Gobble Gobble

HAPPY TURKEY DAY FROM YOUR FAVORITE TURKEYS!

The Break Of Dawn

Howdy there people! Just want to drop in kinda quick and give you some news.
My mom is doing really really well this week! I mean like whoa! We went to the bank, the grocery and Target yesterday. today we went to the grocery again. and still no nap!!
Yeah, like whoa! YES!!!!!
We are totally looking forward to Thanksgiving too!
Anyway, tomorrow is CT Scan day...the big one!
So, please, please, please keep your fingers crossed that this scan, just like all of the others, is CLEAR!
Clear means no more canser, no more tumors and NO MORE CHEMO!!

keep those fingers crossed, those healing vibes coming, those claps clapping, and love a' flowing!
oh and ps...can you send out some extra easy waking up vibes to since we have to be AT THE DOCTORS office at 7.15 AM. shit.

hugs
xx


Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy.
Nora Ephron

Feelin Funky Friday

My mom had her Neulasta AND Procrit shots yesterday. Its the first time the have done them on the same day and she is feeling CRAPPY!
Well, the Neulasta always makes her feel flu-ey, but the combo is even worse. So, shes laying low today, curled up on the couch...poor buddy.
Send her some good vibes and some anti-flu symptom ju-ju.

Have a great weekend my friends!



They were so strong in their beliefs that there came a time when it hardly mattered what exactly those beliefs were; they all fused into a single stubbornness.
Louise Erdrich

We're Gonna Party Like It's Our Birthday

"Insane people are always sure that they are fine. It is only the sane people who are willing to admit that they are crazy."
Nora Ephron

Today should have been the last day of chemo...and it still very well may be...we wont know until December 4th.
and that's okay...
so, today we wore party hats and crowns and brought in some yummy funfetti cupcakes to chemo and had a "Hopefully this is our last chemo EVER party!"



Here is my mom with her favorite fellas Lance and Carlos in her party hat with sparklies...they've been calling us the party chicks since day one...that's weird, I wonder where they got that impression...

The schedule for the nest few weeks has lightened up considerably, but there are still a million appointments.

Tomorrow is the Neulasta shot...this is the one to help rebuild the WBC.
Friday is the Procrit shot...this is the one to help build up the RBC.
Monday and Wednesday of next week are CBC and CBC Chem Panel Blood tests.
Tuesday (12/2) is CT Scan, abdomen and pelvis Scan. This is a BIG one...this one tells us how the canser is doing...how it IS NOT GROWING!
Friday (12/5) is the prechemo visit with Dr. Paroly. He will review all of the blood tests as well as the CT Scan and tell my mom whether or not she will be needing anymore chemo.

I have a little favor to ask...over the next few weeks could all of you please, please just keep doing what you have been doing and sending out all of that good ju-ju for excellent scan results and no more chemo, we would really appreciate it.
We hate going to chemo and getting poked and feeling like shit and getting scans done and being bald and feeling tired all of the time...we are over it.

So, here's to clean scans and no more chemo!

hugs
xx


I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races,
So I trust too.
John Masefield

What A Difference A Day Makes

So, we went to the hospital on Saturday and my mom's platelet count was up to 70,000! Can you believe that?! From Thursday to Saturday it was up 30,000.
wow.
Today we went for a CBC follow up at Dr. Parloy's and guess what?
Her count went up to 118,000!
Holy Cow!
Amazing!
And guess what else?
She started chemo, too!
Apparently, the counts have to be 100,000 or greater in order to start chemo...so, they gave her the go ahead.
and here we are... on on the 6th and FINAL cycle!!
AND we are on schedule...we didn't even end up being delayed!
oh...
AND SHE GOT HER PICC LINE OUT
so now she just has the Medi-port!
(i have a photo of the PICC line...i promise i will post it tomorrow)

MY
MOM
IS
KICKING
CANSER'S
ASS!!!!

SO FREAKIN AWESOME!!!

Thanks guys...we know it was you!

