Thyroid cancer awareness 2014!!!

Hello all you beautiful people!! So again, I apologize for not blogging as often...I am hoping to be able to get a laptop soon because it is a bit difficult on my tablet!!! Well we are now in the month of September..kids are back to school, fall is just around the corner and most importantly it's thyroid cancer awareness month! I try to promote thyroid cancer awareness all year round but since September is the month where the world seems to recognize it more, I do extra this month while peoples eyes and ears are more open to it!!!

Now for some info and facts about thyroid cancer...
*It is estimated that in 2014 alone, 62,950 new cases have been reported thus far- thyroid cancer is on the rise and is slowly but surely beginning to rise on the list of common cancers to get...this my friends is not good.
* Many people have this idea in their head that thyroid cancer is an easy cancer to treat..while yes if detected early..there can be a high cure rate. However, 5% of those diagnosed with one of the more rare types of thyroid cancer such as medullary or anaplastic thyroid cancer unfortunately deal with a disease that is incurable and very difficult to treat. I am in that 5%.
* Thyroid cancer is known to affect anyone at any age. It is not picky in who it choices to affect.
*It is extremely important to get your neck checked...many times thyroid cancer doesn't have many symptoms. It can sneak up on you without you having a clue. Some symptoms that could be present are as follows:

• Swelling or lump in neck
• Problems swallowing
• Difficulty breathing
• A horse voice or other voice changes
• Frequent cough
• Throat or neck pain
• Swollen lymph nodes

Again, you do not necessarily have to show any symptoms to have thyroid cancer. Neck checks are so simple and the key is to detect thyroid cancer as early as possible...this can be a life saver!

* let's go back a little bit. what exactly is the thyroid and is it that important?? The thyroid gland is a very important part of your body. A normal functioning thyroid regulates many things...thyroid makes hormones:
Thyroid hormone: The thyroid follicular cells make thyroid hormone. This hormone affects heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight. For example, too much thyroid hormone makes your heart race, and too little makes you feel very tired.
Calcitonin: The C cells in the thyroid make calcitonin. This hormone plays a small role in keeping a healthy level of calcium in the body. Many people who get diagnosed with thyroid cancer need to get a procedure called a thyroidectomy to remove the thyroid and surrounding cancer. These people will forever have to supplement their bodies with a thyroid hormone such as synthroid or other thyroid hormone replacements.

* Thyroid cancer is NOT in any way,shape or form the "good or easy" type of cancer to have. No cancer is but for some reason thyroid cancer has a huge stigma attached to it as being "the kind to get.". Oh, how naive, ignorant and completely wrong that statement is. People are dying from this cancer every day. People with thyroid cancer (including myself) deal with constant pain,hospital visits,scan after scan, needle jab after needle jab, fears of recurrence or further spread of the cancer into other vital organs, financial, physical, emotional and spiritual burdens. Fear of one day this cancer taking over their bodies and losing contol. Any one who assumes or makes the statement that thyroid cancer is the " good" cancer should really be ashamed of themselves for making that assumption. These people need to educate themselves and learn the facts before letting these harsh words leave their mouths.

With all of this said, I urge you to please spread awareness for thyroid cancer. Please take the time to educate yourselves on this very real and scary disease. Thyroid cancer is no joke. Let's continue to donate to research,  and stand up together and spread the word, so that one day thyroid cancers and I pray all cancers for that matter will be a thing of the past! Thank you all and God bless. Until next time...

I've missed you...

 Hello to all of you! Wow, it has been quite a while since I blogged! I have had some difficulties with blogging since my computer broke and I just recently got a tablet but honestly it's still is not the same as my trusty laptop because it takes me a lot longer but it will work for the time being! Last time i blogged was in May I believe...wow, time truly does fly! I will update everyone on any new cancer news later but first I was laying here and my mind started thinking about cancer in general. Cancer does not judge. It doesn't care how old you are, if you are male or female, if you are a child or an adult,if you're small or big, if you are tall or short and the list can go on and on...cancer just simply exists to multiply in your body and pretty much destroy it. That is pretty much it's only mission. It is a very horrible and ugly disease. Cancer is cancer and it doesn't matter what form or type it is, to me all cancer is looked at the same and I can sum it up in two simple words...not good. I am bringing this up because I remember several times making the statement that "cancer has changed me." I keep thinking about my statement and I can't sit here and give credit to something so horrible especially when no credit is due. Cancer has not changed me...I feel that God has used cancer to help me to change and believe me I am still working on myself every single day because change is not easy.I believe that yes, cancer has given me a big reality check to wake up and to realize there is so much more to life then many of us are willing to open our eyes up to see. I believe God has a big plan for me through all of this...although I admit, I don't understand yet but I trust that one day that little light bulb will go off and it will be revealed in someway. Then again,maybe it won't while I am still here on Earth but either way I still trust whole heartedly in Him. I think God has brought cancer into my life to help me to believe and have faith and to become closer to Him. He has brought it to me to realize how much strength I truly have and to begin to realize my own self worth. So the credit does not go to cancer. The credit goes to God.

