Sammy

Bill Bastas is now working on his fourth The Smile Never Fades book which focuses on pets. This photo was taken May 17, 2010 at Pease Park. It was close to 100 degrees but Sammy was a champ. Look back at it, Sammy and I have come a long way since Bill's first book. Check out my hair!

I now owe Bill a story about Sammy. Here's my first draft:

Dogs are such loving creatures. They live for the moment and cherish life to the fullest with many tail wags. Their happy go lucky persona is very contagious. They are also very smart and in tune with those that they love. These are just a few of the reasons why I love dogs so much.

My current baby is my chocolate lab, Sammy. He’s in his senior years now and he continues to bring me great joy. Ironically Sammy and I both have had our fair shares of surgeries and health concerns. My private joke with him is whether or not he is trying to catch up with me on the numbers of surgeries I have had.

Sammy was my chemo dog. He helped me get through chemotherapy, especially on the days that I did not feel well. He laid with me when I was tired and gave me constant attention when I was home. People always talk about a chemo smell and I honestly believe Sammy knew I was going through treatment and needed extra TLC from him. There were many moments that I cried with him, used him as a pillow and simply existed with him. I was able to be vulnerable with him.

Big dogs are known from their fatty lumps and Sammy was no exception. I was almost done with chemo when I found a suspicious lump on him. It was suspicious to me because it felt like my lump. My lump ended up being a 1.2cm invasive tumor. His aspiration showed inconclusive results that made the vets push forth on surgery. Sammy had a lumpectomy and his scar was a long scar on his right side. Earlier that year I had a mastectomy with a long scar on my right breast. The vets found suspicious precancerous cells in Sammy but felt the lumpectomy did the trick. Phew! Great news for the both of us! The summer of 2006 was the summer that Sammy and I both walked around with our right scar. Many people told me that Sammy took some of my cancer to make my journey easier. I don’t know what to believe but I know that he is an amazing dog.

He was also diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis where his airway was compromised just a few years ago. I had to make a choice of whether or not to do a laryngeal tieback surgery for him. Without the surgery he would be limited to little activities and be limited to mainly the house. He has slowed down in his older years but he still enjoys his walks. Of course there are always chances of complications like with any surgery. He was an older dog and he would always have to be monitored for aspirated pneumonia. Since it boiled down to quality of life I chose surgery for him. Fortunately he recovered well from it and surprisingly the seizures he had all his life were better maintained.

He has given me so much joy that I can only hope that I was able to return half of that back to him. My eyes are tearing up as I write this because of all the loving moments and memories I have had with him.

Deodorant of Choice

It's hot in Austin. We're hovering at a heat index close to 100 degrees. I have never been known to sweat that often unless I'm doing cardiovascular activities or unless it's super hot and super humid.

The deodorant debate is out. Some studies are linking deodorant with aluminum to Alzheimer. It's also controversial whether or not it causes breast cancer. I'm still not 100% sure myself but I've been using the "natural" stuff for several years now.

The more I think about it, the more I'm uncertain whether antiperspirant is really a good idea. We hear how good exercising and saunas can be to "detox" ourselves. I know I feel great after a good sweaty workout. Isn't sweating a natural process to cool us down? If so, why are we trying to stop it?

I have to be honest that the switch to the natural kind was challenging, especially during the summer time. I sweat when it's hot. The natural kind is supposed to kill the odor but that's about it. I've used the crystal one too and it's the same thing. I am a little bit more used to it now but it is Austin.

I've used several brands. The crystals were clear cut. I did have an allergic reaction to the lavender scented one. It was either Jason's or Tom's Maine or both. I now stick to the crystals or the unscented ones. The picture above is the one I'm currently using. I'm still sweating but at least no one has run away from me holding their nose. :)

Do I recommend it? Yes. Are there strong hard facts to prove against using the regular kind? No. I do believe that we should consume products with short ingredients or whole ingredients if possible. Shouldn't we do the same with the products we put on us?

GRAPHIC IV May 22nd

Our 4th annual art bra event, GRAPHIC IV, is May 22nd at the Bob Bullock Museum. We're changing it up because we outgrew out last venue. The Bob Bullock will take our event up a notch.

I had a very difficult time with my bra this year. I'm just not that creative or talented. I decided to start with a beautiful bra. The bra was already pink with the black floral on it. With help from fellow Cowgirls, I worked hard on making this bra pretty. I named it "Pretty in Pink." Breast cancer survivors are thrown into a world of pink when they are first diagnosed. I remember how I received so many pink items from friends. Most of the items were adorable but some were not. This is pretty in pink and it's sexy and fun at the same time. I embellished it sequins, beads and I even hand did each fringe bead.

I'm excited for this event. We have a handful of new ladies modeling this year and everyone's journey is so different. I'm so proud of each of them. This event is for them and all the other young survivors. To me it's also a tribute to two fallen Cowgirls that we've lost. We lost a beautiful angel just a few months after last year's GRAPHIC and we just lost another angel last month. We love you and you will not be forgotten.

