A Day with Nae! Race For The Cure...

Join me for the Twin Cities “Race for the Cure” on Mother’s Day, May 12, 2013!!

My family and I will be doing the 5K Walk (3.1 miles) and we would LOVE for you to join our team! J The Race will be held outside the Mall of America and it is a wonderful experience for a great cause!

Our team name is called “Nae’s Way” (in honor of the current “detour” I am taking). You can register to walk with us at the following Web site:

www.komenminnesota.org

Once you get to the site, you will need to click on the tab that says “Komen Race For The Cure” and then “Register”. You can register online or by mailing your forms in. Make sure you register as a team participant, not as an individual. (You will need to select team “Nae’s Way” from a dropdown list of teams.)

Here are a few of the basics…

 
-       With your registration fee you receive a t-shirt, race bib, wristband and Race Day refreshments.

-       Adults and kids can walk. Strollers are ok for the walk, but all participants (even babies) must be registered.
 
-       If you register before March 7^th, you can get a discount (Adults $25, Kids $12). If you register between March 8^th and April 18^th it’s $30 for adults and $15 for kids. After April 19^th and the fee goes up to $35 for adults and $17 for kids.

-       The team captain is responsible for picking up the team packet of shirts and materials, so I will be taking care of this and will organize a meeting time and place for us the day of the race.

-       The race starts at 9:00 a.m., but we will meet earlier (probably 7:30 or 8:00 somewhere). They also have a Health Expo from 7-10 with free stuff and refreshments.

 

Team Shirts???

Just a little backdrop….the Minnesota Volleyball Association hosts a tournament every year up in Duluth called Arrowhead. It is a benefit tournament and this year it is going to be held in my honor.

We are selling t-shirts and raffle tickets for the tournament and ALL of the proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in my name. (our own little way of fundraising *smile*) The t-shirts are black with a pink ribbon and a volleyball on them and they are super cute!

I thought it might be fun to have my “Race for the Cure” team wear these Arrowhead shirts for the walk (if they want to). They are $12.00 and I will be posting ordering information both on my blog and on Facebook if you are interested in ordering one.

I think it would be fun for my team to have matching shirts, but it is certainly not required by any means. In fact, we can have a mixture of matching Arrowhead t-shirts and Race For the Cure t-shirts (free with your registration), so whatever you choose to wear is fine by me! I will just be honored to have people walking with me! J

Care to join us??? J

Sorry it has taken me a while to sit down and update my blog. I have been busy. Well, kind of. If you consider “resting” A LOT to be busy, then yes….I have been VERY busy! J Last Friday I had my 3^rd big round of chemo, and much like my 1^st round, I have been feeling quite tired and nauseous afterwards.

 Following my chemo treatment, I was fortunate to be able to spend a lovely weekend with some of my dearest college friends at a cabin up north. They spoiled me by going out of their way to pick me up for the weekend and letting me just relax and nap whenever I needed to. It was a restful weekend full of great friends and a lot of much needed laughter and support! I even snuck in my first Wild game of the season on my way home on Sunday! (They WON by the way…and I just love it when they sound the foghorn after scoring….it reminds me of back home in Duluth. J)

 After my weekend away, I was able to play volleyball on Monday night, but we had a double-header and my body just felt run down and plain tired! I think the chemo caught up with me and I had to skip volleyball on Tuesday night and all social activities the rest of the week. I am hoping that all of my resting this week will pay off though, because I am supposed to play in a volleyball tournament with some of my Divas tomorrow. I can’t wait to get back out on the court!!

 
I spoke with my Oncologist last week, and asked her some more questions about the timing of surgery and next steps after chemo. I had originally thought that I would have surgery in June or July, but she made it sound like she wants me to have surgery right away in May to prevent any of the tumors from growing back. (On a side note…I would really like to organize a team to walk with me on Mother’s Day for the Race for the Cure, so I am hoping that I can work surgery in the week after the race, but we shall see!)

 
Aaron and I met with the surgeon that will perform the double mastectomy this week, we will meet with a radiation oncologist next week, and then we need to schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon before I will know specific timing. For now, I am guessing my surgery will be sometime in May, but I will keep you all posted on the specifics once I know more.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love to all,

Nae

It's been a great week!

I have felt good, the hives on my hand have gone away, and most of my taste buds seem normal...HOORAY! All week, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop....what symptom is going to be next?? I am happy to say that the worst of my worries this week have been a slightly runny nose and some dry skin. Me and the rest of the world, right? :) I can handle that!

I was excited to be able to play in a tournament last Sunday and also in league on both Monday AND Tuesday nights. *smile* Not only did our coed team win the tournament on Sunday, but I had a heart-warming experience while I was there. In between games, one of the guys from one of the opposing teams came over to chat with my team. We talked about volleyball, how he was from Owatanna and just stuff in general. Before he left though, he bent down and shook my hand...he said "I just wanted to say that I have a lot of respect for you being out on the court playing, I think that's great!" I stood up to talk with him more and he proceeded to tell me that his 4 year old son has a form of cancer called Neuroblastoma. I told him that Aaron's cousin's daughter has the same thing. We talked for a while about a flag football benefit that he started and how it has grown over the years and then he gave me a big hug before walking away.