Wednesday is the last day of chemo so feel free to REALLY leave a million comments, emails and whathaveyou on that day! Its a celebration and we would LOVE to hear from ALL of you!!

and since you guys are so good at sending out all of this juicy goodness, positivity and healing light...please send out a little something extra for my boyfriend's uncle John Piazza and Michelle's dad, Papa Hoffman!

Happy Chemo Day Everyone!

hugs
xx


one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star

Happy Friday!
Well, we have just returned from our pre-chemo visit. Not so good news, I am afraid. No chemo next week...my mom's blood is just not cooperating. Her blood platelets are very, very low...41,000. The average healthy person's platelets are somewhere between 150,000 and 250,000...so 41,000 is not so good. We actually have to go over to Tri-City tomorrow and have them do a CBC on her and if the platelets are the same or lower, she has to get a platelet transfusion and return to the hospital on Sunday for another CBC. If, however, they are 50,000 she doesn't have to get another CBC until Monday.
All of this has really thrown our plans outta whack and my mom is a little disheartened...she thought she was going to be able to finish chemo next week. It looks like it will be delayed until the week of the 24th...hopefully.
So for the rest of this week/weekend and all of next week, the plan is to rest, eat some nutrient rich food, rest, and rest some more.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
What a big fat bummer.

we hope that all of you have a good weekend!



Fall seven times, stand up eight -Japanese proverb

November Is Lung Canser Awareness Month

Ear Infection, shmear infection.
My mom does not have an ear infection my friends...just fluid in the ol ear. Not sure how it got there, but its there nonetheless. She was prescribed some meds so no biggie...
Anyway, so as you may have guessed, November is Lung Canser Awareness Month.
Observed across the country every year, Lung Canser Awareness Month helps bring attention to the risks of the disease. It also helps spread the word about the importance or prevention, earlier detection, and treatment.
We need to arm ourselves with the facts and information
Lung Canser is the development of abnormal cells in the lung. These cells begin to grow out of control and produce more cells that grow into a mass, also known as a tumor. The abnormal cells can spread to other parts of the body, this is known as Metasis.
There are two major types of lung canser:
small cell
non small cell
Small cell lung canser accounts for about 13% of lung canser cases. Small cell lung canser tends to spread rather quickly early on in the disease.
Non small cell lung canser accounts for about 87% of all lung canser. This type of lung canser spreads at a much slower rate.
Lung canser also has a certain stigma attached to it...almost everyone believes that you can only get lung canser from smoking. This just simply isn't true and although my mom has small cell lung canser, her doctor cannot attribute her canser to her smoking.
There are many risk factors for lung canser. A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of developing the disease. Having one or more risk factors doesn't mean that you will develop lung canser, but people with certain risk factors are more likely to develop lung canser. many risk factors can be changed, but not all of them can be avoided.
Here are a few risk factors that you can change:

Tobacco use is by far the leading cause of lung canser, accounting for about 9 out of`10 cases.
People who inhale second hand smoke may also be at higher risk for lung canser. They are exposed to the same canser causing agents as smokers.
Environmental risk factors, such as asbestos, radon, and air pollution can increase the risk of lung canser.

These are the risk factors that you cannot control:

Family history or personal history of lung canser increases your risk of developing lung canser or a second tumor.
Age. If you are older than 65, you are at greater risk for lung canser.
Ethnicity. (this one is a shocker to me) African Americans are more likely to develop lung canser than those in any other racial or ethnic group.

There are some statistics that are much more shocking to me than the one about ethnicity, but they are tough to read and even tougher to digest. I will keep these to myself for now and maybe forever, who knows. I will however, warn you whether or not I decide to share these so you can look away.
So, the bottom lines are this:
Lung canser, as well as all canser, is wack.
No matter what statistics you read, they did not do a study on 1,000 Karan's...these are not necessarily HER statics...everyone is different.

My mom has small cell lung canser with brain mets.
My mom is surviving.
My mom is kicking the shit out of canser.

SUPPORT CANSER RESEARCH

help us bring the invisible canser into the light

hugs
xx

ps...our ribbon color is white or clear. i have some clear ribbon pins if anyone wants some, let me know and i will mail you one.

