My Vitamin D3 Status

My insurance does not cover my D3. It's about $2.75 per pill.

Nov 2008 I was at a 26 I believe so I started taking 2000iu a day and tried to get as much sunshine as possible.
Nov 2009 I was at a 46 so that was much better.
Feb 2010 I was at a 45 so my doc started me on 50,000 iu weekly for six weeks
March 2010 I was at a 62 so now I'm on 50,000iu once a month
June 2010 I dipped to 44 so now they want me on 50,000iu twice a month I've also been riding a great deal so I am outside though I do wear sunscreen so that might cancel that out.

It's interesting how both my potassium and D3 went down with my last lab. Of course we know that labs can do and make mistakes but I doubt mine is a mistake. I go back in for labs and to see my oncologist early October. I'll keep you abreast.

Low Potassium: Can I blame it on my cancer treatment?

I blame a great deal of things on my cancer treatment which is really unfair because pre-cancer I never had my CBC (complete blood count) run so often. I'm on potassium supplements since my low February labs but it's still not as high as we'll like it to be. Below is the rundown of my potassium stats since last year.

My potassium stat: (Range for women should be 3.5 to 5.1)
March 2009 3.3
July 2009 3.6
November 2009 3.2
February 2010 3.0
March 2010 3.9 (On supplements)
June 2010 3.4 (On supplements)

I went to see a nephrologist (kidney specialist.) I am having two different test run. He thinks I might be expelling too much potassium when I urinate or have a bowel movement. He thinks extra supplements or medication might do the trick. I guess I don't mind taking extra supplements but I rather not take any more medication. I go in for my second lab this week and then see my nephrologist the following week.

I have 13 months (cheers!) of Tamoxifen left. Might this be the culprit or might it be from chemo? Hopefully it's an easy fix but it would be interesting to find out. I would love to be able to put this as a side effect of Tamoxifen and to be able to share with others. I'm off of Tamoxifen in 13 months and it would be wonderful if I didn't have to worry about my potassium level afterward.

I found the above drawing of the Tamoxifen bottle off of the internet and could not resist posting it. Even though I complain often about getting off to Tamoxifen I won't. A study came out a month ago that many women, mainly women younger than 40, were not diligent about taking their Tamoxifen or did not finish their 5 years. Tamoxifen is still the gold standard so why come this far to quit?

The Dairy Debate

To drink or not to drink? That is the question. There’s always debate on whether dairy is good for you and I seem to flip flop back and forth on it as much as I do with caffeine.

The reasoning I found not to consume:

1. Even organic milk have hormones

2. We’re the only species that drink milk after being an infant

3. There are more allergies or intolerances to dairy

4. It can cause mucus

The reasoning to consume:

1. Great calcium to help with bone

2. Protein to help you feel full and to lose weight

What I’ve decided is to buy mainly raw cheeses (preferably organic.) I’ll switch back and forth between coconut kefir and regular dairy kefir. I found almond, rice, hemp and regular coconut milk to make my morning cuppa joe taste unsatisfying. I typically have only one cup so I figured I mind as well enjoy it. I finally discovered coconut creamer and I’m now hooked on the hazelnut flavor. I enjoy vanilla unsweetened almond milk in my green drink in the mornings to give it extra substance. (Be sure to read the labels and check the ingredients for added sugar and sweeteners.) I still buy milk on occasion but I only buy organic. I’m sure I’ll read more research and change my thinking again but it’s also fun to try new things. The dairy alternatives keep things interesting so I encourage friends that are interested to give it a try.

Danskin Relay June 6, 2010

Relay team #166: Gloria swam half a mile at 28:13, I biked 12 miles at 49:18 and Kelly ran a 5k in 29:02.



Capital of Texas Team Survivor is a the local affiliate that empowers women with cancer to exercise and take control of their body. Some of these ladies just finished treatment and did the entire triathlon. I'm very proud of them.

I was supposed to do the bike and run but my knee was bothering me early May. I needed to make a decision whether or not I would run it or even if I would be able to bike it at all. Luckily taking it easy in May but mainly biking really helped it feel okay. All I heard all training long was about those hills. I practiced and practiced and learning how to shift finally made the difference. I made it up all the hills at the Danskin on my mountain bike! Training for this ride made me realize I enjoy biking more than running. An hour or two on the bike doesn't feel so long. Riding up South Congress was pretty cool. Flying down the hills off of Balcones is very exhilarating.

My focus is now on the Mamma Jamma Ride. Please consider donating, volunteering or riding. Any amount is appreciated. I've done 5k's. I did one just one week after my final Taxol. (I'll never forget that day. It was super hot and I wanted to give up. I had two angels along the way that made me push myself. I completed the 5k relay in 33:12 minutes on July 4, 2006.) I've done a hilly 12 mile bike ride. I'm now set for either 40, 60 or 70 miles September 25, 2010.

Clean Drinking & Eating

BPA is all over the news lately. BPA stands for Bisphenol A and it is widely used in plastic products. BPA can leach from the plastics that we use and into our water or food. There are great links that it can cause cancer by disrupting our hormones.

Small easy steps towards being proactive with your drinking:

I now carry around stainless steel water bottles. Stainless steel seems like on the most durable and cleanest options. I love Klean Kanteen. It's the furthest water bottle to the right. It's large so I can easily keep track of how much water I drink at my work at it helps me to be green.

Glass is probably the cleanest but not necessarily the most durable when it comes to water bottles. I usually keep my green drinks in glass jars if I have left overs or when I take it to work.

