Relay 2007 Wrap up

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back!

This blog is the best way to reach as many of the people that supported team Perseverance as possible, therefore, I am going to use this as my main method to THANK YOU ALL for your monetary (or otherwise) support of Team Perseverance!!!

Tonight we had our team captain Relay 2007 Wrap-up. I get to attend these meetings and events as a representative of all of you who are so much a part of our team, whether it be as a team member raising funds and walking all night long, a donor who donates your hard earned money because you believe in what we do, or simply as a much needed cheerleader who provides emotional support or word of mouth advertisement of our mission!

At tonight's wrap-up party we were told that this years Haymarket Park RFL raised $340,600+ dollars towards research, advocacy, education and services! This is amazing and proves that the power of friendship, compassion, and community CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Team Perseverance raised $21,652.40 of that amount!!!!! We hit and once gain SURPASSED the goal we set for ourselves!

I was presented with the one and only DIAMOND LEVEL FUNDRAISING SIGN of the night, and received a standing ovation...this is so humbling, as I know the credit belongs out there with all of you, and I appreciate all that you do to get Team Perseverance to where it is, which is leading the way to finding a CURE for this deadly disease!

The ACS funds more than $120 MILLION in cancer research a year! And has funded 3 BILLION dollars of cancer research since 1946, so you can see what a huge impact we are making! This does not even touch on the advocacy, education and services that they provide to cancer patients and their families! If it was not for the advancements in cancer treatments over the last even just 10 years, I would not be here 2 1/2 years following a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer. I owe my life to this valuable organization, and I hope that you all, with your own personal reasons for supporting the ACS's RFL will understand my gratitude and will also consider supporting us again next year!

Hope, Love, and Respect,

Tracy

What am I thankful for?! All the wonderful people that I was able to represent tonight!

Other stuff

My doctor looked at my MUGA results and decided that I should have an ECHO done to check out my heart a little further. So, I did that last week and have heard nothing with regards to how it turned out. No news is almost always good news! Treatment was pretty uneventful. I met a woman that was just starting her treatment. She was great, and we had a very nice talk. I appreciate all the moments that I get with other cancer patients...we learn from each other and draw strength with each others support.
I was in Dallas this past weekend for a training session in order to do my 'hope thing'! It was a great time! I wasn't there very long, but I met some very amazing and passionate people.
What am I thankful for?! My Relay family!

Blog #100

Well, it seems that on the day of my 100th BLOG I had a prayer answered!

When I found out that I not only had cancer but that it was an aggresive type and it had spread to my liver and possibly my bones, I sat down on the floor and tried to remember anything I could from when I was 2 and 5 years old. I came up with next to nothing...a few things that I am sure I remember not from the actual event but from the photos I have seen through the years. That day, the day they told me I had METASTATIC breast cancer, my kids were only 2 and 5 years old. If I died in the next year would they even remember me outside of the photos we take? I was guessing probably not. I prayed that night that God please let me live long enough to get my baby into school. He was little, I was certain he needed a mommy. And, then my oldest son would be 8 and would have memories that he could share about me....and more time....we all needed more time!
TODAY, my prayer was answered. I took my little precious baby to school and his big brother too! This is a day that was sent to me from the Heavens, and I am so grateful!
The boys had great days at school, and we all went to dinner this evening to celebrate, and then ran back to our cars in the POURING rain! Life when it is hard...is VERY hard, but when it is good....it is VERY good! Today was a VERY GOOD day!
What am I thankful for?! The 1st day of school, all the pictures that we have to capture our everyday moments and those special moments you never want to forget, friends that are willing to look at all your pictures I took of the first day of school (I took a picture every 10 feet from when the kids got up to when they sat down in their classrooms), and kisses.

No tears here!

Okay, from what I have gathered from the teary e-mails I have gotten from people, my last e-mail does not adequately express the humor and joy that is in my life...the everyday oddities that are what we are all about. We don't just talk about dying here! Geesh.

Boobs:
Forgive me, but this story is going to be about boobs(if the title didn't tip you off), so if that weirds you out, you can stop reading now....
So I am going to make this fairly elementary. I have one boob, and a few prosthetic boobs that I switch out on the other side. I have the swim boob(pretty self explanitory), there is the fancy going out boob (for cute little outfits), and the cotton fill boob (which would be the boob equivalent of the granny panty). So often times when we are home (without guests) I have a tendency to go uniboober and the prosthetic boobs get left lying around. My oldest son could walk past one all day and not even notice it, but my youngest son can not walk past one without giving it a little squeeze! (I know, there are guys high-fiving all over right now) So...the other day my youngest son picked one up, held it to his chest and danced around singing "I have a boobie, I have a boobie!" That is when my oldest son decided to chime in and grabbed one out of my closet and put it to his chest and said, "Look mom! Now we all have one boob!!!" ~Those are team players!

Rain:
The other day in the middle of a down pour I danced in the rain with a friend! Everyone should try that sometime...it was VERY good for the soul! And...everyone should have the kind of friends that are willing to do it with you without batting an eye! Luckily I have several of those kinds of friends. I am forever blessed.

What am I thankful for?! Rain and the love and humor that my children provide me with daily!

No longer the kid at the back of the class

So, this whole cancer thing has really changed my perspective on things. I used to be so nervous talking in class that when I was in college I signed up for classes that I knew would have 100+ students in them! And...sadly the communications prerequisite to grad school really held me back. I was terrified to get up and talk in front of a class full of students. I guess having cancer has made me realize what things you should be scared of and what things just aren't worth worrying about. In the last year I have been to 3 cancer related funerals, and I feel somewhat desperate to get the word out and to get people motivated to help find a cure...for any and all types of cancer!
This years relay proved to be a huge success with our team raising somewhere near $21000! That is so AWESOME! The power of community and friendship! It was a little out of my comfort zone though, as I spoke at the event and for TV, radio, and newspaper interviews! I guess I am going to use my misfortune for good...to try and help others.
My oldest son is not so sure about all of this. I think the relay and all the publicity surrounding it has been hard on him and has gotten him thinking about all of this. The other night he came down from his room crying because he couldn't sleep. He was thinking about my cancer. So, I put him in bed with me, and we snuggled. After some silence, I thought he was asleep, but no he was just thinking. After a couple of minutes passed, her said "Mom, why did God have to give you cancer?" I was honest, I don't know why God gave me cancer. I said "Maybe God knew that if I got cancer I would do everything I could to help other people with cancer, and maybe if I didn't have cancer I wouldn't do that." He replied "But you are the nicest person I know, you would help people anyway." What do you say to that? It broke my heart. I just told him that sometime things happen to us, and we don't know why they are happening at the time, but later in life it might make more sense to us. He was not happy with that answer, but that is really all I had to give.
I had my scans last week. I had CT's of my chest, abdomen and pelvis, and a MUGA scan to check my heart. The only cancer they can see at this time is in my one rib. So, everything is still stable on that front! PERFECT!
The MUGA scan showed that my EF has dropped another 10%. It has now dropped 27% in the last 6 months, but it is still at a functioning level. It is at 50%. If it gets down to < 40% we will have to take a look at the big picture and decide what needs to be done differently.
All is good, I can still ride the mechanical bull in Cheyenne without hurting myself! ....not for 8 seconds though, but come on now, I couldn't have done that 10 years ago either!
What am I thankful for?! Days at the pool, snuggling my boys, and my hubby! Happy 12th Anniversary, Honey!