Update on cancer: last scans showed minimal growth in one of my liver nodules...now growth is never good however, it was so minimal that I still stayed on the same chemo but have just upped my dose a bit. My next scans will be next week and the results appointment will be August 7th. I'm sure starting next week I'll get my anxiety and anxiousness but for now I'm just worrying about taking each day as it comes this week.  I have also had all sorts of issues I've been dealing with since last blog..I had bronchitis, also blood in my urine and pain...also on top of that still dealing with a wacked out thyroid hormone level...which in turn has been causing all kinds of hypo issues. I recently visited a urologist who suggested I get a urine culture and CT scan to check for kidney stones..I should be getting those results soon. I think the hardest thing for me lately is feeling like my body is giving in a little and not knowing if its cancer or any of the other issues. Not only is it frustrating but scary when you are having more "bad" days then good. My whole body just hurts constantly...the aches and pains never seem to stop but I try my best to put them to the back of my mind and not think about it too much. If I listened to how my body feels most of the time then I would never be out of bed....but I refuse to let this stupid cancer take over. I'll continue to fight before I roll over and let this cancer take me down!! That's for sure!

I also want to mention about a meddie friend of mine who has passed since my last blog. Her name is Sarah. I never met Sarah in person however, we were close in age and I felt shared a bond and understanding for each other. Sarah had the same cancer as me and we met through a support group online.Sarah was extremely strong and brave during her fight. She always seemed to put on a happy face and just overflowed with positivity. I really looked up to her and was and still is truly inspired by her. I think about her all the time but also am happy she no longer has to deal with the physical, mental and emotional pains of cancer any more. She is now free and made whole again. May God continue to bless the rest of her family with strength, love and encouragement. Until next time..

Camp fire, smores and in the middle of nowhere = Perfection....

Hello everyone! Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful day!

Jon and I are getting ready for our big camping trip that we will be taking thanks to the Seas it Foundation! The Seas it Foundation is a foundation that helps cancer patients and their caregivers use recreational activitys to help them fight cancer. It also helps to gain positivity & healing and so much more!

I found out about the Seas it Foundation during a check up appointment at Penn. I asked my Dr about resources that could maybe help Jon and I out with finances or anything in general. They had some volunteer helpers come in and talk to us about different foundations that we could apply for different things- It is wonderful to know how many amazing foundations there are that could help and make things a bit easier for us all who are going through this cancer journey. We recieved a $50 Visa gift card that day from a gentleman who used to go to Penn for a cancer diagnosis and was cured, He now donates thousands of visa gift cards for other patients to help them out a bit...it was awesome!! We also recieved a $150.00 gift card from the Paul Nardoni foundation so Jon and I could enjoy a night out together without worrying about paying for anything!! Then we found out about the Seas it Foundation- Penn decided to nominate Jon and I to recieve a grant- Seas it contacted us several days later and asked us what we would like to do for our grant...we could pick anything that we feel we would enjoy that was recreational and could help us get our minds off of things and use our energy in creative ways...They have done many different grants from gym memberships to workout equipment, art classes, pottery classes and much more. Jon and I decided that we have always wanted to go on a REAL camping trip- this is something on my bucket list and also something that i knew could help us relax. Since I have been diagnosed, Jon and I have found that being outside in the woods just seems s to help clear our minds....we are lucky to have a wildlife area very close to our home that we go to quite often! The Seas it Foundation said they would be glad to make this happen for us and supplied everything we need from our tent all the way down to the matches and everything in between!! They booked a wonderful camping site for us at Roundstone Camping resort which is close to Jim Thorpe and is in the Pocono Mountains. We feel so lucky and blessed to be able to take a weekend away and to just relax and put our minds at ease for a little bit thanks to this wonderful foundation! Oh and Indy will be coming with us!! I know she will have a blast! I will be sure to take many many pictures and i'm sure my next blog will be filled with some pictures and fun stories!!

This better not happen when we are camping!! lol No bears allowed!

