Sex and the City Countdown!!

I can't even tell you how freakin excited I am about seeing this movie!  I have watched the preview on youtube so many times I could probably recite the dialogue by now!  I watch the reruns constantly every nite whatever channel I find them on.  I am totally addicted...its true!  

Now I don't know about you but I was so happy with how they ended the series.  I was literally jumping up and down when Carrie and Big finally ended up together.  They were always so meant for each other.  I can't help but wonder though what is in store for them in the movie?  Hmmmm....

In the preview it looks as though Carrie gets dumped and they never make it to the alter.  Or maybe it is one of those "dream sequences" that I keep hearing about? 

 Miranda and Steve seem as though they may be dealing with infidelity from the scene they showed.  I think they make a great couple. 

 And our sexed up friend Samantha seems to have a wandering eye?  How can that be with all she went through with that hottie of hers...Smith?  Being a breast cancer survivor myself I totally related to that storyline with Samantha's breast cancer diagnosis.  And I give serious kudos to the writers for such an accurate, brilliant, and irreverant depiction of her experience. My fav scene is when Smith comes home in the middle of the night after he had sent Samantha the flowers with that sweet note "I can't wait for spring"  and wakes her up to tell her he loves her.  I get goose bumps even now when I watch that scene!

It is probably no secret that the title of my breast cancer memoir was inspired by SATC!

If you haven't already hop on over to YouTube and watch this preview.  Let me know what you guys think!  

Something New to Check Out!

Karen Lynch a two time breast cancer survivor and freelance writer has started a new blog called The Pink Ribbon Review It is a must see for those of you who have been touched by breast cancer or are a fellow survivor like me. It is intended to raise awareness and is full of great info to help you along the journey.

So be sure to stop by and check out what Karen has to say! I can assure you it will be worth the cyber trip!

Be on the lookout for my story over at Pink Ribbon Review!

Stupid Cancer Fund

One cause I am very passionate about is support for young adult cancer suvivors. You know…the step children of cancer. The ones that are always forgotten about. And it is killing them! Literally!

So if you want to support a great organization that as the sign says… takes care of its own, hop on over to this link and donate to The Stupid Cancer Fund and support i[2]y!!

Don’t forget to send an email blast to all your friends and spread the word like an untreated cancer!

Young Adult Cancer Bill of Rights

Its about dam time!

70,000 people ages 15-39 will be diagnosed with cancer this year. There has been little or no improvement in survival rates for young adults over the past 20 years. What the hell is that about?!! This bill would be established as a standard of care to meet the needs of this underserved population. It needs your support!

Please head on over to Seventyk.org for more info and to sign the petition. Oh yeah, don’t for get to send out an email blast to all your friends so they can do the same!

Pancreatic Cancer Hits Hollywood and Home For Me

I was always a big fan of Patrick Swayze. Dirty Dancing was one of my fav movies. I even had a poster of him on the wall of my college dorm room. Can you say “crush”?! Anyway, when the news broke that he was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer I was stunned as I am sure most people were. I have put off writing this post because the news hit home for me and it is something I haven’t really written much about.

Last April my dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Even as I write the words they still don’t seem real. This type of cancer is one of the most deadly types mostly because it is found at later stages of the disease. It is difficult to diagnose and there is really no screening test. My dad ended up going to the ER with vomiting and stomach pain. It had been difficult for him to keep any food in his stomach. Tests revealed a blockage at the place where the stomach connects to the intestines. Possibly a tumor. Further tests revealed that it was a tumor attached to his pancreas. He underwent a Whipple Procedure which surgery specific to removing tumors of the pancreas. The surgery was successful however the tumor was cancer and there is lymph node involvement.

