Greetings my fellow relay junkies!

Seems like forever since I've been on here!  It was a rough summer, in so many ways.....our relay got hit by a nasty storm, which only slowed us down for a short time, then back on the track we went......a few weeks after relay, I lost my friend and fellow survivor, who was our Honorary Chair this year, after her brave 6 year battle with cancer....I continued with my own treatments all summer, while my dad fought his brain cancer battle.  One week after my last dose of chemo (finally!!) dad lost his battle, the night before my daughters 16th birthday.......It has been tough to accept that he is gone....he fought so hard and was so brave......but I guess that just makes me want to fight harder to find a cure....for all cancers!!!

On a much happier note, i get a break from the chemo for 6 months and will only have to do a small dose, as a maintenance type thing.  It's the easiest drug for me to do, so that is a plus.......I'm going to co-chair our relay this year with my friend and fellow survivor (and my rock!!) Barb, who is the most awesome woman I have ever met.   We'll be getting the ball rolling soon to get our relay together and try to build it back up again.   We've got our work cut out for us, but we have some great ideas and I know she'll give a 150% to putting a great relay together!~

Well, I finished round 4 on Friday, so back to my corner, battered and bruised I go, waiting for the next bell to ring....which I hope isn't for a very long time!!! hahaha    This one was a kicker, but got thru it, and the chemo-brain is slowly de-fogging......I only wish my dad's MRI results had been better.  Even though he got thru about 90% of his treatment, the nasty, agressive tumor, ended up GROWING 1/3 LARGER!   Talk about a blow!!  I was expecting them to say it had, atleast, slowed down or stayed the same.  They have given him 2 options....hospice or an experimental chemo.   My dad wants to do the chemo...he's not ready to give in yet!   Of course, the wonderful world of insurance doesn't want to pay for it, so we are hoping that he will qualify financially to get it paid for.   We should find out on Friday if it's a go or not.    I only wish I could be there with him right now.....hopefully soon.   Our relay is a week from this Saturday and I'm going in 10 different directions at about 900 miles an hour......and of course, loving every minute of it.    Having my dad fighting this battle too, just makes me want to fight even harder, for him.........if he won't quit, neither will I!!!

Greetings gang!!   Well, after trying to learn how to use a new video program and several revisions, my new Relay promo for our local theater is finally completed!!!!     I have posted on youtube, per tradition for me, so here is the link if any one would like to watch it...my dedication at the end got scrambled somehow, when transferring it to the site, but the rest of the video seems okay..not bad for my first attempt at this new program!!! The link is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74sEUYGiyQ4         hope you all enjoy it!!!

I have one more week of chemo, then I'm done! YEAH!!!!   Will have a couple weeks to recoup before our relay!!!  It's our 10th anniversary this year, and we've been working like insane elves, trying to get it all together!    My dad has finished with his radiation/chemo and will do an MRI on the 16th , so we'll know what's happening with the tumor in his brain.......it has been a tough battle for him, but he's fighting like crazy!  Guess we have more in common than I ever knew!  Neither one of us want to give this rotten disease the satisfaction of defeating us!!!    

Greetings my fellow relay junkies!!    Well, as of Wednesday, I'll be starting my 4th time on chemo......I am starting to feel like Rocky Balboa fighting Apollo Creed.....neither one of us will give up!!! hahaha      No big deal, just 4 weeks....piece of cake.   I'll be done about 2 weeks before our relay...Yeah!!!

My dad is hanging in there...they are going to stop his radiation and chemo treatments a little early...he's just getting too beat up.  But he's been a trooper thru an awful process and I'm proud of him for fighting this so hard.

Relay is coming up fast.  Our local theater is going to run a "promo" video for us again, but they changed the format it needs to be made in....so, I'm scrambling to learn this new one so I can get a video done as soon as possible.  I live for pressure!!! hahaha

Health and happiness to all!!!   Cindy

Hi gang,

Forgive me if this rambles on, but I just recently got devastating news, and my heart is breaking.  First, it's not about my cancer....I've been off the chemo for about 3 months now, and I'm loving it!  I have no idea if it's "asleep" still, but I'm sure I'll find out in the next few weeks.  I'm so used to it being asleep on one scan, then back awake on the next, it's not even funny.  A week ago, I got an email from my aunt, back in my home state of Iowa.  My dad had been admitted to the hospital.  He was having terrible headaches and was fogetting words, when he would try to have a conversation.  They did an MRI, and found a tumor in his brain.  They were able to do a biopsy on Monday, but couldn't remove the tumor.  On Wednesday, we got the pathology report.....he has Glioblastoma Multiforme, GBM for short.  This is such an agressive tumor, that they basically told my dad that there is no hope for him.  They will treat him agressively with 35 doses of radiation, but the best they can hope for is a year, maybe a little more.  I can deal with fighting my own cancer.....this news I was not prepared to hear....Our whole family is in shock.  I try to be strong and positive, when I talk with him on the phone, but I honestly am a complete basket case right now....I have cried more in the past week, than I have in the past 10 years.   I honestly always thought that I would go before him.......my fathers side of the family has always lived way into their 90's and I figured that he would also.   This has been such an awful week, I'd love to just run and hide and forget it all..  I'm so lucky that I have such an amazing support system, with all my friends I have made thru the relay for life, and an incredible ACS staff partner!    My son will graduate from HS next year and I would love for his grandfather to be able to see this.   Please keep him in your thoughts prayers, for the miracle we so despartely need..........

