Team Margie, NY Office

My brother Joe is heading up operations for Team Margie New York. I can’t think of a better person to be in charge. Three years ago Joe had an accident that resulted in a number of serious injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. Joe has spent every day since fighting to regain his strength, and to build the life that he wants—always with courage, determination, and amazingly, humor. Joe is my role model on how to face a medical crisis head-on—I think of him every day as I go through my own fight with cancer.

After Joe’s accident, my parents chose to move to New York, where they could spend more time with Joe and support him however he needed. Their courage and determination matches Joe’s. I’m happy to say that they are working part-time for Team Margie now!! (Thanks Joe for sharing them!).

Some Old Friends

This weekend, when I told Alice that I had some old friends visiting, she looked concerned, and asked, “How old”?

So, Kathy is not one of my oldest friends, but she’s certainly been a friend longer than anyone. Kathy drove out from Elk Grove on Saturday, we took a hike around Bon Tempe, and we just hung out. In the 40 years we’ve known each other, we’ve been through a lot together, and after spending the day together, I felt very reassured that this breast cancer is just another blip in the road of our long friendship.

Joan and Veenu also stopped by for a visit, and as is the tradition with us, came loaded with food and some pretty good stories. It is always fun to hang with them and rehash some of our sillier memories. I love you guys!

My brother Jim ran the Hood to Coast this weekend (he’s the handsome devil on the right), which as many of you know is one of the more grueling relay races out there. That Jim chose to spend his birthday weekend running this race says a lot about who he is—he’s one strong guy. And in a moment of endorphin overload, Jim invited me to run with him next year, and I immediately accepted. I’m sure he did not check with his team first, but too late—I’m in for 2012!!

Identity Theft

Week 2 of chemo…done. Ten more chemo weeks, six more rest weeks—one of which is next week.

Because I feel so good, and you can’t tell from looking at me that I have cancer, for the most part, I feel pretty much like my normal self right now. Sure I think about having cancer a lot—but I don’t have many moments where I feel like a Cancer Patient.

On chemo days though that tends to change. The IV in my arm, the pole that goes everywhere with me—its hard to maintain a sense of normalcy during those few hours in the lounger. The moments where reality hits hardest are when I have to drag my pole with me into the bathroom, catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and almost don’t recognize myself.

The good news though is that I’m feeling great and looking forward to 10 chemo-less days—that’s a good long stretch to feel normal. Happy weekend everyone!

(Ton of bricks/3) + Chris + Chocolate = Fine

Monday was a big chemo day, and it hit me last night. I wouldn’t say it hit me like a ton of bricks, but maybe hit me like a horse? Or a piano? In any case, the wind-down started in the afternoon and by dinnertime I was cooked. Chris sent me to bed with a book, and then took care of dishes, helped Elsa with homework, and got the girls into bed. This after shopping and cooking dinner. Best. Husband. Ever. (Thanks Susie!).

Fortunately, my friend Heidi stopped by yesterday with a well-timed gift of chocolate, from the company she works for, Chocolatl. There is plenty of conflicting information out there about the right diet to follow when you have cancer. One of the few foods people seem to agree on as beneficial is dark chocolate—and by dark, I mean really dark (65-70%), with a serious dose of cacao beans (not sugar!).

Chocolatl is an amazing company that creates amazing chocolate—you can check out their website to learn more about them, but suffice it to say, they are doing everything right, including creating a rocking piece of chocolate.

Between the good sleep I got last night, and the chocolate, I felt good enough to go the gym this morning. All is well!

A Couple of Bad Nodes

The picture above is definitely not of a couple of bad nodes. It is in fact of two very good girls on their first day of school. We are so glad school has started, and that we are back in the midst of so many wonderful Wade Thomas teachers and families. Thanks everyone for your support!

The week after my diagnosis, I had an MRI, which showed a couple of nodes that looked, in scientific terms, weird. The MRI was followed by an ultra-sound, which was followed by a PET scan last week.

PET scan results show that the cancer has spread into two nodes in the internal mammary chain. What does this mean? It means the cancer has spread beyond the tumor, and it means that I am now officially in Stage 2, not Stage 1.

In terms of what it means for treatment—from what I can tell, not a lot. It may mean the nodes are monitored throughout chemo, and biopsied or removed when I have surgery. I know that it is an additional piece of information about me for the doctors to track, and as far as I’m concerned, more information is always good.

What it means in terms of our outlook is again, not a lot. We were a little bummed out when we found the cancer was officially “Stage 2”, because it was so nice to say Stage 1. But we’ve moved on from that. We are still fighting this in the same way, with the same doctors, and the same family and friends around us.  Thanks all for staying with us through this fight.

Ride on the Hairplane

Week 1 of chemo…done.  My chemo drugs are given on Mondays, with the study drug given on Mondays and Thursdays. This means side effects are most likely going to hit within a day or two of Monday’s chemo.

This week I felt really good, except from about Wednesday morning to Thursday afternoon. It wasn’t that I was feeling sick (hooray for anti-nausea meds!), but that I felt a little fuzzy around the edges and was moving in slow motion. The nurses yesterday all said the same thing: “Chemo brain!”.  I told the girls about chemo brain and that I may have a few days after chemo where I just was moving a little slowly, and that they might need to be patient with me. Alice helpfully offered to punch me in the arm to snap me out of it if she thought I was getting too spacy.

Another side effect looming, is losing my hair. Its unclear if this is going to happen yet as these drugs do effect everyone differently, but I decided to prepare myself for the worst-case scenario. Paid a visit to JD at Hairplane this week and he worked his rock-star magic. Most of my hair was left on his salon floor, so if it does fall out, there is less of it to lose.

Camp Chemo

Monday I had my first chemo treatment. Walking down the hall towards the chemo room, I didn’t know what to expect, but as we rounded the corner, Herb, my fabulous chemo nurse turned to me and said, “Welcome to Camp Chemo”. As soon as Herb said that, I knew I was going to be OK.

Here’s what chemo is like at California Cancer Care in Greenbrae. The chemo room is an L-shaped space with a view of Mt. Tam. There are about 10 loungers set up, each with an IV pole where the bags of medicine hang. My meds were in four bags (1 anti-nausea, 2 chemo drugs and the study drug), with each drug given one at a time. So, I was in the lounger for about 3.5 hours.

I have to admit, cancer aside, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the afternoon. The nurses in the chemo room are unbelievable—they are extremely compassionate and skilled, and on top of that they bring everyone drinks, homemade banana bread (made by Herb), pillows and blankets. There is jazz playing and a view of Mt. Tam. I had my MacBook and answered emails, surfed, answered texts—really, how often do you get 3.5 hours of uninterrupted time like that?

As of Wednesday (or Day 3), I’m feeling good. I managed a visit to the gym this morning, and felt a bit nauseous during the workout. My friend Lisa Travaglini reassured me that she felt nauseous too—it wasn’t the chemo, the workout was just that hard! So far, so good!!!