I wondered how it could be possible that cancer was hitting my family again only 6 years after my breast cancer diagnosis. But you see cancer does not discriminate. I was only 31 when I heard the words “you have cancer” and my dad is only 59 years old. Still a youngin in my book. Pancreatic cancer affects males more often and in my dad’s age group. My father is a heavy smoker and an alcoholic. I was stunned in my frantic google search after hearing the news to find that both smoking and alcohol abuse are linked to this type of cancer. My dad amazingly hasn’t had a drink in over 20 years but still smokes like a fiend. With the amount that he drank when I was growing up it is amazing he still has a functioning liver but what kind of damage did it reek on his good ‘ol pancreas? Then again, I had breast cancer with no significant family history at a very young age. Go figure! Thats the scary thing with the big “C”…..there doesn’t seem to be a cookbook answer or rather a textbook case that everyone will fall into. I think it is the same with survival. If you have been diagnosed with cancer your first question may have been “Am I going to die?” I know mine was! And depending on the answer to that one you may wonder “When”. All questions the docs don’t really have answers to. My dad posed that question to his doc and was told he has 8-12 months to live if he didn’t do chemo which he opted not to do. Having gone through treatment myself I respect his decision to not do chemo as I know it has to be his decision and nobody else’s. But here we are coming up on the 1 year anniversary of his diagnosis and he is still kickin around! Not well, but still…

Now after struggling most of my life, oh…who am I kidding…. my whole life, in my relationship with my dad, I have a unique understanding of what he is going through more than anyone in my family. I know what it is like to be a cancer patient and I know what it feels like to be scared you will die. I can also see more clearly what he went through with me when I was sick. I don’t like being on the other side of things. But here I am. Trying to figure it all out. An impossible puzzle to solve……

My Crazy Sexy Life Forum

Well guys and gals I have exciting news to share! I have blogged before about Kris Carr author of Crazy, Sexy Cancer Tips which is a kick ass book that came out back in the fall chock full of great info for young cancer survivors. Her documentary that started it all will be out on DVD this week! It is called Crazy, Sexy Cancer.

I frequent her blog and have met some really cool peeps and not just cancer survivors. There are great people there that want to learn how to better their lives in many ways….both spiritually and physically.

Over the weekend Kris stepped it up a notch and unveiled her new forum
My Crazy Sexy Life.com. I am already addicted! It is so great, and fun! All you have to do is hop on over and sign up, you get your own page, can upload photos, and info about yourself, begin a group, or just hang and chat it up with others. There are cancer guys and gals but also people who just want to learn how to make their life better.

So if you want to improve your mind, body and spirit take a peek and see what its all about! I can assure you, once you step into the crazy, sexy life you won’t want to leave!

Oh, and don’t forget to tell a friend!

Stop back here and be sure to tell me what you think about it!

I’ll see ya there!

6 Things About Me

My new friend Sherry over at Sage and Thyme posted a meme she was tagged for where she had to tell 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about herself. Although she didn’t technically “tag” me she did invite others to participate. So I am going to accept the informal invite!

Now, I don’t like to admit that I may be quirky but some of these things probably fit that term! We all have weird habits though don’t we? I am secretly hoping I am not alone here!!

Here goes…..

- I won’t sit in the grass, I don’t even like it to touch my legs when I walk through it

- When I shop for groceries I won’t take the first or last item on the shelf, only from the middle

- I don’t like to drink cold water, only room temperature

- I am afraid to try new foods due to anticipated potential allergic reaction

- I get sea sick

- I have dental phobia (thats a topic for its own special blog! -yikes!)

I am not going to tag anyone mostly because I don’t know many bloggers! But I will invite you guys to participate if the mood strikes you.

Here are the rules:
link to the person who tagged you

share 6 non-important/habits/quirky things about yourself

tag 6 random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs

let each person know you tagged them by leaving a comment on their blog

Understanding Cancer TV Spotlights i[2]y!!

Check out this great video starring my new friend and founder of The I’m Too Young For This Cancer Foundation For Young Adults (i2Y), Matthew Zachary. The Understanding Cancer Network profiled i2y in a recent segment posted on their website.

i[2]y continues to spread its wings and is getting the well deserved recognition for all the wonderful things they are doing to provide support for young adults with stupid cancer! It is an organization that I am very passionate about and wish was around when I was diagnosed with cancer at 31.

Be sure to check them out! And if you already know about this cool resource for young adults with cancer then stop by and let me know what your experience has been!

---

The Results Are In!!!

