Awesomeness

This is a photo I took while taking a ride on the paddle boat in Galveston at Moody Gardens. As I was riding, the beauty of the sun setting over the waters caught my eye and I just wanted to share it with yall. I love this photo. It reminds of how great Thou art.

It's Summertime!

Summer is most definitely here! The kids are out of school and it is so hot! We got some rain last week and would love to have more. Our AC is for sure burining a lot of energy. The month of June has come and gone. I celebrated my 46th birthday. I did so by ordering in Jamaican food from my favorite restaurant "Little Jamaica." The curry chicken was excellent! My children sang to me and Janee' made me a birthday cake. It was just nice being at home with my family. It was another blessed day! Birthday's has always meant a lot to me. I love to celebrate birthdays. Every since I can remember, every year on my birthday, when I wake up, the first thing I do is thank God for allowing me to live to see another year. Since I was diagnosed with BC, each day means a lot to me. I see things quite different than I did before. My whole life has a new meaning and I have a whole new outlook on life knowing for sure who's in control. Having said that, I've had a couple of treatments this month and I had my 3 month follow visit with the doctor and I was so happy to get the news that my tumor marker is still on the downward trend. So I know prayers are working for me. He did say that my thyroid was a little off whatever that means. So I will have to see an endocrinologist soon. Hopefully it's something that's easily fixed. But, before I see the E dr. I will for sure work on the problem and hopefully the problem will be corrected when I go for an exam. Guess I better look in my juice book to see what I need to be juicing for thyroid problems.

A Year Has Come and Gone

It's been a while since I've been here. I'm always thinking of things to write, but never stop to do it. It's around 12:29 a.m. and everyone is in bed and I'm up listening the clock tick. It's so quiet and peaceful right now.

Well, it seems like yesterday when I received the phone call about my diagnosis, but it was actually a little over a year ago. It was last March to be exact. Thanks for your prayers and support during this first year.

The last time I updated you on the spasms I was having. Well, the spasms are not happening anymore. They just sort of disappeared after I had the visit with the neurologist. Who know's, maybe all that shocking she did triggered my nerves to function right. You know there is something to reflexology and accupuncture. But, really, I may have had one spasm since I last updated. I am so happy, because they were working my nerves. My last update with the doctor in March was good. My tumor marker was down from 197 to 143. But he did mention they changed tumor marker machines in between my visits. I'm going with the results for sure though. I figure these meds I'm on has to be working. These hot flashes are nothing nice. I've also noticed some weight gain everytime I go for my treatments. With these new meds everything I read say there may be weight gain. I guess it's okay to blame it on that. No... for real though, I really need to get moving again. One of the meds (femara...oops I almost forgot to take it tonight) I'm on, makes me pretty stiff in the hips if I sit too long. I move like I'm up in age when I get up from sitting. I read where exercising helps that. Oh and that's one of the meds that puts the weight on too. :o).
Other than that, I'm feeling good, still baking and trying to stay focused on the positive things in life. The children are keeping me busy. I can't believe Janee' is almost finished with her first year in college. She has done well. I am so proud of her. I forgot to tell some of you that Asa was chosen, most intelligent by her teachers and peers at her school. So proud of her too! It's hard to believe she is moving on to high school next year. Alafia & Assata never seems to amaze me with their actions. They are too much. I'm so glad they have each other :o). They are busy trying to find their way. Assata is into art and Alafia is into sports. He and Asa are on the neighborhood swim team so our busy summer is about to begin. Fred is finishing up baseball and heading right into football training. Yes, he will be a Senior next year. Yes, soon we will have two in college....OMGeeee! Thank goodness for their dad...he helps keep them all in check. I'm saying goodnite. My eyelids are getting a bit heavy. So until next time...

