Almost June!

June is the month we have all been waiting for. June is the end of what has been a very difficult semester. June is also the month for surgery and the end of cancer. All Kathy's kemo treatments, all her visualization of death to cancer cells, was to get her to this point. Her surgery is on Tuesday. The doctor says she will go home that evening and get to sleep in her own bed. Amazing!

I was listening to this radio show yesterday and Dr. Dawn was saying that cancer treatment is like a race. The body's immune system is racing with the cancer cells. The idea is that the different treatments allow the immune system to get far enough ahead of the cancer cells that they can win. She thinks cancer survivors should be called cancer winners! I guess that is more radio friendly than cancer asskickers!

Remember Big Sur, Kathy? If I think of this as a race, I can imagine that it is like having the Highlands with the rolling hills and cambered road behind you. It's like the last five miles of the race now. Still more (painful) racing to do to keep ahead of those nasty cells. But the surgeon will give you a big boost and put you even further ahead of the cell counts. Struggling for a Big Sur comparison to that---maybe like the boost you got from the double caffeine espresso GU and Cheryl's singing (one word, kept coming up over and over in the songs she was making up, can you guess which word ;-) ????) You'll be putting those #$%&*@ cells will be so far behind you that they'll never be able to catch up.

...and if you need it, I have a GU packet and I'm sure Cheryl will come over and sing her made up songs with you...one word over and over... ;-)

We Did NOT Do This!

Our blogstar chaired the last Curriculum Committee meeting of the year today. In fine style, she ended the meeting at 3 so we could get over to enroll in our new insurance.

Exciting, but not as entertaining as some curriculum committee meetings documented on youtube! (I am always amazed by what I find when I do off the cuff searches--like searching youtube for curriculum committee just to see what was there!)



The semester is winding down and Kathy is getting closer to the end of her year of treatment. Hooray!

Stringing You Along...

...and leaving you hanging.

That's what I have done lately. That is kind of how cancer treatment is, too. Now, I didn't plan it that way. I didn't leave the blog with no new posts to make a point or anything. Just the normal end of the semester crush. But it is true that the nature of cancer treatment is sort of like that too. For example, you find a lump and you make an appointment, then you wait. Then you have a test and then you wait. Then you have another appointment and schedule another test and then you wait. There is a sense of urgency, and always a next item in the future stringing you along. On the other hand, there is a lot of hanging in wait for the tests to be read, for the doctor to be available, for the next test or the next appointment.

Now that the kemo is done there have been more tests and more waiting and more scheduling and more waiting. The end result is two pieces of really good news.

• The kemo worked really well to shrink the tumors!
• The surgery is scheduled for June 1st, after the end of Kat's semester!

Sadly, she will miss graduation ;-) and even more sadly, she will miss the end of the year faculty party. But as I write this she is working hard to wrap up her work for the semester--curriculum agendas and grading student work. (Hmmmm Kathy, are you sure you wouldn't have rather left the finals and all the grading for someone else?!?!)

An Update

I happened to run into our blogstar last evening when I stopped by the hospital to visit my Aunt (Aunt Betty had a knee replacement). Wow did Kathy look great! Being finished with kemo certainly agrees with her! This week she has her MRI and another mammogram and then once the doctor has all of that information, they will schedule surgery. While we were discussing how nice the hospital room was, Kathy said she thinks her surgery will be outpatient. Really??!?!? That seems a little cavalier of doctors! "Having a mastectomy? Oh, yeah, that's just a little outpatient thingy."

She will find out more details by next week and you will all be the first (well, not really! maybe the fifth or sixth!) to know.

We were also talking about the surgery horror stories that people tell you. "It was the most painful surgery I ever had." Someone always has to say that. Why do they do it? On the other hand, if you have some helpful hints from your own or a loved one's surgery, please share. You never know what hint will be like the Q-Tip trick that I posted about before.

The Next Phase

Great end of kemo party everyone! Thanks for coming and celebrating with Kathy!

So, the kemo is over. What is next for our blogstar?
This week she will have appointments in preparation for surgery, for example, another breast MRI. After that, they will have the information they need to proceed with surgery. It sounds like that will be sometime in mid to late May. Then again, it might end up being after school ends for the semester. Actually, that is probably one of the more difficult things about the treatment Kat is undergoing. The calendar is very fluid and it is controlled by someone else! To read more about breast cancer surgery at the American Cancer Society website, click here.

Speaking of the American Cancer Society, some of you may be noticing that there have been no Relay for Life activities on campus, yet. There may be some people planning to participate, but I had to sit it out this year. Since it is May (Paint the Town Purple month!), I encourage you to still make a donation to Relay. One of my nieces is participating in the RFL at her college (Here is her website!) I am very proud of her for doing this as a student with such a heavy workload ;-) If you prefer to keep your donations local, HERE is the website for RFL Salinas. I'm sure any of the teams would love to have your support!

Happy Birthday Kathy!!!!!

Choose your version! It's Kathy's favorite song today!






By the way, thanks to all who attended the virtual party last weekend! We had close to 175 visits to the blog from Thursday afternoon through the end of the weekend! That is a LOT of support!

It's a Party!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
The last kemo was today. The taxol infusion finished, they flushed the "sludge" and our blogstar was out the door!!!!

Let's all join in a celebration of a MAJOR MILESTONE!!!! Virtual champagne, anyone?
How about some cheese and crackers?Play the music of your choice and let's all dance like there is no tomorrow. That's the one thing cancer teaches us. Carpe Diem! Kathy, you've done a great job and we're all here with you at your virtual "Kemo is Over" party!!!!!

In case you aren't sure what music to play, here is what Cheryl will be playing!