I hadn’t posted about this over the summer when the saga began but I am feeling the urge to share the story with all of you today.

Back in May I went for my annual breast MRI on my one good boob. I was as usual stressed out to the max. It is a banner day down at Sloan with the MRI in the morning, then off to Mammo, then in to see the doc. I have to say, instinctively I had an icky feeling going into this test. I found out while I was waiting to get called into my mammo that the radiologist saw a small 5 mm area of enhancement on the MRI. All my scans over the past 5 years have been clean. So you can well imagine where my head ran off too! As I sat there with my doc I could feel the blood draining from me and I thought I would faint. She said that he was 90% sure that it was nothing but wanted to do an ultrasound. So they ushered me off like cattle and before I knew it I was laying on a table with cold gel being dumped onto my boob as flashes of my past bout with cancer flew through my head. Nothing showed up on the ultrasound, and my mammo came back normal. The radiologist wanted to do an MRI guided biopsy to be sure. The problem with breast MRI is that there are alot of false positives. Of course they couldn’t be sure that I was one of those. What the f***! How could I possibly be back in this place of total darkness again I thought to myself. Would I lose another breast? Would I die this time? This news came only a month after my dad’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis. This couldn’t be possible.

I had to wait 3 weeks to get the biopsy done which is totally unacceptable! Even after many phone calls to my doc there was still no way to get me in sooner. During those three weeks I came down with an awful cold…..there’s no big surprise! All the stress knocked me on my ass! For anyone out there who has ever had a biopsy in an MRI machine you will understand me when I say it was freakin barbaric! I can barely stand to be on my stomach in that machine for the scan never mind being jabbed and cut into from underneath like I was a car up on a mechanic’s lift at a garage!

Before I knew it the waiting game ensued. I got an email the following nite from my doc (who was in Alaska on vaca btw) telling me that it was benign and most likely a fibroadenoma. I began to cry and felt this huge weight being lifted off my shoulders. That is until the next day when I got a call from the radiologist. She rained on my little parade when she told me that it actually was a fibroepithelial lesion with differential for phyllodes tumor or fibroadenoma. Translation please! Essentially although it was benign a phyllodes tumor can change down the road and they can grow fast. The radiologist told me that she would recommend surgery to remove it. As I felt the darkness creep in again I wondered why I didn’t hear this from my doc? As I googled phyllodes tumor I was even more scared. When I finally heard from my doc she said that her reason to remove it would be to make it easier to read my scans in the future in case there was growth. She said that it was in no way a malignancy but in my head I wondered why remove it? Why not wait to scan again and see if it did get bigger? Why rush in with the scalpel?

She told me to let her know when I would feel comfortable doing this. To tell you the truth I was never going to feel comfortable. I had my checkup with my oncologist who suggested we do another MRI to see if there was any growth. If there was it should come out, if not just watch it.

So after many insurance mixups with preauthorization (that stuff is for another post!) I finally had the scan 2 days ago on Tuesday. In the meanwhile I have been getting more rigid with my diet, my daily juicing, daily Quigong exercise and my attempts at meditation (which is really dam hard for me to do!) I have even been exploring raw food. I couldn’t help but wonder if all that would help it stay stable or better yet make it dissolve. I have yet to blog more about this as I am a big believer in nutrition and the power of the mind to heal. I will be bloggin more about it in the future.

At any rate this morning I emailed my doc and the results are in!! The scan showed that the lesion is “no longer present”! I have my titanium clip in there and that is all they saw. I couldn’t believe it. It was better than I had hoped for. Even better, now no surgery! We will continue to follow it on my scans. I feel such a sense of relief as well as empowerment. I followed my instincts, didn’t feel comfortable with surgery for something benign and so tiny without even waiting to see what it was doing in there. I believe that all of my holistic stuff chased the little bugger right out of my boob. I will continue to do all of my crazy diet stuff as well as destressing exercise to keep it the hell away! This showed me proof of the fruits of my labor…..

It gave me power……and I believe that power can kick fear in the ass!

Inspiring Stories

I was recently interviewed by a great ezine the promotes communication between women writers, agents, editors, publishers and readers. It is WOW-Women On Writing and they chose my story for the inspiration column in their January issue which was just posted today.

