Five Years…by mary beth volpini

Five years ago this morning I heard those dreadful words… “You have Breast Cancer”. My world stopped and I am sure I was walking around with what I call the “deer in the headlights” look for quite a while. I gathered all of the information I could… I made some hard decisions….I did what the doctors told me to do. I have reached some of the milestones that my doctors said were important… One year of survivorship, two years of survivorship and now five years of survivorship. Is it a guarantee that my cancer will not come back? NO …no one can give those guarantees, but today I am not going to think about that. I am going to celebrate that I have reached this milestone.

On Monday, I went in for my yearly breast MRI. I tried to cheat and make the appointment right after that with my breast surgeon… hoping that she would be able to read the results right then. She did try, but not all of the information was available. But she is a woman too and she knows how we worry. She did her physical exam and took a preliminary look at the MRI results and said she was “happy“ . Yesterday I received a message from her office, it was “good news, call us back“. The nurse said “Dr. Police is happy we will see you in a year“…well if Dr. Police is happy then mb is happy!

So I will raise my glass… or cookie in my case and take a bite out of life for as long as I can!

cross-posted at marybethvolpini

small things that make me happy these days (by Judy)

(Not all of these have to do with cancer, but some do, so I thought I’d post them here).
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1. Having enough eyelashes to be able to wear mascara again.
2. Having eyebrows.
3. Laughing with my oncologist and her staff.
4. Being able to wear headbands and small scarves — strategically placed, of course — instead of full-head scarves and hats.
5. Sunshine.
6. Wearing flip flops.
7. When my blood sugar readings are good.
8. Not being in the hospital.
9. Laughing with my husband and/or son, and really anybody.
10. Having enough energy to do things with Energy Boy on the weekends.
11. Chicken wings.
12. Finding a new song I like.
13. Being able to see better with my new glasses.
14. Feeling good when I wake up in the morning.
15. Bananas with peanut butter.
16. Any kind of communication with friends — text, email, phone, and especially in-person.

I’m sure there are more — some small and others big. Happiness, though, (as I’m liable to say) is nothing to sneeze at.
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Cross-posted to Just Enjoy Him.

50 and happy (by Judy)

Today I turned 50 years old, I have Stage IV Inflammatory Breast Cancer, other health issues possibly caused by or at least caused in part by the cancer (diabetes, blood clot) . . . . . and I’m happy.

I know those things don’t always go together; in fact, they haven’t always gone together for me. But, I have so much love in my life, so many incredible friends, family members, and a tremendous church family. I have the best son in the world. They lift me up, my faith lifts me up, and I feel extremely blessed and lately very happy.

I am LIVING. I might be living with cancer, but the key word there is LIVING. LIFE. I may have a scary diagnosis, but I also have an awesome oncologist, so many people praying for me, and a faith that builds me up. I have no idea how much time I have on this earth, but I’m going to squeeze as much LIFE out of it as I can.

In spite of the cancer and the other medical problems, I feel incredibly blessed.

LIVING and BLESSED = a happy heart.

That’s all kinds of WIN, in my book.
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Cross-posted to Just Enjoy Him.

Metastasis … and a second clinical trial

Two things. 

1.  The cancer has spread to my bones.  This is called bone metastasis, and it’s not a particularly good sign.

2.  The cancer in the lymph nodes in my chest now shows “near-complete resolution” with “minimal hypermetabolic activity.”  This is GREAT NEWS and as far as I’m concerned, it’s at least a minor miracle.  Not to use the word lightly around my friends the nuns or anything, but really?  Near complete resolution?  Awesome.

We just have to work on the cancer in my bones now, adding Zometa infusions once every four or twelve weeks to strengthen the bones and (hopefully) slow the cancer’s growth as the Femara continues to block the estrogen that feeds it.  I say once every four OR twelve weeks because we don’t know yet.  I’ve agreed to join another clinical trial and recieve whichever treatment the randomizer assigns me to receive. 

As you guys know, experimental research is important.  Just because the last clinical trial was so hard on me doesn’t mean this one will be – and every little piece of knowledge helps the researchers plan treatment not only for me but for the women and men who come after me.  Bone mets happen to 70% of breast cancer patients, they say, and we need to find ways to control their growth until they can be stopped.  So I’m off to start another clinical trial.  I had my first infusion on Thursday, with side effects (fever, aches, pains, flu-like symptoms), this weekend.  I’m hopeful that this treatment will work too.

last night’s benefit (by Judy)

My heart and soul are full-to-bursting and my mind keeps going so my sleep has been restless (the steroids probably don’t help, but anyways . . . ). I wish I could bottle these feelings and share them with all of you, with all of my loved ones — and my loved ones are many. In spite of the cancer, I am blessed beyond belief. Beyond words. God’s grace was in the room last night, in every person who was there and those who couldn’t be there but were there in spirit, in all the wonderful people pulling for me, praying for me, giving of their love, time, and energy to help me.

The benefit was a success. If you want to look at it in purely monetary terms, people are generous and the money will help so much with what insurance doesn’t cover for us. However, it was about so much more than money. It was about love and people being there for me, people showing me how much they care (again, whether they were there in person or in spirit). Amazingly incredible people who show me time and time again that I’m loved, that they care about me, who exemplify God’s grace.

There are, of course, many people to thank, and I’m sure I’ll forget some. I apologize in advance. The two women who thought this up, H and K, also did much of the work to make last night so great. My sisters, J and M also helped and were in charge of the raffle items. Speaking of the raffle items, all the people who donated items (and I can’t remember all of them here) were generous to do so and I appreciate them so very much. MB did a great deal of work pulling the event together, and her husband S helped quietly behind the scenes. The Campus Preschool staff, including MS, JB, and SG also helped with the benefit. C and her husband G who helped spread the word where I work. Fazoli’s for catering the event. L for coming from Michigan and B for coming from Connecticut. And of course, everyone who was there, physically or in spirit, who lifted me up and made me feel extraordinarily loved. I’m sure I’m forgetting people and I apologize for doing so.

I think the “high” from this will last for awhile. I can only thank everyone who is pulling for me, everyone who shows me their love, and God for his infinite grace. I’m tired, yes, but I’m happy.

So very happy.

Thanks to all my loved ones. I love you all.
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Cross-posted to Just Enjoy Him.