School Is Back In Session

Hello all...sorry for the delay, but dang life is busy...that's my "excuse" every time I miss the blog these days, huh?

Alright, lets all catch up to speed. Ready? Here we go.

So, as we all know, next week will hopefully be my mom's very last chemo EVER! Let's all do a collective finger crossing and send out some good ju-ju that this is true. My mom is still doing blood draws twice a week so that they can be really up to date with all of her levels. So far, they seem to all be doing fairly well, except for the Red Blood Cell Count.

Red Blood Cells are the most common type of blood cells and the vertebrate body's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood. The process in which the Red Blood Cells are reproduced is called erythropoiesis. Erythrocytes are continuously being produced in the red bone marrow of large bones at a rate of 2 million per second.

Many chemo drugs temporarily stop cells from dividing, especially the cells that divide quickly. red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are made by the bone marrow. These blood cells divide quickly. Chemo can lead to low blood counts, causing the possibility of a variety of symptoms and these are just some of them:

Myelosuppression - a decrease in the production of blood cells, which may lead to low blood count.
Pancytopenia - a lowering of all three types of blood cells; red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells, which may lead to low red blood cell count, low blood platelet count, and/or low white blood cell count.
Anemia - a decrease in the number of red blood cells (RBC), which may lead to low red blood count.
Thrombocytopenia - a decrease in the number of platelets (PLT), which may lead to low blood platelet count.

There are a few things that you can do to help manage a low blood cell count such as resting between activities, eat an adequate amount of proteins and vitamins, and drink plenty of fluids. Dr. Paroly has also prescribed a medication called Procrit.

Procrit is a drug used to treat anemia in patients with kidney damage and in cancer patients whose lack of red blood cells results from chemotherapy and it helps build the Red Blood Cell Count. My mom will be administered these shots once a week for the next month. Hopefully these will up her Cell Count. She had her first shot last Friday and she says she can already feel the change. So, YEA for that!

It must be also aiding in her Attitude Cell Count because, whoa, watch out! She is feisty as ever, bossing me around, yelling at speeding cars and no longer listening to a word I say to her.

She has one more blood draw this week on Thursday and then the pre-chemo visit with Dr. Paroly on Friday...if all is well, she starts the LAST chemo on Monday!

Holy shit! That would be amazing! I think she is really looking forward to not only no more chemo, but no chemo during the holidays and the hair re-growth that comes along with it.

Please send out all of your magic prayers, finger crossing, beams of light, claps, and positive energy for this to be the LAST AND FINAL CHEMO!!

I do, though, feel the need to inform you that she has an ear infection...well, we think. Her right is clogged and it hurts. I have more than enough of these in my lifetime to know what the symptoms are and how bad they suck. We let the nurses, or girls as we call them, at Dr. Paroly's office know and tomorrow we are going to my mom's primary care physician to get the diagnosis. She'll be fine, but of course I will let you know the outcome.


Keep the love a'comin!!

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.

-Gloria Steinem

November Is Lung Canser Awareness Month

Hey everyone! Here we are! Sorry that we have been hiding...
we have been busy with voting, the elections, eating, doctors appointments, and helping Ashley get settled in. For those of you who don't know, my cousin Ashley moved down here from Los Angeles last week and she is staying with me until her new house is ready. Its been fun...and I think my mom has been enjoying having someone else around to look at instead of me. hahaha.
So, let's see...what can I fill you in on?
Not much really. My mom is doing really well..I mean aside from the annoyance of having to deal with Medi-cal, she is doing good. Her feisty attitude is back in full effect so I guess this means she is getting better...
anyway, sorry to cut this short after such a ling time away, but there really isn't any juicy dirt to spill...so I will not bore you any further.
Thank god my mom is feeling good, she is totally rocking the eff outta canser!!!
She is such an inspiration!
hugs
xx



"When life hands you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch the world wonder how you did it."

(Ba)Rock The Vote

Today is a history making day...no matter who you are voting for. This is the first time that we have ever had a multi-racial, multi-gender ticket and we all have the opportunity to participate in changing our country for the better.
It is within our reach...

V....O....T....E