Sue Donckels is the former editor that interviewed me and I have to say she did a great job! I have been interviewed a few times so far about my story and she asked great questions. She really made me think and dig deep to share more than was in the book.

So be sure to hop on over there and check it out! You will learn a little more about me as a woman and as a survivor.

I hope it inspires you!

If you have an inspiring story to share I would love to hear from you…..

Life Linkage

This is the name of another great organization for young adults with cancer founded by Preston Presnell who is 23 and 11 year cancer survivor. In November 2006 he founded The Life Linkage Network a non profit geared towards Gen X.

He describes it as Facebook and Myspace meets reality.

Survivors as well as organizations can sign up and become a members. Each member is provided with profile space to share with other cancer survivors via online social networking.

As I have said in previous posts it is so important to connect with others who have shared a similar experience. It is crucial to recovery. What I love about this organization is that it provides that opportunity. The online opportunity to connect with and share experiences with other survivors who have all gone through stupid cancer!

So be sure to check it out and pass the word to all of your survivor friends!

Survivor Angels...

I wanted to share with all of you a great organization for those affected by cancer. Its founder is Jonny Imerman who at the age of 26 was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. During his own cancer battle Jonny never met anyone his age who was going through the same experience. Isn’t that true for most of us young adult survivors? I know it was for me. I think it is all too common. Jonny took action and did something about it. He started an organization called Imerman Angels where you can be connected with a cancer survivor who is the same age and had the same type of cancer. Jonny wanted everyone fighting cancer to be able to connect with a survivor who would be living proof that they too can beat it. Isn’t that a great idea? I wish I knew about these angels when I was going through my cancer treatment.

Jonny founded his organization in 2003 and has accumulated a huge data base of angels from all over the country and the world that can be connected with a cancer fighter. So if you are a survivor who wants to help out and be an angel or if you are a fighter going through treatment now hop on over to his website and contact them. I have had the pleasure of speaking with Jonny personally and I can tell you that he is an amazing spirit and just a really cool guy! I am very glad that I found is organization and am excited to have recently volunteered to be an angel myself.

I know all too well as do most of you that connecting with other young adults with cancer is so very important to recovery. I hope you help me to spread the word about Imerman Angels so that no cancer fighter has to ever feel alone…..

Writing From the Heart

That is the title of a great book written by Nancy Slonim Aronie. It is one that every writer should read. I believe it will change you in many ways and not just in your writing. You see it is a spiritual journey that Nancy takes you on in both her book as well in as her workshops. Nancy has been a writer for many years as well as a commentator for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Nancy does not believe that anyone can really teach writing. What she does believe is that she can provide a safe place to write because if one feels safe than they can achieve many things. And as someone who has attended a few of her workshops I certainly can attest to that.

I read Nancy’s book first which takes you on a spiritual journey of what it means to be a writer. In the book she shares her own experiences as a writer but more importantly as a human being. She includes many exercises throughout the book which are really good and fun. It is in no way an intimidating process. I for one can say that writing workshops/classes have always greatly intimidated me. As a writer I never felt worthy enough to attend a workshop, probably because I didn’t feel like a true writer! But what exactly makes one a writer? I believe that we all have stories to tell, stories that have the power to heal us. When it comes to writing do you write from your heart?

In her workshop yesterday I sat and listened to her describe the difference between the brain and the heart and how it relates to writing. She described the brain as the computer and the heart as the place where you feel emotions. If you just write from your head or rather your brain you may be getting the information down on the page but it will be devoid of meaning, of inspiration. It will be missing the poetry, the rhythm that our emotions can create as we bring our words to life.

The other unique thing about her workshops is that you are given a writing exercise which is a lead in sentence, you write for about 15 minutes and then return to a circle where you have the opportunity to share with the group your creation. Everyone is given the opportunity to give feedback to each other. But it is all positive, that is Nancy’s rule. By the end of the day, there was much laughter, and many tears. I felt bonded to those in the room with me listening to stories of loss, and even of love. Stories of tragedy and of triumph. But what resonated throughout it all was the emotion being conveyed through each person’s words. Everyone seemed to be sharing parts of themselves that may have been tucked far, far, away. I have had this experience with Nancy’s workshop on more than one occasion and am still amazed at this environment she creates where we all feel safe to write. Where we all feel safe enough to write from our hearts……

Crazy, Sexy Tonite!!

