Just a quick update on my status. Went to my oncologist in Houston last week. No sign of cancer ANYWHERE according to bloodwork! I will begin a proactive treatment of Xeloda(oral chemo), which will be done in six rounds. Side effects will be minimal compared to the red devil. Also two other meds that are called Herceptin(which I have done before) and the other is called Tykerb. These two drugs stop the cancer from growing if it is anywhere. My cancer is what they call HER2 positive which means it has a certain protien it needs to grow that these two drugs are supposed to knock out that protein. I was given the option to do nothing and just wait and see. But, I can't do that. I will be having a heart test next week to make sure my heart has no damage from the previous chemo. And I will also be having my mediport put back in. I refuse to have another PICC line! So, in January I go back to MDA for more scans. So, we are hoping and praying. I am feeling absolutley terrific! All my pain is gone from surgery and life is just ticking along as it should. I am so excited about the holidays and look forward to all the things that go along with them. I am soooooo sick of talking about cancer!
I want to write now about a person that in my life that doesn't seem to get the credit she deserves for all she has sacrificed for me in this disease. That person is my little sister Amy. The top picture to the right is of us this Halloween. My first childhood memory I have is of her being born. I was just a few weeks shy of turning four years old. I knew my Mommy was going to have a baby, but I remember not fully understanding what that meant. When Amy was born I was at the hospital. Back then it wasn't allowed for everyone to be in the birthing room like today. I don't even know if my Dad was allowed in. I remember sitting on a bench with my Aunt Joyce outside the hospital and this nurse came up and gave me some juice and told me I had a little sister. Amy is the person who probably knows me best in this world. And I know her best. We are the only ones that grew up in our home with our parents and spent everyday of our childhood together and share a lot of the same experiences. I have always felt very protective of her being the big sis and all. But, let me tell you this. She has always been there for me. NO MATTER WHAT. Of course we have had our share of disagreements, arguments and tears, but that bond has never been broken. She has been here for me through this stupid cancer every step of the way. She has cried with me, laughed with me, but the most important thing is she has been there for my children. And I have such a peace knowing that God forbid my life was cut short she would be there for them. I wish I had Amy's spunk and sense of adventure. She drove my Allie to Houston for my surgery and they rode almost the whole way with the windows down and music up! Amy lights up every room she enters. She is always so much fun and if she is ever in a bad mood you never know it. She started a prayer chain with the prayer warrior bracelets that have gone all over the world. And I KNOW that those people praying are why I am still alive today. We have so many fun memories that nothing can ever take away. She is beautiful, loyal, compassionate and humble. I am so glad that God put her in our lives on August 7 all those years ago. Thank you Amy for loving me. I love you so much. Thank you for all you have done for me the past two and half years during this nightmare. You are an angel in my life.
