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…

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.

Cleaning Up

In preparation for my big move at the end of the month, I’m doing a lot of cleaning… Cleaning up the rooms as I pack them up… Cleaning out the closets, drawers, storage space, fridge/freezer, cupboards… Tonight’s project?

Cleaning out the DVR.

I started with 81 recordings. I’m not even kidding you.  After deciding I don’t really need to re-watch the current seasons of GLEE, House MD, Fringe… I deleted those. Now I am left with 58 recordings, all of which are movies.  Darn you cable for having free preview weekends! 

Since I recorded all of these I must have wanted to watch them at one time or another right?  So I feel like I have to watch them all before finally turning in my box.  When I get to TN I have decided to go sans cable for a while in an effort to get out and learn my new surroundings, save some cashola, maybe finally get to those bazillion books I have bought but never read, and really… its all about crossing another thing off the 101 list right?!

So back to the project.  I have 58 movies to watch equating approximately 116 hours of cinematic enjoyment.  I would need to spend almost 5 days straight to watch them all.  If I watch just 2 per day, I would need 29 days.  If you notice, my countdown currently displays many less than that… and I will be gone for 4 days this next week trying to find a place to live in TN.  Sooo that puts me down to about 18 days of movie watching time left.  That would be 3 per day. Hmm…

It’s a challenge and I like it!  So first up (or last on the DVR list) is… Living Proof, Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy and Crazy Sexy Cancer.  If I can fit a 4th in before sleep takes over I will add Seven Pounds.  Looks like I’m taking a trip down cancer memory lane tonight!  Just need to grab some pizza, soda and some Kleenex and off we go!

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…

Guinea Pig

I was reading about advances in thyroid cancer treatments and really, there have been few to no changes since the 1950's! Apparently, the scientific community found something that worked pretty well so they figured why fix it. Well, with the emergence of more aggressive thyroid cancers and RAI resistant strains, there are more and more research projects out there. Most of them deal with advanced (with distant mets) or non-RAI avid (doesn't uptake the radioactive iodine) types but there is currently ONE clinical trial out there for stage 1&2 papillary thyroid cancer. There are 2 locations running this trial - Bethesda, MD and Washington DC and both are currently accepting participants.

So why am I thinking about this? After all, its basically like being a human guinea pig or donating your body to science before you are gone, right?

Well, let me tell you some small details of this trial. They are doing RAI therapy in small doses (30mCi instead of standard 100-200 mCi) given with small doses of Lithium. I know that the RAI is "safe" and I know that the Lithium is "safe" and of course the placebo pill is safe. So this isn't involving some new, crazy drug. Apparently, the docs believe that the Lithium increases the uptake time and sensitivity of the RAI so the body isn't exposed to so much radiation. The lower dose of radiation has less risk of side effects...and if the small dose doesn't kill off the cancer, you can get another dose.

So it seems there are a lot of good points to this one and I could be helping future thyroid cancer patients. Anyone have thoughts to ponder on this?

I must be nuts!

Call me a bit nutty for doing it - but I just signed up to walk in my 3rd Susan G. Komen 3.Day for a Cure in 2010!!

For those of you not familiar with the 3.Day, participants fundraise a minimum of $2,300 and train for months to walk 60 miles over the course of 3 days!

After my recent diagnosis with thyroid cancer I feel it is more important than ever to keep on fundraising so no one has to battle cancer ever again!

Why choose this event? Because of the amazing journey and the even more amazing amounts of money rasied for cancer research! Yes, it goes to breast cancer research (which is very dear to my heart) but out of breast cancer research has come many life saving treatements for other cancers too!

This will be my 3rd time walking in the 3.Day and my first time walking after my own cancer diagnosis. I'm still undergoing surgery and treatments and i'm not sure where the energy for 60 miles will come from... but I know it will come... and I know I have to do something! There are so many people that choose not to do anything or who don't ever get the chance... I do have the chance and I will push myself to take it!

The journey of the 3.Day is completely amazing and indescribable! I can't wait to walk again in 2010!

And in case you want to donate... CLICK HERE! ;o)