Here is a pic of me and Kris Carr taken at her book event in NYC at the Open Center. Could I look more excited! In my last blog I posted about that meeting and today I wanted to remind all you peeps out there to tune in tonite to TLC at 8pm or 11pm for her documentary Crazy, Sexy, Cancer. It is the last time they will be airing it. But not to worry it will be coming out on dvd early next year.

It is an absolute must see! I will be watching again for the 3rd time! Each time I watch I learn something new. Even if you aren’t a cancer chick check it out. It has so many universal messages that can help everyone trying to just get through life!

Be sure to stop back here and share your thoughts!

Crazy, Sexy, Cancer

I have been wanting to gush about this girl for awhile now an don’t know what took me so long! Her name is Kris Carr and she is a cancer survivor who did a documentary about her cancer journey called Crazy, Sexy, Cancer with a book of the same name. She was diagnosed with EHE a very rare cancer that I can’t even spell never mind saying it! At 31 she received the devestating diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. That was 4 years ago! Her cancer is so rare there is really no treatment for it so she took it into her own hands and went on a journey to find her own healing.

If you haven’t yet checked the documentary out or read the book you just absolutely have to! Run don’t walk to your local book store and grab a copy. Her story is beyond inspiring! Along this journey she explored alternative/holistic healing as well as spirituality. She has multiple tumors in her lungs and liver that have remained stable which she feels is partially due to all the changes she has made in her nutrition as well as her mind. I believe in alternative health and the connection of the mind and body and its ability to affect our healing. I explored alot of this after my chemo treatments as a way to deal with my fear of recurrence. My attempt to control what was so out of my control.

Her documentary is amazing and her book is chock full of great tips from the trenches for young women going through cancer. There are other stories of great cancer babes going along their own journeys. This is in no way a sad story. It is one young woman’s irreverant account of poking a stick at cancer! It is her journey of how she found her life when she feared her life would end.

You don’t even have to be a cancer survivor to relate to her story and what she learns about life. It can apply to anyone going through all the sh** that life throws at us. There are so many great lessons she shares in her book from nutrition to ridding yourself of that “stinkin thinkin”. Of course there was a happy beginning to her story but I won’t give that secret away. You will just have to find out for yourself!

Recently I had the grand opportunity to meet Kris at a book an event she did at the Open Center in NYC. It was her first Crazy, Sexy, Cancer Boot Camp! She also did a book signing. Meeting her in person was a moment I will never forget. She is such a kind soul, beautiful and glowing! Wow, do I sound like a stalker yet! lol But seriously if you ever get the chance and she is in your area…..try to get to one of her events.

Her documentary will air again on TLC on 10/24. Be sure to catch it! I know I will be watching it yet again! Oh, and she will be on Oprah this monday!! I am beyond excited for her. So be sure to check that out as well! Well, I could certainly go on and on about Kris but I shall stop now. I would love to hear your thoughts when you step into the crazy, sexy, cancer world along with me!

Be sure to stop back here and we can chat about it!

Show The World What's Possible

That is the mantra of Daryn Kagan a former CNN reporter who began her own website last fall to showcase inspiring stories that “show the world what’s possible”. She became frustrated with the lack of good news out there in tv land (aren’t we all), I know I am!

This week she is sharing stories of breast cancer survivors in honor of national breast cancer month. I am one of those featured stories! My story is the video of the day today. I was very excited to be interviewed and to have the opportunity to share my inspiring story! I hope it inspires many of you out there.

So hop on over to her site and check it out!

Do you have an inspiring story of your own to share? I would love to hear it!