You can prepare yourself for death but you can never truly be ready for it

My sweet friend, my rock star oncologist and Moi at last year's GRAPHIC event April 2009

I found out last week that my sweet friend and fellow young survivor was not doing well from her husband. They moved back to MI when she was rediagnosed with stage IV to the liver back in 2007. She passed away April 16^th at 29.

She surpassed the 12 months her doctors gave her. She treated her body like a temple, surrounded herself with loved ones, worked on her new found passion and worked on her bucket list. She left behind a loving husband, her family, members of the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls, the Gilda’s club in MI, all her friends and all the other people she touched by her story. She recreated GRAPHIC and her first annual Bras for a Cause in MI raised about $50,000 and had about 600 in attendance. She started a social networking group up there like the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls. She did all this in her short time in MI and while she wasn’t feeling well.

I knew she wasn’t doing well after reading her blog in January. Her normal positive energy and willingness to fight was waning. We chatted some and she was anxious to get away from the cold and cloudy days of MI to trade it in for sunnier weather in CA. As horrible as she was feeling she made it there and soaked up the sun. She took many pictures while in CA and it will below your mind how beautiful and healthy she looks on the outside even though cancer was winning from the inside.

Sadly I was surprised yet I wasn’t surprised when I heard from her husband that she wasn’t doing well. We did what we could to support them from Austin but it’s never enough. It’s about this time last year was the last time I saw her beautiful smile. January was when we last chatted and laughed. March was the last time we exchanged emails. April 20^th is when I attend her memorial.

She touched so many lives. She loved sharing her story. She loved raising awareness and teaching people about health. She was positive most of the time, and when cancer beat her down, her dear husband helped pick her back up. She would not want us to mourn her loss but to keep living and making this world a better place to live.

She will be dearly missed but I’m glad she is at peace. You can prepare yourself for death but you cannot truly be ready for it.

My Green-Red Drink

So I've been blending pretty religiously the past 3 years. Kris Carr and raw foodie got me excited about green drinks and eating raw. I found eating mainly raw was challenging. To find balance in my life I decided that having a green drink once a day was a great way to start the day.

My typical green drinks usually includes something like this:
greens: kale, mixed green or spinach
celery
cucumber
carrots
cabbage
sprouts
2 fruits: orange, mango, banana or pineapple

I blend everything up with some hemp protein and a little water in my fancy blender. The drink a glass in the morning as part of my breakfast and I save the rest for my pre-workout drink. I have about 4-5 servings of fruit/vegetables from that one blender.

I started with the Jack LaLanne blender because it was much more affordable than the Blendtec or Vitamix. The container started to leak after a year of using the Jack LaLanne and there are no replaceable containers. I used my cheapo $20 blender from Target and I was able to blend really soft things. I finally sucked it up and spent the money on a Blendtec. I like the Blendtec because of the size. The Vitamix is a great blender too. You can purchase replacement containers for both these brands.

Austin has a really neat store called the Daily Juice. I sometimes frequent there after a jog at Town Lake to cool off. I've been having fun sampling their products and trying my version at home. They have fun add ons.

The picture above is a new favorite green-red drink. It's yummy! It's my version of their Cosmic Trigger. It consists of:

Greens
blueberries
orange
cucumber
almond butter
maca
dash of cinnamon and cayenne pepper
hemp powder
a drizzle of local raw honey
cacoa

Anyway, they list the ingredients on their site to feel free to visit it to get new ideas. Variety is the spice of life. In reality you can add any greens, especially spinach, to any smoothie without ruining the taste. It's about having fun and exciting your taste buds while getting lots of nutrients!

My last Lab

I had my last lab March 29th to retest my D3 and my potassium. My D3 went from 42 and soared to 62. Instead of 50,000iu weekly I am now on 50,000iu monthly.

My potassium went from a low 3 to 3.9. The range for women is 3.5-5.1. I will continue with the potassium supplements and get retested in June when I see my oncologist again. I am consistently drinking coconut water on cardio days and trying to include a banana and/or an orange each day. I've recently discovered Nuun which are portable electrolytes. I haven't tried it yet but will look into it. Let me know what you think of it if you've tried it.

I'm toying with the idea of doing the Danksin with Team Survivor in June. Instead of completing the entire tri I think I will focus on the biking and running. Baby steps! :)

Ovarian Cysts

I've been experiencing some hip/pelvic pain for about two years now and that is why I started asking for CA125 (ovarian cancer tumor markers) and pelvic ultrasounds. My ultrasounds and CT shows that I typically have a cyst within each ovary. My last ultrasound showed a fairly large one within my left ovary, close to 5 cm. Apparently cysts can get as large as a grapefruit or cantaloupe! I will go back in early May to have another ultrasound.

Ovarian cysts can be fairly common. They typically go away and start all over. It's the ones that do not go away, become too large or are solid that can pose other health issues.

I know it runs in my family because my mom and sister both have/had it. Some further digging via Internet I found out that Tamoxifen users may suffer more from ovarian cysts too. I need to do more research on this but I'm five months shy of my 4 year mark on Tamoxifen.