3.14.2007

Anniversay

Two Years and Still Surviving!!!! It is a beautiful day!
Hope and Love!
Tracy

3.10.2007

Relay for Life Event Advertisement

Okay, I am going to attempt this public speaking thing again. And because I want your Relay money, I am going to post the info about the event! If you come, expect the play to be good, and my part to be a little shakey! I am very nervous, but it is my story, and I think people should know that cancer can happen to anyone. Breast cancer doesn't just happen after your kids are all grown up!

"One Act play to focus on Breast Cancer Survivorship and also Tracy Harnly is going to tell her story. She is a breast cancer survivor and a team captain for the Relay For Life team "Perseverance".

One's Company, with actress Pippa White, will be performing L.B. 4:15 at7:00pm on Friday, March 16th, at the Lincoln Women's Club at 407 South 14th Street. The show is sponsored by Kastens Counseling & Resource Center and the Doane College Lincoln Campus as a fundraising effort to benefit the 2007 Lancaster County Haymarket Park Relay For Life.

L.B. 4:15 is a performance that concentrates on the 1993 Breast Cancer diagnosis of Sylvia Roba. "In the beginning," she said, "I wrote to save myself from despair." What she wrote was a one-act play. Surprising, provocative, and even funny.(L.B. 4:15 stands for Left Breast, 4:15pm. Sylvia felt that at times shewas no longer "Sylvia" but had been reduced to the location of her cancerand her appointment time.)

Admission to the one-act play will be $5 with 100% of the proceeds going to the Relay For Life. Dessert will be provided. There will be various items for sale at the fundraiser.

For questions, or to purchase advanced tickets,please contact Brenda Kastens at 402-540-4772 or at kastenscounseling@alltel.net. On street parking is available on 14th street. The Cornhusker Parking Garage is 1/2 block walking distance from the location."

What am I thankful for?! I am thankful that Brenda has the confidence in my ability to do this, and for giving me this opportunity to face my fear of public speaking for all the right reasons.

3.06.2007

Keepin on...

Well, in what was found to be a very odd grouping of blog followers, it seems that people are still reading, so I am going to keep on blogging. Running report....not going so well. It hurts, and not the good kind of hurts. It has been bothering my back quite a bit, and I haven't even made it over 2 miles yet! So, I had to take a break. My rib has also been bothering me, but only if I sit for long periods of time, or if I lay on my right side at night, which I might add is how I sleep. Of course it is!!! So I have been waking up quite a bit at night.
What seems to be pushing me over the edge right now is a stupid cold! I can handle the cancer treatments, but the common cold....CAN'T THEY CURE THAT YET!!!? On top of all my other medications it is really wearing me out, and I HATE to be tired, there is just too much stuff to be done, and too much fun to be had!
I had treatment today, which was fairly uneventful physically, but being me, I had to make new friends, and when you are making new friends at a cancer center, it can be pretty emotional. I met a woman who has breast cancer that has spread to her colon, lungs, abdomen, brain, and basically all of her bones! When she first entered the hospital in 2002, they told her she had about two weeks to live. She has been in chemotherapy every Thursday since then, and she is still going! At one point the cancer had replaced so much bone that she had to get blood transfusions because she did not have enough healthy bone marrow to make new blood cells! Her current chemo is helping kill some of the cancer in her bones, and she is now making enough blood cells to maintain her body. She just went to Italy on vacation last year, and will be going to Greece in May! She is a fighter! Her sister is also fighting breast cancer, and her mother has since passed away from breast cancer. She will forever be in my thoughts and prayers!
I also met a man who has been diagnosed with lung cancer (not a smoker or a regular second hand smoker). His cancer had spread to his lymphnodes, and thoracic area. He has been through 4 chemo treatments and only has one small spot in his lung left. He is doing fantastic! We spent an hour talking about holistic treatments, nutrition, chemo treatments, and the fun of medication side effects! He is just starting a cancer study, to promote advances in lung cancer treatment. Awesome!
Now, I am off to a Relay for Life meeting! My personal fundraising totals just dropped from second to third place, but my team as a whole is in first place! Thanks to those of you that have already donated!
What am I thankful for?!?! People who share their stories and their lives with me, the beautiful pictures that my kids color for me, my husband who made my green tea this morning and stayed up and talked to me at 4am when I was stressed and crying, and for the Goehner Spaghetti Feed! That is good stuff!!!