Meet Jo

Once upon a time I had a visitor named “Bob”… 

“Bob” {for the short story} had invaded a space formerly occupied by my unassuming thyroid, carotid artery, trachea & esophagus so I had to evict him… twice. And then I had to clean up the mess he left behind.

I’ve been “Bob” free for *almost* 3 years now.  Three wonderful, visitor-free years… until I found “Jo.”

“Jo” as it were, happens to be a new resident in one of my axillary lymph nodes.  Well, maybe not quite so new… I first noticed something around Christmas and thought it would just go away, you know just a short visit over the holidays and then gone?  Three months later and my visitor is still hanging around so I hired a Physician Investigator to help me get to the bottom of it.

I am terrified of the various possibilities of just whom “Jo” might be.  A relative of “Bob” perhaps?  A stranger just passing through?

My PI has big plans to do a biopsy to get to the bottom of that one soon… like April 9th soon.  So until then I’m on pins and needles wondering just what “Jo’s” intentions are…

Please Mr. Postman

I have a couple trivia questions for you all today…

What does every 3-Day walker love more than anything else? 

Answer: Cheerleaders!

What is a close second to that? 
Answer: Mail!

This is my 4th 3-Day and every year the cards and letters I get from friends and family help me keep my mind off my aching, blistered feet and focused on the reason I need to go out and walk 20 more miles the next day.  A little encouragement really goes a long way!

With just 66 days to go until the Tampa 3 Day, it’s time to get your letter writing skills polished up.  You can start sending mail to your favorite 3-Day walker today!

Send letters to:

3-Day for the Cure Post Office
ATTN: (INSERT NAME OF PARTICIPANT)
PO Box 40013
St. Petersburg, FL 33743-0013

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than October 18 in order to ensure delivery at the 3-Day Camp Post Office.

Blisters for Boobies!

Have you noticed the little mileage tracker creeping up over there on the sidebar?  That means I am *officially* in Susan G Komen 3 Day training mode!  I am finishing the 2nd week of a 16 week training plan with 10 miles tomorrow. 

Yes, I said 10 miles tomorrow.

I will be walking with my team for approximately 3 hours starting at the lovely hour of 6am on a Saturday to beat this crazy heat.  All in the name of boobies everywhere.

I am no stranger to this event.  This will be my 4th year walking the 60 mile journey. I’m no stranger to walking in heat indexes of 100+ degrees or temps that dip into the 30’s. I’ve seen team members go down with mild dehydration and I’ve seen them spend hours in the med tent being taped up.  The 3 Day is no joke and the 500 miles of training prepares you for that.

But one little problem has plagued me every year.  Blisters.  And I’m not talking a little tiny bump on the side of my toe. I’m talking heel encompassing, foot swallowing, toe engulfing blisters.  By the end of each event, my feet are so sore I hobble around like I’m 100 years old. 

I have tried everything… band aids, blister bandages, Moleskin, Duct tape, Body Glide, powder, Vaseline, soaking my feet in Epsom salts, socks, different socks, and then two pairs of socks at the same time, new shoes, more new shoes…  It doesn’t

matter.  My feet just blister.

I have learned a few tricks along the way… like wrapping my 2 last toes on each foot with Meijer fabric bandages to prevent little tiny blisters on the pads of those toes.  And that moleskin just refuses to stay put on my heels unless I use fabric {not paper} medical tape to encase the moleskin.

So far this year… {knock on wood}… I haven’t gotten any blisters from training.  It is too early to declare victory just yet, but I have to admit I am pretty excited by this lack of development!  Tomorrow’s 10-miler {the first of the season} should be a pretty good test.

But even if they do pop up again this year I will cheerfully wrap them up and remind myself…

Blisters for Breast Cancer!

Yes, I'm doing it again - I signed up for the 2011 Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure! I had such incredible experiences while walking the 3-Day for the Cure that I'm going back for more. I'm so excited about this event, especially since I will be walking in a new city - Tampa Bay!

I had not planned on walking this year because if you haven't heard, I moved 12 hours away from Michigan to Tennessee!  With the move, a new job, new surroundings, I just wasn't sure how the fundraising and training would fit.  But in the end I knew I had to walk... not walk away.  This event isn't easy, but I promise you, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't believe 100% that it was worth every muscle ache, weary night and training walk!

I need your help. I am planning on surpassing the $3000+ that you - my friends and family - gave so generously last time around to help end breast cancer.

This year I'm walking in memory of my Grandma S and in honor of the many, many cancer survivors in my life.  I would be honored to walk in memory or in honor of one of your loved ones too!

Just follow the link below to visit my personal fundraising Web page to make a donation.  And please share this post with your friends and family that may want to donate too - the more people this message will reach, the closer we get to finding a cure!
 