WOW. Not only do I have respect for people that have the courage to go up to total strangers to express words of kindness, but my respect went through the roof for this young man when he told me that he was a "stepfather" to this little boy with cancer. I told him that too. I admire him for being a father figure to this little boy who is struggling with cancer because I am sure a lot of people would not even consider taking a challenge like that on. However, I could tell by the way he spoke of his son and showed me pictures, that he was MEANT to be in this little boy's life. That made my day!

That's one cool thing about having a shaved head. People know that you are a probably going through some kind of cancer treatment. It may ostracize me a bit from some people, but it also brings out the supportive people that have been through it, or know someone that has. It's THOSE people that I want to meet and share my journey with and hear theirs. I welcome their hugs and their words of encouragement because it empowers me and makes me feel so good inside. It's nice to not feel alone in this crazy world we live in. :)

In addition to volleyball, I was able to attend a class put on by the American Cancer Society on Tuesday. It's called "Look Good, Feel Better" and it is a free class where all of the participants get a free bag of makeup and a cosmetologist comes in to show us how to apply it (this included tips for drawing in eyebrows in case we lose our own). I enjoyed the class and felt a sense of confidence walking out with my new makeup. :) Thanks to the American Cancer Society for this wonderful program!

Last, but not least, I am going to post some pictures of the night we shaved my head and a picture of my fun new wig. Sorry for the delay in sharing!  (You can click on the pictures to see them enlarged.)

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Love to all,
Nae

It's a delicate balance.

Yesterday was a “hair & makeup” kind of day. I had a doctor appointment so I took a shower, got dressed (in REAL clothes…not just jammies *smile*) and put my hair and makeup on. I have to admit it felt pretty good! It’s amazing how just feeling “put together” can give you confidence and a little spring in your step. J It was great to actually get out of the house, even if it was only to see the doctor, have chemo and hit Target on my way home.

There is this delicate balance between wanting to stay home in warm, cozy jammies, away from germs and close to the comforts of home, and feeling energized by getting out into the fresh air, and just intermingling with other people. It was good to get out, but I have to admit I felt like a nap when I got home. J I think if you have too much of one thing, you always want the other. For instance…I stayed home most of the week, resting and staying warm, so when it was time to get out of the house, I was excited to do something different. However, being out most of the morning made me want to go home and just relax on the couch! It’s all about finding that right balance…something that is constantly changing when you are going through chemo.

We met with a Geneticist before I had my Herceptin chemo treatment on Friday. We drew a family tree of sorts and she asked me all kinds of questions about family members and their health history….parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents; who had what health issues, when they got said health issues, and what ages people were when they passed away. Oh boy…I felt like I was taking a test that I hadn’t studied for! I knew some of the answers, but ages and exact onset I had to totally guess on. I think it was ok that I guesstimated some things, but I think I need to complete some sort of summary of this information just have on hand for future reference. Add that to my list of things to do when I have time. J Ha!

After going through my family history, we talked about the BRCA gene. This is a gene that is passed down from family members that puts you in the higher risk category for contracting breast and ovarian cancer. I think the doctor said if you have this gene it’s not “if” you get cancer; it’s more like “when”.

There is one company in the United States that actually conducts the test to see if you have this BRCA gene and the test costs a whopping $4,000. Holy cats! Fortunately, if you are at high risk for having this gene (such as a strong family history and being diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40…check. check.), you meet the criteria for insurance to cover the cost of the test. She didn’t think I would have any problem with getting it covered….let’s hope she’s right and the insurance company doesn’t make me jump through any hoops to make them cover it. J

So what does this mean? Well….they took blood and packaged it up to be sent out to Utah to have the test completed. It should take about 2.5 weeks to get the results (assuming all goes through insurance). If the test is positive (which is pretty likely), then my chances for getting ovarian cancer will be high and they would like me to have my ovaries removed laproscopically. It also means that my 3 kids will need to be tested for the gene when they are in their 20’s. L If the test comes back negative, then that means I am NOT at a higher risk for ovarian cancer and my kids will not get the gene either! As with anything, I am just anxious to know the results so we can move forward with treating things if need be. Will keep you posted when I know more.

How am I feeling otherwise? I have felt a little “off” this week, but that is to be expected. I am experiencing a small amount of hives on my hands, but I am hoping that Benadryl will do the trick so I don’t have to take steroids again.

Other rays of sunshine in my week…playing in a tournament tomorrow (if I feel up to it) and receiving sweet notes on my pillow at night from my kids! Notice the 6 little hairs on the top of my head. (the note says: Dear Mom I Love You just the way you are.) Love my kids!

 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Love to all,

Nae