nothin'

Fortunately, there's been nothing noteworthy happening :) I'm back at work - and it's been crazy! I'm working out at the gym pretty regularly. My long-term goal is to do a mini-triathlon. Not sure what my time frame is. Depends on how well I can improve my swimming, really. We'll see...

In the mean time, I have a PET scan scheduled for late September and a doc's appointment shortly thereafter. I don't suspect there will be anything noteworthy, but I'll definitely let y'all know that there's nothing new to know ;)

Here's to being healthy, staying healthy, living life :)

a neat promising therapy

This article on a potential new treatment for metastasized cancer was sent to me by a brother-in-law. It's pretty neat.

the hair project has officially ended

I decided that since
1- my hair was getting annoying and
2- it was longer than I normally wear it, and I grew it out from that length a couple of years ago and
3- I really just wanted to see if it would be curly and
4- it's not

it was time for a cut ...

A friend's recent cut-and-color inspired me to perhaps add some color of my own. I had never dyed my hair before. I wasn't sure I was going to today. I knew the cut I wanted, and I picked a color :)

Here are the results of today's trip to the salon:



Funky, no? I'm kinda diggin' it. I'm not sure I'll get it colored again, mainly because there are other things I'd rather spend money on (and the chemical-ness of it was kinda gross), but it was fun to do :)

it's been a year :) and other misc tidbits

Well, it's been a year since my first negative PET scan :) The docs are counting time from when chemo ended, which isn't for another several months, but I'm celebrating from the first sign of no cancer!!

One year down, 65 to go ;)

Also, I've been working out regularly, sometimes with a trainer. While it's frustrating that I'm not nearly as strong as I used to be, it feels good to exercise hard. I'm grateful to be back in that routine.

I have gotten together about 100 pages of my cancer book. I still have a lot to go (I wonder if it will be too long?!?), but it's been fun and interesting to work on it!

And last, if you see a Summer 2008 copy of "Spirit of Women" magazine, look inside — there is an article about me in there!

hair project

Here are pics for July, a little overdue. My hair is long enough now to be called shaggy. The back always turns out. I am likely to get the back trimmed in the next few days. I'll ask them to trim the underside a little shorter than the outside, so it turns under.

I've been thinking about how I'm going to have it cut/styled when the hair project ends, either at the end of 2008 or when I get sick of my hair, whichever comes first. Suggestions? Parameters: must be wash and wear — no product, no hair driers. Limits the options, I know...

this is dang expensive...

I received an e-mail from my health insurance company, asking me to look at something on their website, so I logged in. While I was there, I checked out "claim history." Of course, it is extensive. I downloaded it and used the "sum" function, just to see... Now, before I give you my partial running total, a detail: My insurance changed last summer, so this total is for the last 12 months. It does not include my 3 trips to the ER, my hospital stays, my first two (three?) chemo treatments. I am thinking about contacting my previous insurer to get numbers for all of that.

OK, that said, the total for July '07 to July '08 was $136,111.77. Chemo, radiation, doc's appointments, blood draws, PET scans, PICC lines. I expected it to be more than that, but that's still not chump change.


And I haven't forgotten about the hair project pic. I should have it up later today. If not, definitely tomorrow.

hello, strangers

As you might have noticed, I have a counter on my blog. It is interesting to me to see how many hits this blog gets, even though I don't know who it is.

Through the stat counter, I can find out the rough location of people who click on my blog, and the link they used to find my blog, if any.

Most of the hits I've gotten since putting this counter on have been through Google and have landed on the picture of the PICC. These hits are literally world-wide.

When I did the radio show, there were a few hits from Chad's website.

There are occasional hits from Facebook and from a message board I frequent when I have time.

Some people know about the blog and just type in the address. I can usually take a general guess as to who those might be based on location, though there are a couple that have me baffled.

Anyway, I'm just taking a moment to say hello to all of you who I don't know, or who I know but don't know you're here. Feel free to leave a comment saying "hi." If you want to contribute to my book, feel free. I had put a deadline on it, but I've done much less work on it so far than I had expected.

With that, off to the gym! Getting stronger every day!! I'm planning to run another 5K in the fall, when it's a little cooler. The new most recent time to beat is roughly 34:00, but I'd still love to get back down to under 30:00.........

And Alicia, wherever you are, whatever is going on, I hope you're OK...

hair project

First, good news: I saw the radiologist today who said that I don't need to see him any more :) I'm down to one doctor, once every two months. Rock on :)

Here's what the hair's looking like these days:

I love giving good news :)

I had another appointment with the oncologist on Monday. He confirmed that the PET scan results were negative. The chunk of scar tissue has shrunk slightly. Blood levels are all normal. Lymph node is just about gone. And I don't have to go back for two months :) Hooray!

Goodness goodness goodness all around :)

4 for 4!

I got a phone call from the oncologist's office this morning - my PET scan from last week is negative!

We're on a roll, baby!

And, while we're at it, the swollen node in my neck is almost imperceptible :-)

I love having good news to share!!!