I had a check up appointment in Philly this past Friday- Nothing new was learned at this appointment..I got a bunch of bloodwork and a urine test done so I will get the results of those any day now. Hopefully all my numbers will be good, always happy when i see some good numbers!! My next scan appointment will be in June and then I will find out how my chemo has been working and if anything has shrunk or if everything is still stable...it would be awesome to see some shrinkage of tumors but stable has always been a great word to hear as well! I asked my nurse if things were stable again if I could possibly move my scans out a little bit instead of getting them every 2 months...I just can't see how getting all those scans all the time can be doing any good for me especially with all that contrast---good thing is she told me I dont have to drink the disgusting contrast liquid anymore and will be fine just getting the IV contrast....which is awesome because I really hate that liquid crap and it got me so sick the past couple times after and plus it will shorten my time that I have to be in the hospital when i get my scans done which is always a plus!! I like when things are done quick and efficient!! So all in all just still praying for healing and that I can continue to stay stable for a long time!! Until next time...

He has Risen!!

I haven't posted in a while...I hope everyone enjoyed Resurrection Sunday or Easter yesterday! I know Jon and I enjoyed ours! I love being with family and just laughing and its makes me realize how thankful and blessed I am to be able to have a beautiful and supportive family.

 Being a Christian and especially since becoming closer to our Lord, I look at Easter much more differently now. It is not about the candy, the food, or any of that at all. It is about what our amazing Lord has done for us. He was tortured, humiliated, beat, whipped, mocked and everything else imaginable. I found myself many times reflecting on this during the week before his resurrection and found myself crying and getting emotional to even imagine this, and to know this was all for us. All done for us sinful human beings so that we may be forgiven and have the opportunity to one day be with Jesus in eternal Paradise. He died for us and was crucified. His hands & feet nailed to the cross, where he withstood much agony and pain. Again, ALL was done for us. It is overwhelming to think how much love Jesus has for us, and because of that amazing and powerful love, He suffered and died for US. I think about His Mother Mary, watching this all being done to her Son and what she must have felt, of course I can't even begin to imagine. In Jesus' final hours He cried out " It is finished" and then committed His spirit to God the Father, and took His last breath. Like Jesus said, it was done and we were all now forgiven. These days that led up to Resurrection Sunday really Humbled Jon and I and we reflected many times about Jesus' amazing love for us and how truly grateful we are. We woke up early Easter morning before sunrise and watched the sunrise together to be a reminder that Jesus has now Risen! It was a beautiful and peaceful morning and we were grateful to celebrate our Saviors Resurrection! I hope everyone else had a beautiful and blessed Easter and were able to really reflect on the true meaning of it!

As far as this cancer business- My last scans were stable still, which is wonderful! My TSH hormone is still high and off, which is causing me still some days to be overwhelmed with tiredness but I'm hoping it will still continue to lower and get back into the normal range. Overall, besides the tiredness I have been having more "good" days then bad lately, which I am very grateful for. I also think the beautiful weather has been helping to lift my spirits...not so much my allergies but definitely my spirits!! Again, I just continue to take each day as it comes and am very thankful to be living and breathing. May God bless all of you and may we all remember to never take one single breath or moment for granted. Until next time....

Cancer can be a lonely place....

Sometimes cancer can be a very lonely place. I often wonder what switch is turned on in some people when someone is diagnosed with a very serious illness. Many people who you thought were some of the closest people to you seem to just disappear. Is it fear of being near someone who is going through a traumatic experience and not wanting that trauma or dare I say "cancer" to brush off on you and your life? Or the fact that you are too afraid to get close to that person because mortality is something that is more realistic. It is very hard anymore to find someone who truly wants to be a support to me besides family and who I feel wants to actually be a true friend. I understand its a hard thing to try to be close to someone who is sick. They aren't necessarily the same person they used to be. They can't go out all the time. There mind is usually on other things now and a lot of times the focus is on trying to just get through the day feeling half decent. I know I am far from the same person then I used to be. Things that used to be important to me before are no longer important. Trying to fit in with others or materialism is one of the last things I worry about and I also realized the top most important things in my life now is God, my Husband & my loving family. I couldn't do anything without those key things in my life. They never let me down.

