Merry Christmas 2013

This is my third Christmas after this crappy disease and I am grateful for all the wonderful years I have been given and all the things I have been able to share -- Sarah's graduation, her engagement, our 25th anniversary, Hawaii.

So very much to look forward to.

Dr. Knaysi

On Dec. 24 I got a notice in the mail that Dr. Knaysi was cutting back on his practice ... reducing the number of hours in the office, etc., etc. Can't say I blame the man -- he is over 70 years old and it is time to take care of himself.

There was also a card enclosed on which we could write our recollections of how he has helped us. How do you describe in a couple of sentences how a man's skill has saved your life? And how he knew before you did that not being able to see the scars of the surgery everyday would help you overcome the horrors of this most awful of diseases?

Yes, I will be happy to write a little note to Dr. Knaysi to thank him for his skill and for not listening to me when I said I didn't care what it looked like ... just get it all out. The truth of the matter is ... it does matter what it looks like after surgery.

I will be forever grateful for Dr. Knaysi's skill and caring. I will never forget him.

Arimidex and Exercise

I didn't need a study to tell me that my achy joints and muscles would actually feel better if I just exercised. I figured that out myself during chemo and when I started taking Arimidex in October of 2011.

But it's good to have a study to confirm what I already know -- if you just exercise and keep moving, you tolerate chemo better, and now Arimidex: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/12/12/study-exercise-helps-women-tolerate-breast-cancer-drugs/

This is why I sometimes exercise like a demon when it would be so much easier to sit in a chair and put my feet up, and say, "poor me ... I'm too tired to do anything." My fear has always been if I did that, I would be too stiff to ever move again.

I have two more years of Arimidex and since it reduces my chance of recurrence by 50% ... I will gladly take it inspite of the side effects. I cannot believe that 15% of women in the US need to be taking Arimidex but less than 5% actually do. As long as you can live with the side effects, why would you choose not to be cancerfree?

I thank God for the opportunity to live another 5, 10, 20 or 30 years, and to treasure every moment I have left.

October in Paradise

Twenty-five years ago when we got married we were in graduate school and didn't have the money or the time for a honeymoon. We have taken many wonderful trips since then, but for our 25th we decided that we should celebrate all the years that God has given us, and take a trip to an island most people go to for their honeymoon. And so we picked Oahu, Hawaii.

This is October and even in paradise the pink ribbon is everywhere. On our way to Waimanalo I spotted this ribbon on a tree outside a medical center -- the pink vivid against the lush green ... and I can smile because I am alive and starting a weeklong vacation with the best husband anyone could wish for.

 

 

And I wonder how many women are here celebrating their victory over this dreadful disease. As I walk around enjoying the sights and sounds of Oahu, I notice a pink bracelet wrapped around a wrist, a pink t-shirt worn proudly, and I know that we have all been marked by breast cancer.

 



 

 

We had a great time in paradise! Dr. Schaffer told me not too long ago "to live" and I have done that.

 



Brittle Bones and Estrogen Inhibitors

It almost seems that you can't win for trying, but what choice does a woman have? I think most of us on estrogen inhibitors know that our bone density will suffer because of it, the studies referenced in the article before, just confirm that and tell us just how badly.

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/breast-cancer/breast-cancer-survivors-battling-brittle-bones

And yes I exercise on the elliptical almost everyday. I make a point of doing at least 30 kilometres a week, but now I am going to diligently add weights to my exercise routine. I had been good about it but that fell by the ways sides once I started exceeding my elliptical goals. Now the weights are back in on a regular basis starting today.

We have no choice but to live with this for the next how many years we have left of taking this medication, but we can improve our odds. This is just one more battle we have to undertake in order to win the war.

Oncologist's Visit

 

Two weeks ago I had my six-month oncologist visit and everything went well. The doctor was happy with me. I've been doing 30K on the elliptical every week and I haven't had any joint or muscle pain. I'm still eating wheat free. I am trying my darndest to stop this disease from coming back.

 

The next visit will be in February, after the mammogram, ultrasound and MRI, and then I will have another year of not worrying every second of every day.

 

 



Going Wheatfree and Joint Pain

Anyone who knows me knows that I am willing to try anything (well almost anything) so that I don't have to put another pill into my body. When I started getting awful joint pain four months ago, I knew that I couldn't live with it. I couldn't exercise and I couldn't walk properly, and I was not willing to live like that for another four years.

I started doing some research and searching the discussion boards and found women with the same issue who had given up eating wheat which in turn eliminated their joint pain. I read Wheat Belly and decided that I could give it a shot ... that my body was not going to be deprived of essential nutrients.

On February 5 I started eating wheat free. I've had a couple instances when I ate a cupcake or a bite of pizza early on, but now I am mixing my own flours and am baking entirely wheat free, and my body has adjusted to this new way of eating. My joint and muscle pain has disappeared. I am exercising and I feel human again.

I have lost about seven pounds since Feb. 5, and I am all right with that since the whole point of this new eating regiment was to get rid of the joint pain. I am happy about the weight loss but that was not my main point.

It hasn't been as hard as I thought it was going to be. You have to read labels and you have to be really, really good about scrutinizing everything, and when in doubt -- don't! Every now and then the craving for a sandwich hits me. I have been looking for bread substitutes everywhere but it wasn't until this weekend that I found a recipe for a gluten free white bread, that might actually do the trick. It's a little chewier than regular white bread but I'm ok with that, and it looks very much like white bread. This might be sufficient for the moment.

Life goes on ... just a different way.