Relay for Life - Los Altos, June 21, 2009

Vicky and Mira participating in the Los Altos Relay for Life. Mira is a survivor and walked 32 miles.

Race for the Cure and more pictures!

At Quad Cities Race for the Cure, I wore the names of my friends and fellow cancer survivors on my back.

John is one of 10,000 participants

Here I am with Jana and Lesly - two friends from Iowa City Young Survivors Social Group

Only the cancer survivors get to wear the pink hats and shirts.

And, in case you want to know more about what John and I have been up to lately (amazingly enough not everything we do relates to cancer anymore), click here for more Hamkauf pictures. 

She's a liver

Results from the Liver Ultrasound came back and everything looks good. They think it's just a cluster of blood vessels. Just to be sure, I will have another ultrasound in 3 months to make sure that the spot hasn't grown. 

So, until my next scan, it's just me, my liver and the open road. 

BH 

April 29, 2009

Hard to believe it's been one year exactly since my diagnosis with breast cancer. One year ago today at just about this time, I was in a meeting with two co-workers from SCT, I stepped out of the meeting to take the call and poof - just like that my life changed. 

BH 

(Did I mention that I couldn't have made it through this year without YOU?)

Hair. Wavy. Long.

the real party will be next week

When I am teaching I will often say "I'll wait until all voices are off and all eyes are on me. I'll wait. I can wait a long time. I am really good at waiting. I am like a waiting super hero. I'll wait." 

Don't tell the children, but those are all lies. 

I suck at waiting. It has been a painful, agonizing 12 days. Many glasses of wine have been consumed. A few tears have been shed. Several dashes to the phone have occurred. 

And, after all that waiting, I am happy to report that I have mostly all good news. The MRI said my breasts look excellent - no evidence of disease. The treatment seems to have worked. Hallelujah! However, the MRI did reveal a spot on my liver, so next week I get to have a liver ultrasound. If the liver people think it looks suspicious, I'll have a liver biopsy. 

Now, don't get too worked up. Chances are you have a spot on your liver too. Livers are notorious for having little lesions or growths. It's probably fine, but they are being extra cautious with me. 

So, for now, you can have a mimi party and celebrate my healthy breasts. And the real party will be next week when I *hopefully* tell you that my liver has joined a long list of cancer-free organs. 

BH

Back in the saddle

The days of multiple major procedures in one week are back.

A week ago today I had a failed MRI. The nurse didn't put the IV in properly and all the blue contrast went under my skin and formed a big bulge rather than going into my blood stream. The bummer is that they only discovered this when they were 90% finished with the procedure. So, I went back on Tuesday for MRI try #2. 

Attempt #2 went smoothly, with the exception of my rolling veins. My veins have learned how to outsmart the nurses.  Now it's just the waiting and worrying. You know - the call where they will hopefully say four sweet words: no evidence of disease. 

Then today I had the infamous c o l o n o s c o p y. As many of you wisely told me, the prep stinks and the procedure was a breeze. The breeziness of the procedure was thanks in large part to demerol. Part way through the procedure I did feel some pain and said "OOOOOW that hurts!" and they gave me a second dose and I was OUT. Best part of the colonoscopy: They found no polyps, which means no cancer.  That made drinking magnesium citrate and a one gallon jug of sea water worth it.