 I think the thing that hurts the most is seeing the changes in those people who at one point or another in my life I thought truly cared and to just sit back and watch the changes in people amazes me after I got sick. Honestly, I don't really understand most of the time. I always thought before I got sick that the people and friends that surrounded me would be there through thick and thin no matter what,But I really came to the realization that unfortunately can be far from the truth. I have realized that I am not the only one this happens to. I have talked to others in cancer support groups and it seems like this happens to many of us...but still we question why and many times do not understand. A lot of times we don't get the answers either...we just have to realize that it is another hard lesson that must be learned. One thing I have learned talking with others is that usually the people who disappear out of your life or make them selves sparse are ones who don't know how to deal with things. They are typically the ones who just brush off emotions and try to live the "perfect" life on the outside and have for the most part never been through anything truly hard and traumatic in their lives which only makes it easier for them to sit in the background when its time to face something serious and to just pretend its not happening. Also, most of the time these are the people that if God forbid anything were to happen to that person, they would be the first to say or think "wow, I should have been a better friend or I should have done more." I also realized there is nothing I can do about that. I can just be me and keep fighting on. This is something I can not burden myself on worrying about too much so I thought blogging would help to get this topic off my mind a bit. I am a very strong person and if I can get through cancer each and every day, I can also deal with this.

Being only 26, I think has made this experience so much harder for me to deal with. You don't expect at my age to go through something like this. But I also think this experience is causing me to grow up..to realize what is important and what isn't...to not let people take me for granted and to try to live each and every day and moment to the fullest and if that means living those moments with fewer people then I maybe thought would be there to share them with...I am okay with that and life will continue to go on. Here's wishes for a beautiful week and many shared and blessed moments with the ones you love. Until next time....

Fresh air, bright sun and better days...

The smell of the fresh spring air refreshes every part of my body and soul. I love it. I have my Queen Pandora station playing this morning with the window open and just taking it all in. The nicer weather always makes me feel better and is definitely needed.

This week again has been a bit of a bumpy one...not so much for me this time, but for Jon. About two weeks ago Jon started feeling sick, but let it go for a week thinking it was just a basic cold or due to the weather being so up and down that it may have been a sinus infection. I noticed he started getting weaker and just not himself. He came up to me the one day and showed me a massive lump under his right armpit and automatically I was kinda freaked out. I told him he needed to get it checked out right away but stubborn Jon still waited another 3 days or so. So then on Tuesday he comes in from work so weak practically not being able to function...and the lump was much bigger and he just didn't look well at all...so off to the ER we went. We went in and the poor guy has a 101 degree fever...blood pressure was sky high and was just not looking good at all. He got some blood testing done and blood cultures...oh and i thought it was bad getting all the blood work I have to get done but the one needle they used for Jon for the blood cultures was one of the thickest needles I have seen..I had to look away for that one. They also came in and took Jon back for an ultrasound of the armpit to see if he had an abscessed. The ultrasound came back negative for the abscessed but he did have three enlarged 5cm lymph nodes under his armpit which were pressing on his nerves in his armpit which in turn was making his hands and fingers go numb and feel like they were on fire. The Dr gave Jon some IV pain medicine which then brought Jon into" happy lala land." Jon has never had pain medicine before like that so it was kinda funny to watch him. He kept looking at me with this glazed over look and telling me to "take some of this stuff home with us." I was glad this was helping with the pain he was having and also giving us a few laughs to lighten the mood. The Dr came in and told us that this could all be caused from something called Cat scratch fever. I thought this was honestly something made up because i heard the term before but never heard of anyone having it. He said that one of our cats could have scratched him or bit him and caused a bacteria infection to go through Jons lymph node system to his armpit. Jon and i couldn't remember when our cats even tried to scratch or bite us or anything so we are still a bit skeptical on this diagnosis and are still waiting for some of the blood results to see what exactly happened...until then we just wait. They gave Jon some antibiotics, steroids and some painkillers and he is feeling much better now and the lumps under his arm are pretty much completely gone and only a bit of puffiness is left. He is pretty darn close to being back to his good old wacky self. :-) Thank goodness! It was so hard to see Jon going through this and I am so glad he is better...it really is so hard to see your other half feeling so down. I love him so much.

As far as I go, I have been starting to feel somewhat better. Still sleeping quite a bit but getting a little bit more of my energy back. It is a good feeling. lets hope it stays that way for a bit. One of the things that I have been in awe of lately is my hair and the changes that are being made to it due to this chemo. It is not just the hair on my head either..my eyebrows have turned a blondish/white and my leg hair grows in white too(which i'm not complaining about) I have never had a gray hair (that I have seen anyway) and now it is growing in pure white. Also it is getting thinner and thinner. I always said I was an old soul.... :-) Its crazy because I do color my hair but this white hair is the type of hair that when i worked in the salon was a pain in the ass to color. It just doesn't take to color well. So it is what it is. I have been thinking about getting a fun wig. I have always had finer hair but now that its getting finer and finer and harder to style, I am thinking why not get a wig of a style I always wanted but couldn't have. Also with the fatigue it will be so nice to just be able to put on a little makeup and throw on a wig and head out the door. Plus i think i could really have fun with this. Something I am really considering. Well that is all for now my friends, go out and enjoy this beautiful day...until next time.