Aluminum is a good alternative but it's also been known to be linked to other potential health concerns. I have a few and Sigg is a popular brand. I like it because it's lighter so I usually use it on the weekends when I stick it in my purse.

Clean eating options are just as easy:

If I choose to purchase frozen meals, which I rarely do, I stick it on a plate before sticking it preferably in an oven or a microwave. Amy's have changed their containers from plastic to a type of paper.

I purchased Pyrex or you can find equivalent ones to it if they are glass. I love them because you can oven, microwave or freeze them.

Do I still drink out of a plastic water bottle? Yes. Do I still use sandwich bags? Yes. I stick to my stainless steel and glass for the majority of time. Life is about balance and doing what you can do without feeling guilty.

Post GRAPHIC IV

GRAPHIC IV was May 22, 2010. It's a week post GRAPHIC IV and I'm still rattled from it both emotionally and physically. It was the best and worst night. I may try to come back and write more but this article says a lot:

This was written by MP Mueller for The New York Times:

I was going to write about what happened to our agency the first time we really sat down and came up with a wish list of clients, but my head and heart keep going back to something that happened Saturday night in Austin.

That night about 400 people came together at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for a rowdy fund-raiser, the Graphic IV Art Bra Fashion Show and Art Auction. The event, sponsored by the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls, a group of young breast cancer survivors, was not your typical fund-raiser.

Attendees were greeted at the door by a model who pointed at her bra and asked, “Want to take this home with you?” A steady stream of off-color jokes and puns, mostly about breasts, was unleashed. Art bras, some designed by local celebrities, were sold to raise money through live and silent auctions. Christy Pipkin, executive director of the Nobelity Project (which grew out of the movie “Nobelity,” which she co-produced with her husband), was there, rocking her new chemo pixie. Gail Chovan, an Austin fashion designer and “surthrivor,” showed off a bra that was made by Deborah Harry, the singer, and sported well-placed little black cowboy hats.

Supported by friends, family and doctors, the survivors shed their inhibitions as well as their shirts. Emboldened by their mission to raise money for the cause, the women strutted around with chests out, having come to terms (theirs) with the mammaries that had made an attempt on their lives. Men were given permission, even encouraged, to make eye contact — so long as they bid up the bras!

Together, the crowd remembered two young models who had died since the last Art Bra gathering. We raised a glass to Molly Ivins, the feisty Texas journalist who succumbed to breast cancer in 2009. Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued and won Roe v. Wade, and who also happens to be a survivor, occupied front row seats with her posse. Nearly 20 survivors strutted down a catwalk to pumping music, modeling decorated bras, vamping for the camera and shining from the reflected love of the crowd.

One of the women sashaying down the runway was the daughter of a woman I had chanced to meet earlier in the evening along with her twin sister. All three women stood tall and proud; all three have had breast cancer. When we’d met, Mom told me that her daughter was going to be a model and pointed her out in the crowd. All of 30, her bald head held high, she was fighting breast cancer for the second time in five years.

Now, a third of the way down the catwalk, she collapsed. People watched, unsure if it was part of the show or if she had tripped. It soon became obvious that this was not part of the script. Her mother rushed forward from her second-row seat, a doctor was called, and event organizers surrounded her. Two women held her feet high so blood would flow to her heart. People took turns doing chest compressions. The doctor ran in search of a defibrillator and we heard, “she’s coding!”

Someone finally found the dial, cutting the music and, mercifully, the spotlights. Someone else led the crowd in a spontaneous prayer. Those surrounding the woman implored her, beseeched her, willed her to breathe. Others stumbled out the door and into the night. Strangers embraced. The ambulance arrived and the young woman, pale and unconscious, was rushed away.

Bursting with bawdy reverie 20 minutes earlier, the museum was now in shock. The director of the Breast Cancer Resource Center took the stage. “This,” she said, “is what we do all the time — rally around and support those who the disease knocks down.” She said that the other models wanted the show to go on. And so it did. At the evening’s close, we were told the woman was stable and breathing on her own. More rivulets of black mascara.

We all have our ways of dealing with death and mortality. It’s been six years since I finished my chemo treatments. For the next two years, I lived with an urgency to look at every blue sky and to milk every sunset for the last rays of the day. I was a resource for a steady flow of newly diagnosed women and raised money for the cause.

My daughter, 9 at the time, and I scoured the neighborhood on bulky trash day, collecting discarded lawn mowers in alleys and tossing them into the back of my old pick-up. We took them home, painted them pink and distracted ourselves from our fears. With 12 pink mowers and another 12 pink grass clippers, the Cut Out Cancer Precision Lawn Mowing Drill Team marched in the Race for the Cure. My 72-year old mom wore majorette boots and marched holding our “drill team” banner for the entire race. Even my Dad, 78 and more accustomed to a red Toro, gamely pushed a pink mower that day.

I’ve learned we all have stuff we are dealing with, whether it be cancer, a sick child or parent, a lost chance at something we desired in our heart of hearts. As the years have passed since my diagnosis, I’ve told myself it’s not coming back, and I’ve transitioned from cancer survivor back to private citizen, from urgency back to complacency.

Surrounded Saturday night by women bravely dealing with this unwelcome visitor, that jolt came back — the reminder that life is indeed fragile and short. (How do we manage to forget?) Doing what you truly love each day is the difference between existing and living. Are you doing what you truly love? If not, how can you get there? Are you passionate about your work? Do you have a dream you own, a purpose? If not, take the time to reach into your soul and define one. Embrace it and strut down the runway of life with all you’ve got.

Let’s make a pact to cheer each other on.

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.