Hudson Ohio "In the Pink"

I have so much to catch you guys up on I don’t even know where to begin! I recently had some exciting book events for Breastless. I was invited to Cleveland Ohio where my publisher is at the Cleveland Clinic to do a book discussion/signing at their local Barnes and Noble as well as a reception for cancer survivor authors at a very charming independent bookstore called The Learned’ Owl in Hudson, Ohio. Hudson is a very cute new englandy type town and all of the storefronts were decorated pink for October. My favorite color and it was just about everywhere I looked. When I saw my book in the storefront window I was so excited! And in such good company!

I was very excited to be there and to be able to share my story of survival with others. However there was a little glitch that we didn’t know about till that nite. The baseball playoffs were going on and Cleveland was playing NY! So the turnout was not as expected. The streets were too quiet for a beautiful Friday nite in downtown Hudson. Leave it to sports! Although there weren’t many people stopping by I did meet some great people and gave some good advice to a woman who didn’t know what to do to help a friend of hers going through breast cancer at only 28. I provided her with some resources including Im Too Young For This! as well as a great book written by Kris Carr called Crazy, Sexy, Cancer Tips which I will blog about in a separate entry cause I have too many exciting things to say about it! So stay tuned for that coming up later in the week! I was tickled to be only a few books away from hers in the storefront!!

I also met another cancer survivor author who was quite an inspiration. She is a survivor of a very rare cancer called leiomyosarcoma and was treated 25 years ago with a drug that is commonly used for breast cancer called Adriamycin or otherwise known as “the red devil”. I had 4 treatments with that and am all too familiar with its potential to cause heart damage. Well, this powerhouse of a lady was treated with it back when it was not even FDA approved and was one of 200 people trying the drug for the first time. To make a long story short, she made it through her treatments, beat cancer, but 7 years ago need a new heart due to the damage sustained from the Adriamycin. As I listened to her story I was so amazed at her spunk, her ability to survive and how happy she looked. I wondered what the hell my problem was that I ever get upset about the little things anymore! I know I can’t be that hard on myself cause nobody is perfect but still…it really was yet another reality check for me. I was so honored to have met her and will probably never forget her. Truly an inspiration!

So for me it was all about taking in the moment. Breathing it all in. It wasn’t about the people that weren’t there, it was about the few that did show up. Even if I can make a difference in just one person’s life that is what matters. I was very grateful to be there for those evenings and I found out what nice people there are out west! Because lets face it….NYers can be tough! I speak as a pure bred NYer myself! But I think it is just a different lifestyle out here that makes us that way. I am glad to have spent a couple of days just taking it all in…..just slowing down a bit…..cause I don’t want to miss any of it……

Do you find the time to breathe and take in your own moments?

Dating With Breast Cancer

That is the title of an article I was recently interviewed for which is posted on Lifetime TV’s website and was written by Lisa Daily .
As you know my story is about my experience dating with breast cancer.
I was very excited to be included in this article. Lisa was fun to talk to and made it a great experience. I feel it is a very important issue facing young single women with breast cancer that I don’t feel is addressed often enough if at all. I was able to share many of my crazy dating experiences and the different reactions I got from men I was dating when I shared my diagnosis. Most importantly I was able to share with her the happy beginning to my story! She even included my wedding photo in her article!

This article came about to coincide with the premiere of a new Lifetime movie airing this month of breast cancer awareness that will focus just on that issue. It is based on the true story of a young woman who has a mastectomy and continues to date through it all. Sound familiar? I am sure there are so many of you out there that can relate to this story as I can. Way too many of us unfortunately!
I plan on checking out the premiere. Hope you will too. Then we can discuss our thoughts right here!

October Issue of SHAPE Magazine

A couple of posts ago I mentioned being interviewed for the October issue of Shape magazine. I am so very excited and honored to have been included that I had to post my quote from the article! They did a great section dedicated just to breast cancer with very helpful and inspiring information. The title of the article I am in is “The Best Breast Cancer Advice I Ever Got” written by Ginny Graves who I had the pleasure of speaking with back in April. If you haven’t picked up a copy yet grab one…..its a really good issue! Aside from being tickled pink that I am only a couple of pages away from Jaclyn Smith, I smiled when I saw Karen Lynch, writer and fellow blogger in the article as well! Hope you guys pick it up!