Hair starting to thin pretty bad...normally i would never take a picture like this but I want my blog to show all the sides of cancer....

Look at those lovely white roots!! ;-)

Live Simply...but love fully...

So it has been a while since I blogged--my last blog I was waiting to get scan results back. Many things have happened since then- Good news is my scans came back perfectly stable which is wonderful! It is always wonderful to hear the words stable :-)

 Also since my last blog my Sister and I went to the much anticipated Justin Timberlake concert together. We drove up to Philly together and stayed overnight. It was so much fun, it always is with my Sister. We laugh so hard practically the whole time. The concert was absolutely amazing and Justin is an awesome performer!! The only things I would have changed were having to deal with bad hand/foot syndrome( so I had to sit several times during the performance) and also that our camera broke right before the concert( so, sorry no pictures!) but other then that it was an amazing memory I will never forget!!! Just sitting here typing this is making me laugh thinking about how fun that night was! Oh my, when the two of us are together...everyone better watch out!

Some other things that have happened- I took a two week break from my chemo due to the hand/foot syndrome that I just mentioned in the paragraph above. Boy, is that a hard side effect to deal with- my hands and feet were on fire and raw and my skin was peeling off .I could barely walk and couldn't do simple things- it was absolutely horrible...but it makes you realize how much you appreciate the little things like use of your hands and feet.The break from the chemo gave my hands and feet enough time to heal over for now-which is a relief. I started back on my chemo this past Monday on a lower dose then I was at (80mg)- we are hoping and praying this works to keep the hand/foot syndrome and other side effects more under control but still be able to control and keep the cancer stable. Always praying that stable and healing are in God's plans for me.

 

 Another happening since last time.. is once again my TSH went completely whack again. I have been feeling extreme tiredness- barely able to get out of bed and once I do get out of bed just wanting to go back into bed and not functioning too well- Well here my last blood work showed that my TSH level was at 148!! My oncology nurse couldn't believe this and said if this was true I could be in big trouble. So we decided to do repeat blood work. I got those results back and still my TSH was 116-a normal TSH can run between 0.4-4.0- so as you can see my TSH was extremely high. When your TSH gets that high you can be at risk of possible coma if it continues to rise. So this is obviously pretty scary- We are thinking this happened because my last TSH results were getting a little too low and I was feeling very anxious and shaky and having heart palpitations- so we took away my cytomel which is a replacement T3 hormone and I was just taking the normal 200mg of synthroid- Well we are thinking taking all that away at the same time probably caused this. So now I am taking the 200mg synthroid plus 4- 5mg of cytomel to help lower my TSH and get it back to normal range- I go see Penn again at the end of the month so we will have a better idea of what is going on then!! Lets hope all goes well and things start to go back to normal and stay that way! I just have to mention, Jon has been absolutely amazing during this time of me dealing with all of these issues- He is right there to help me and has been keeping up with the house and hasn't complained once- I feel terrible about it but he always assures me that he just wants me to feel better and it is such a blessing that I have a Husband like him. He continues to amaze me everyday- He is so strong and I love him so much for going through this with me and being right by my side. He is wonderful.

 

One of the things I gave up for lent is Facebook- I need breaks from that- I get tired of communicating with people only through face book and I admit it can be very addicting and I don't want to hide behind it. It can be a great tool for some of my support groups but I feel is also a very easy way to "check up" on people and keep tabs of what's going on with people instead of just asking the actual person- and like I said ....just as guilty here at times!! Plus I figure there are many other ways people can get a hold of us if they really wanted too!! Jon and I have also decided just to take a few hours every day and turn off all media and just spend time talking and doing simple things like playing cards,games, listening to music or just simply talking to each other and spending time together in devotion and prayer more often. Quality time--its a good thing that I think todays world forgets about because of all the hustle and bustle of every day things that we can all get caught up in. I challenge you all to try it--just take at least an hour and just turn off all media- TV's, cell phones,everything and just spend some quality time with the ones you love--actually listen to somebody as they speak and devote all of yourself for that one hour to another person or persons....Until next time my friends.