Hi Gang!  Well, I saw the dr yesterday.   My counts are getting a little better...slowly.....but the weirdest thing was, that 2 weeks ago when I saw him, he said he could feel a little node under my arm, but when he checked it yesterday, he said he really couln't feel it?????   Since the "uptake" on the PET was so slight and dull, could it have possibly been a false positive?   Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....the plot thickens...hahaha      Well, he said no need for anymore chemo at the moment, so I'll go back and see him in a month and he'll repeat the scan and then we'll see.   Since he's my new Dr, he doesn't realize that he's banned from any scans on me until after my birthday on March 18.......the last 2 years I've gotten my scan results just a few days before my birthday, and both years I was told my cancer had returned......anyone else see a pattern here??? hahaha     So, that means, that even if I need to go back on chemo, the earliest I'll have to start it again would be April.....YEAH!!!!!!   I get a couple more months of freedom from the needles and chance for my old, decrepid body to heal a little more!!!!!   Our relay is the last Saturday in May, so even if back on the chemo, it would only be a couple doses and I should still have lots of energy to walk lots of laps this year!

Greetings my fellow relay junkies!!!!    I've missed chatting with my buddies on here and see there are a lot of blogs I'm going to have to catch up on......Welcome to all those who are new on here. This is such a great sight for sharing your ideas, why you relay, and if you are like me, blogging and venting about your experiences as a cancer survivor....it's cheaper than a therapist! hahaha

Tomorrow I will find out what the next course of treatment will be.   My treatments were messed up in the fall, due to low platelets and was only able to do one dose of the drug I needed to keep the node under my arm asleep.   I did a scan a couple weeks ago, and the node lit up again.....but just a tiny bit....a "dull uptake" as he put it.   We know which drug I need, it's just a matter of how much we are going to do.   It's difficult with my system still so beat up from the (failed :( ) stem cell transplant, but we'll make it work somehow!

Relay committee meetings are in full swing and I am having a blast helping plan our relay.  This year is our 10th, in our little town, and I hope it's our best ever.   I've been asked to speak this year at our "mini-university" in a couple weeks and am a little nervous about having to speak in public again, but for relay, I'll do it!

Greetings to all my fellow relay junkies!!!    I've missed all my friends on here!  Had some things to take care of and it kept me away for awhile, but I'm back!

In November, I was finally able to do some chemo.....not both drugs I needed, but we took a shot and hoped for the best.   Sadly, my beloved oncologist has moved away, which totally sucks....but maybe it's a good thing to have someone new taking on my stubborn cancer!   Anyway, I did a scan a few weeks ago and got some pretty decent news....the one drug did manage to keep all the cancer asleep, except one small node, that just lit up a little bit......we know which drug I need to use, to hit whatever strain of cancer is in the nodes under my arm......it's just a matter of deciding of how much we will do.  I'll see the Dr next week and go from there.....no big deal.....easy chemo to do, so I am not freaked out at all.

Relay committee meetings are starting up again tomorrow night, and I can't wait to get things going!  It's our tenth anniversary of relay in our little town and I'm hoping that this is our best one ever!

Greetings my fellow relay junkies!!  Well, my next cycle of chemo has been delayed for several weeks and tomorrow I go in for my next visit with the vampires..hahaha     If my platelets are still not going up, my Dr wants to do a bone marrow biopsy and I am a nervous wreck!!!   I've never had to have one before, but one of my best relay buddies has had to do many of them(joys of leukemia) and eveyone I have talked to that has had to have one says they are the worst!   They don't knock you out, just try to dope you up and hope you can relax, but you still feel everything.....and as I have mentioned about a million times, I am a total needle phobic!!!   This is going to be interesting to see him talk me into this!   He can't decide if I'm slow to recoup due to my old decrepid body being beaten up from the transplant last year and then having to go back on chemo after a few months(can you say "duh"??) or if (and this is a great thought) the cancer has now gone into my marrow......oh, that would be just dandy!   The most frustrating thing is that other than being a little tired, I feel fine!!!!   He looks at my bloodcounts then looks at me and says I look too healthy for such low counts!!   I guess that's a compliment? hahaha......we'll see what happens tomorrow.....

Well, I saw the Dr today for my scan results and to my suprise and joy, he said there were no nodes "lighting up" on my PET scan.....the chemo is working, and the cancer is going back "to sleep"...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!   My counts are continuing to rise, so I'll be able to finally do my next cycle of chemo next week............now, doesn't that sound weird....I'm actually excited to do chemo??????   I'm hoping for only 2 more cycles and then get some time off......I wish it would be the rest of my life, but unfortunately with my stubborn lymphoma that's not the case......I'll be happy if I can get off the chemo for more than a year...that would be a record for me!!!! hahaha     Someday they will find just the right combination to keep it away for good.....but until then, I just continue to live my life and fight on......"NEVER GIVE UP HOPE".......

Keep those blogs coming gang, and share your stories with us!!!!

Health and Happiness to all!!!!