Tumor Marker

When I went for my follow up visit in November, my tumor marker was up. So they changed one of my medications. The doctor took me off of Tamoxifen which slows down estrogen. and placed me on an injection called Zoladex and a pill called Femara. Zoladex is given in the abdomen and the Femara is taken on a daily basis. The Zoladex will stop estrogen completely. These new medications are taking me through some hormonal changes right now that I hope will soon pass. The changes has been pretty mild. I have been experiencing a few hot flashes and occasional crying spells. I went to a funeral of one of our elderly sisters at our church about two weeks ago and it seemed like I was the only one in the building crying. I was just boo hooing. I almost got up and left, but I just took a few deep breaths and sat there through the service. Now that the medications have changed, I will have to go to MDA twice a month. My treatment of Herceptin has to be given separate from the other two medications. The Herceptin is given one week and then I go the following week for the Zometa and Zoladex and I take the pill daily.

Some of you may be wondering what is a tumor marker. Tumor markers are evidence in the bloodstream of the presence of a tumor somewhere in the body. This test is done by testing your blood. So this is done at least once a month when I go in for treatments or at the doctor's request. Stay prayerful that these new meds are working. I will see the doctor in March for a follow up and I know that I will have positive results by then. I didn't let this news get me down. I'm maintaining a positive attitude because we all know who's in control.

Tingling/Spasm Update

Hi everyone! Well I completed testing to find out why I was having tingling. A few weeks ago I saw a neurologist and she scheduled me for a series of testing. The first test I had was an office visit where they checked my reflexes and feelings on my hands, feet and legs. That all turned out fine. The second round of testing was nerve test. They shocked me along my left hand and arm with this lttle taser thing, to test for carpel tunnel syndrome. Well, that test came out fine. The doctor concluded that it seems to be nerve compression in my neck area along with arthritis after looking at CT scans. She just said I need to do some neck strengthening exercises, stretching and some yoga should help. Oh yea I almost forgot to tell ya that she scheduled me for this three hour glucose test that I was surprised with when I went in for treatments. Well, from reading my results online, that all seems to be negative. Since the visit I've had only one episode of tingling and spasms. She said it will get better. So we shall see. Keep on praying!

One Thing I Want To Know

One thing I want to know is...why on earth am I having this tingling, spasm sensation in my left arm?!? It feels so weird. It starts at the tip of my fingers sometimes and sometimes it starts at the elbow and work its way up to my neck and tightens. It so scary. Dr. Ibrahim is trying really hard to figure out what it is. He has had me in for a series of testing. Yesterday I spent most of the day and night at MDA.

This morning I went for results. From looking at the results he still say that my treatments are working and there was nothing new that showed up on the scans and treatments can stay the same. However, when I went in for the initial visit because of the tingling, he scheduled me for a CT scan that same week. From those results he did see a spot that showed up on my neck area. He doesn't know if it's new or if it's something I already had because they don't have a scan to compare it to since they didn't do a CT scan on the neck area in the beginning stages. He wants to rule out cancer related before he refers me to another doctor to diagnose the tingling problem, so he ordered blood work today to see what the tumor markers read. If it's high then they will biopsy the spot, if not they will just keep an eye on it and then refer me to another doctor for the tingling. Hope all this make sense to you all. Love you! Keep praying for me and I will keep you posted.

One Thing I Know

One thing I do know is that when you are in the circle with others with the same health issue, or any health issue, you begin to see things a bit different. Little things that are normally not important becomes more important. You learn more about people and their needs and what's important to them. I'm even learning things about myself while on this journey.

Hello everyone...I know it's been a while, and yes, I have missed you too! October was a very exciting month for me. It was breast cancer awareness month. Friends and family joined me in the Susan G. Komen walk for the cure. Thanks to all of you who supported me with donations and to those of you who hung out with me that morning. It was a lot of fun and it was exciting just being there in the crowd knowing that most of us were there for the same cause. To top it off, we ended the evening with a Pink Party. My goal in planning this party was to celebrate, entertain, and educate. Many came to me and thanked me for the information that was given out that evening. Some have already gotten their mammograms, thermographys, and some have even had their vitamin D levels checked to find out that their's is very low or they have none at all. They are now taking vitamin D supplements. Thanks to all of you who came out to the party. Look forward to seeing you next year!