2010 Was a VERY Good Year!

Hello...and let me say thank you to anyone that visits me and who puts up with my long absences. My new mission is to LIVE and not loose time anymore doing things that distract me from soaking up all the goodness that the good Lord has offered me. :)

I am well this 2010 as are all my family and friends. I have been disease free for just over 2 years now and still on the Femara, Zometa, and Zoladex. I am showing uncomfortable signs of joint pain...in my feet, hips, elbows and shoulders which gets me down but I take ibuprofen and it seems to help me manage it better. The mornings are the worst. I was able to get a spinal mri recently due to the back pain as Dr Kaufman wanted to make sure the cancer didn't spread to my bones...all they found was Degenerative Disc Disease...oh is that all? You can see how there is white in all the discs except the bottom ones...they are not filled with as much fluid anymore and that is what is causing the pain and the spasms when i twist or lift wrong or too much. I suppose being on my feet all day doesn't help much either. I love seeing what MRI's show...
This next picture was taken at a rugby game at NEC during homecoming weekend in October. It was a blast! One of the players actually landed at Emily's feet trying to catch the ball! I got to see a bunch of old friends and had the rare feeling of time travel as I felt like it was 25 years earlier.

The girls are getting so big and life is never boring...Ellie took archery this year and got a bow for Christmas (we got her a right handed one and still need to switch it to a lefty though). Em is now a "working girl" as she does "mother's helper" hours with my next door neighbor. It is such a win-win situation...emily loves feeling needed and the 2 little ones love having her attention. The mom loves being able to fix dinner without little one's distracting her and my other 2 like having some quiet time after school. I'm happy that she is developing positive self esteem and gaining confidence as she grows. I also remember that hard age and liking having other women (other than my mom) to talk to. You can never have too many female role models for young girls!
Ellie ran her first 5 k this year and as a matter of fact I participated in a 5k this year too...but walked most of it. We also climbed 2 mountains Kearsarge and Cardigan
(I still can't believe I did it!) and did some hiking near Lake Winnepasaukee too! with great friends :) This pic was taken with my phone using a panoramic setting...so cool!
I have to say that climbing isn't so much fun...but the view is spectacular! And after that spinal exam...the doctor told me I had to KEEP MOVING! So there you go...more mountains to climb!This one is at Attitash where we went on the alpine slides and the kids got to try rock climbing...even sara did a great job! I was so fortunate to meet up with my internet chemo buddy Sara and her family there and we were able to get to the top together...but then again we aready had. It was such a marvelous metaphor though...it made us both cry...who would have thought we could have been together there...at the top 2 years ago?!?!?! Certainly not us! She told me of her friend that led her to me (well my Etsy shop) that had suddenly passed away earlier that spring...it's hard to imagine the plan that God has for us...how we all touch eachother in ways we sometimes don't even know.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year! Blessings, Jodi

Totally a work in progress...still!

So here is my wall hanging so far...it's quilted, and embellished but needs a binding, more beading and free hand painting or rubber stamped texture/words to express even more depth of what i was trying to convey. Faith, Believing in the Father, Surrendering to the Holy Spirit in ALL things. To firmly grasp your roots and hang on for dear life, to drink from the puddles that come forth from the rain of God. Let the rain fill your soul with mercy and humility. Surrender to a place of safety and tolerance where one can heal and then re-emmerge to be who they are destined to be, to be who I am destined to be. To be who God intended you to be so that you may indeed help others along their journey. I so hope to pay all this forward some day soon!here is the old and the new MRI's side by side. The MRI on the left side of the picture is the old one from april...you can see the white contrast material is on the right breast, this is the 3+ inch tumor.

Now, you must take a moment to understand that it takes a tumor 10 years to reach 1 cm....mine was over 8!!!...the right image is the MRI taken after the 6 cycles of chemotherapy. The mass is clearly gone and the lymph nodes are all but non exisitant. I still needed the surgery but now surgery should be less messy and less intensive to remove the tumor/mass from my left breast.

So surgery yesterday was far easier...they did do a radical mastectomy and removed 2 levels of lymph nodes. They put in the expander for future reconstruction and added 250 cc of saline to it. another 100 cc of saline will be added next week. I'm lopsided, sore, and very out of it. Here are some more pics of my team...

Dr kaufman, my oncologist, this was taken right before discharge...i look like hell warmed over!Now here is my surgeon, Dr. Rosenkranz...she looks and is like someone that I could go have cocktails with. She's bubbly and straight forward. She is very sharp in her understanding of the disease but treats me like an individual which is priceless!Here is Dr. Collins, she is my plastic surgeon...she will now be the one taking over my care along with her entourage...all those residents that follow behind her coat tails. She is the one that calmed my nerves about having a double vs. a single mastectomy. She said, once it's gone, it's gone...you will be monitored and scanned so much to look for any new abnormalities, but rushing to do a double mastectomy under stress isn't smart. So I agreed. She's so wonderful to give me the gift of time. She also removed a small cyst from my left jawline.

Here is me with my folks, Bill and Sandy...they were with me through it all...that's what parents do, God bless them and their determiation...oh my goshums...my girls better not ever put me through all what I have put them through...but come hell or high water...i will be right by their side through it all.From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my family, friends, doctors and everyone inbetween that prayed for me and held my hand and made sure i didn't miss a meal :) You all know who you are....and it really does take a village...

I feel like i can say that I am moving along in this journey with new courage and new stamina as well as a new quest for who I am going to become. With the Lord as my shepherd, I will surely find my way! Blessings to you all.

Radiology Report 9/24/08

Just wanted to share my most recent radiology report (MRI) post chemotherapy. Keep in mind I am diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast cancer due to the over 3" size of my tumor and due to 3 lymph nodes being enlarged or having cancer cells found in them after biopsy.
See old MRI picture here...just click on this sentence.

I quote the report...
Comments:
Compared to previous MRI of 4/28/08 there is dramatic improvement in the size and intensity of enhancement of the patient's known locally advanced breast cancer. There is only minimal residual patchy enhancement in the lateral and upper, outer left breast and improvement in the kinetics of enhancement as well.

Previously noted enlarged left axillary nodes have resolved.

the doctor said it's hard to measure now but the radiology tech told me on the phone it went from about 8 cm to 2.8 cm....THAT'S AMAZING to me!!!

My adjuvant chemo regime was TAC
Taxotere, Adriamycin, and Cytoxan
Taxotere is a drug that's [FDA] approved for use as a second-line agent in advanced or metastatic breast cancer

Wow...MY NODES HAVE RESOLVED!!! DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT!!!! Surgury will stink but I am on the road to life!!! And I give my savior Jesus Christ full credit for my wonderful response to treatment...with all the stress going on in my life, kids, work, separation...bla, bla, bla, The Lord has had mercy on my soul and needs me to do more work here on earth!
Blessings to all!

PS~ I intend to get a picture but the computers were down last week when i met with my oncologist...will still work on getting the picture.

Here is the link to the post where both MRI images are shown side by side.