If you have any questions or want to hear more about what I'm doing, I love talking about the event. Thanks for all of your support. I'm incredibly lucky to have people like you in my life!

Love,
Christina
www.the3day.org/goto/christina2011

P.S. Don't wait - donate today!  The sooner I reach my fundraising goal, the sooner I can focus on the training needed to make it through all 3 days!

Wordless Wednesday

Nutty Part 2

Did you notice something new on the bloggy blog perchance?

I’ll give you a biiiiiiig hint…. its right over…

<==============THERE================

Yes ladies and gents, I’ve drunk (drank?) the Kool-aid once again!

In 2009 I told you all I must be nuts because I had just signed up to walk 60 miles in 3 days… for the 3rd time… in the middle of treatment for my thyroid cancer.  Perhaps I was suffering from cancer brain at the time?  So what is my excuse for signing up for my 4th…. hmmmmm… let’s expound on that, shall we?

My 3rd 3-Day was nothing short of amazing.  I was able to walk with one of my inspirations - my aunt who is a breast cancer survivor.  My mom experienced her first 3-Day as a medical crew member.  I watched another of my aunts carry the “Birthdays” flag in Opening Ceremonies.  Watched as my team mate succumbed to the evil thing called dehydration.  I had blisters covering my heels and between my toes and road rash covering my calves. (ps: no one tells you but your skin does weirdo stuff in a post-cancer world)  And I didn’t know it at the time but I saw Jenne Fromm in one of her last 3 Day events as National Spokesperson… gonna miss that girl this year. Walked in ridiculous heat that fast approached the 100F mark.  And as a team we raised almost $20,000 even in the crappy economy of Michigan!

And why was all that amazing you ask?  Because of moments like these…

World Cancer Day

Every year 12 million people receive a cancer diagnosis.  Of those, 7.6 million will die of their disease. 

I am one of 12 million who heard those words in 2009.    It’s amazing how isolated you feel when you hear those words yet there are 12 million others that have heard the same thing within that year. 

Reading the statistics above, I feel extra lucky today that I am a survivor.  Did you do the math?  Those numbers mean that over 60% who have cancer die of cancer. But it is estimated that 30-40% of those deaths could be prevented and as many as one third could be cured through early diagnosis and treatment.

It’s time for us to fight this global epidemic. Click on the logo above and sign the declaration urging our global leaders to come to action.

A cancer patient will thank you.  I thank you.

Before You Pink

I like pink as much as the next chick. Well, maybe I like it slightly more than the next chick… I have been fundraising for breast cancer awareness/research/treatment for years and I've amassed quite the collection of pink or pink themed items. Heck, even my dad has a shirt that says “Real Men Wear Pink!” [thank you, On The Border!]

It seems these days that everyone is jumping on the multi-million dollar marketing bandwagon that is the pink ribbon. People see the ribbon and automatically think that buying that product will mean helping the cause. Au contraire mon ami! The Think Before You Pink website has 5 easy guidelines to follow if you are thinking about purchasing that “Pink” item.

Or better yet – donate directly to the organization, cutting out the middle man, and making every cent of your dollar count! Here are my faves:

• Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• Christina’s 2010 3Day for a Cure Account
• American Cancer Society

*On a cancer related note, just got a call from my Dr about my post ablation WBS and there was uptake in my left lung. He said it is probably nothing but I'm being sent down for x-rays now. Happy Friday!

Is That True?!

I’ve found myself saying or thinking this exact thing so many times over the past few days. If any of you have gone through or know someone who has gone through a cancerland journey, maybe you can relate to the confusion that happens when you start reading up on a particular disease. One study says this another says that… several studies say this but overall the medical community doesn’t endorse those thoughts… With so much science and research out there you would think there would be more concrete answers! I guess it goes to show the awesome wonder that is the human body.

Some of the questions I have been asking myself (and the Internet research engines) if they are true:

• Can RAI really kick you into premature menopause?
• Can getting pregnant (in the future) kick up a recurrence of my cancer?
• Do most young people with one primary cancer get another primary cancer? (I personally know 4 women for whom this is true)
• Since my tumor had burst, did the cancerous cells spread out all over the left side of my neck?
• Does the LID really work to increase the effectiveness of RAI?
• Will my hair stop falling out? (it isn’t as bad as having chemo but every time i touch my head, i come back with hair in my hand)

There are a lot more i’m sure, I just can’t think of them now! They tend to pop in and out all day…

If Anyone Is Out There...

Tomorrow I have to go for a second mammogram... wait, what?! Yup you read that right - second mammogram. I got my first one ever last week to serve as a baseline because of my increased risk factors and on Thursday I got a call back saying I needed to come back for some more views of the right side.

So if anyone is out there tonight and tomorrow morning...please pray that they find nothing and that's its only because the first films were of bad quality. Not sure how I would deal right now if I found out things were going the other way...