Thank You

I was in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago for a checkup. My husband and I had some time to kill and so we were walking to the cafeteria.  Along the way I spotted my nurse who gave my my very first chemo treatment in 1998.

My husband’s mom had passed away just a few weeks before and we had been really moved by the outporing of love and acts of kindness that we had seen recently. Because of that I was compelled to stop.

“Marlene,” I said, “You probably don’t remember me, but you gave me chemo the first time I had it and we were clueless and you were wonderful. I just wanted to thank you and let you know how much that meant to me.”

Marlene looked at me and asked me who I was. I told her my name and that I was a 13 year surviovr of stage IV cancer. She said she thought she did remember.

It didn’t matter to me if she did or not, I just had to tell her how much it meant to me, to us, to have her be so concerned about not only my physical well being but also my emotional one. She began to get tears in her eyes and said that I was going to make her cry. It surprised me how much my words meant to her.

I know now that I will continue to look for opportunities to tell the people who are doing it right how much that means to me.

Go Blue!

New Year, New Goals?

Okay Friends, we are well in to the new year… Have you set any goals? I haven’t wrote any down, but I am certainly kicking a few around in my head.

Goal 1: Have a healthy year. I haven’t exactly started this out on the right foot as I fractured a rib on Monday. It was a flukey thing, a result of a bone met that weakened my bone. The good news is that it isn’t a new spot. I have found that there are issues that come with being a long term cancer thriver.
Goal 2: Publish my book with a new (AWESOME) publisher! We are hitting it pretty hard right now to get it done. Please stay tuned for details.
Goal 3: Run another 10k (or two or three) of them . I turn 40 in June, I want this to be be my fittest year yet in terms of working out.
Goal 4: Establish myself in this crazy cancer world as an educator and inspirer. I really believe we could do it all a little better. As patients we could take more responsibilty and be less of a victim. As healthcare providers we could use our actions and words (in all situtations) to promote positiveness, participation and hope.

There are a million other goals as well, one of which starts right here. Build a following on this little ole blog…

What say you? Goals anyone? Comments?

Hello Friends

So, just a quick update…

Life is busy, but good. I am reworking Letters to Sydney with Read the Spirit and it should be ready to go in the next few months. I am also working on a few other things. I have to run right now, but I will be back later this weekend and I will breathe some life back in to this blog!!! Happy Saturday

Oh what a day!

Hey there,
So I am not going to apologize for not being around, I am juat going to do better. Drove from home to Ann Abor to Hesperia to home today, about 7 hours just driving. Whew…

I went to Ann Arbor for a check up. Because life is crazy and I live so far away I do as much as I can in one visit. That would all work if we could just work out all the kinks. I am not going to go in to all the details but after talking with two supervisors I am more committed than ever to improving the experience that patients have. A few small details could really make a difference.

Thankful Thursdays

It has been awhile since I have done a thankful Thursday post and since then I have seen them on other blogs, but I still want to take the time to be thankful. So here goes…

This week I am thankful for:

A healthy family

A great vacation in Florida with family and friends over Christmas break and

To be back home again. Whenever I am away I realize how much I love my home.

What are you thankful for?

Let’s Get it Started! Motivational Monday

Okay I know it is the new year and everyone is making goals. I thought it might be fun to work together to reach our goals for the new year.

I have have a lot of things I want to accomplish this year, and I can only do them with your help.

Here is an an outline of my goals:

Professionally I want to:
Speak More, Write More
It is my intention to be in the presence of more and more women who have cancer, and to the healthcare providers who work with them. It is so important to me to help women set goals to more forward and be actively involved in their own care. I want to be busier than ever, so if you know of an event that involves survivors or healthcare providers send them my way.
I am also working with the Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine to launch a workshop and website specific to Stage IV survivors. It is a segment of women that are underserved in the breast cancer community and more and more of us are living long healthy lives.

Personally I want to:
Increase my fitness on a physical, mental, and spiritutal level.
I am a goal setter by nature and profession so I will be letting you know what I am working on each week and/or month. I will also be launching Fess Up Friday for accountability. I really am hoping that you will join me, together we can keep each other accountable.

I will be here three times a week, and I would love for you to tell your friends and stop back often with comments.

Let’s kick this off with you telling me one goal for your new year.

Thanks.

I’m back!!! Where should we go from here?

Okay, I actually haven’t been gone. I just haven’t been updating. Everything is going good with my family and my health.  We are enjoying the busyness of life with two kids. 

So the question on my mind is how can this blog best help you?  Are you looking for inspiration? Motivation? Information?  Do you want to hear from other people than just me, like maybe some of my fantastic team that has helped me go beyond treatment for almost TWELVE years?

The only thing that I insist on is that we keep it positive.  There are plenty of places for you to go and bitch or complain about what cancer has done to your life.  If you are looking for the ability to move forward and look for the good you are in the right place.   

So I need some feedback people.

 Let’s get this blog back on track so that we can GO BEYOND TREATMENT! 

Ahhhh

Yes, it’s true, check up time is here again. Thankfully, things look fine. While I am grateful for the good news it is also a motivation for me to stay on track physically and also in things that I want to accomplish. I can’t wait to get going!

Thankful Thursday (already!)

Getting back into the swing of things with a Thankful Thursday, so here we go.

I am thankful for:

1. A cupboard, fridge and freezer stocked with good healthy food.

2. A quiet night at home.

3. Kids that are able to load/unload the dishwasher.

Nothing monumental, but life isn’t just about the big things. 

Every day I am killing cancer!