible. Cancer does that to you. The process of going through it teaches you so much about living life to the fullest, being flexible, and spending time with the ones you live.

Now, go give your loved ones a hug. ❤️❤️

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day

Check out the Metavivor.org website for more details.

October 13. Today is the one day out of October when we raise awareness for Stage 4, Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC). MBC is diagnosed when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body besides the breast or lymph nodes. It is currently not curable, although many women live years with it, due to the advances in treatment.

Metastatic breast cancer is most often found in bones, liver, lungs, and brain. (I’ve had it in all of the above.) I wore my metavivor shirt today to help people see the elephant in the pink room. Depending on the sub-type of breast cancer, treatment may take many different forms. For me, I take a pill daily and get an infusion of Perjeta and Herceptin every three weeks. You can read my blog about whether treatment will ever end if you want to know more.

Last night we had an excellent presentation by Dr. Oke at MD Anderson, about the advances in treatment for MBC. It’s the first time I’ve heard doctors discuss the very real possibility of a CURE. That’s right… New technologies and interventions out of NIH in Bethesda, Maryland are moving in this possible direction. 

It is a complex process called cellular immunotherapy, which involves isolating, removing, and reprogramming T-cells, then injecting them back into the body so they will fight the cancer. MD Anderson can harvest the cells, but NIH has been doing it much longer so most of the actual treatment is still done in Maryland. 

My body is currently stable, so there’s no reason for me to try any of it. BUT, it would be great to know I could if I needed to.

It is extremely interesting.  

I also learned that they have recently developed medicine (pill form) for brain metastasis. Since about 2020. I know! 🤯🤯 My only option was radiation or gamma knife when I had brain metastasis. The Gamma Knife worked, and I haven’t had any progression since. But if I did, I am SO happy to hear they have other options that are much less invasive. 

Please keep our doctors and researchers in your prayers. Dr. Oke said we have probably seen more advances in the past 2 years than we have in many more of the previous years. It’s amazing how far they have come, but we still have a ways to go.

À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!

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