Just watch this...it makes me angry...it might make you angry too...if you know me. Should I just sit back and except that I am a minority that was just struck with bad luck? If you have a lump in your breast...shouldn't you get a mammogram? Even if you are 31 and don't have a family history? Believe me...I would go back and pay $100,000 for that mammogram...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Kick Cancer's Ass Update 2
Adam's 2nd post...I think we are caught up now!
December 10-
So much choice and so little tasteWhen Erin first heard the words “you have cancer” two thoughts quickly flooded into her mind, 1 – Will I die? And 2 – Will I loose my hair?...... the former WONT happen but unfortunately it appears that the latter will. Now anybody who knows Erin would either relate to her huge beautiful smile or her long curly hair. As I am slowly learning about women (and it’s still very much a work in progress) one thing I have learned is that a woman’s hair is not just a morning inconvenience and the reason to get out of bed at least two hours before they have to leave the house. It’s a badge… their very identity!.. so to face the prospect of loosing their hair is facing the prospect of loosing themselves. Most guys have, (through choice or necessity) shaved off their hair at one stage in their lives…… in my case I quickly realized ‘no I don’t look like David Beckham’ more like a P.O.W and grew it back pronto! Yesterday, Erin made the leap from long curly hair to short curly hair, as her chemotherapy treatment was at last starting to do what it’s supposed to. Chemotherapy essentially enters the body and destroys all fast growing cells such as the type of cells that produce tumors. Unfortunately the little cell killing warriors aren’t quite smart enough to distinguish the difference between the enemy and Friendly fire and also unleash their cell killing fury on ‘good’ fast growing cells, the most notable of which is your hair……. Problem!The theory in ‘going short’ is to minimize the shock element of loosing the locks and retain some sort of sanity….. stress the word ‘theory’The appointment was made at the very ‘swish’ salon (Thankyou Dr Clouser!!) and Erin’s ever increasing entourage bullied its way in. After the initial consultation, myself and Mrs Painter made a hasty retreat in the direction of Starbucks…caffeine and cake.Once the job was done we were then off to our next appointment. Armed with our prescription for a ‘cranial prosthesis’ ……………. Hang on!... I always thought that these ‘technical’ terms were designed to make crappy things sound better… this time…not so much!Now if we weren’t traumatized enough the below picture gives you all some indication as to what came next….If you are African American you have an infinite choice of ‘styles’ with such befitting names as ‘Whoopi’, ‘Oprah’ and ‘Beyonce’……. If not, you’re pretty limited. We decided that you must have one hell of a sense of humor in this type of situation…. You can imagine the rest!We left the store with a blonde ‘crop/bob’ number (think Julie Andrews, sound of music!) and one bright pink bob and when I say ‘bright’ I mean, stop traffic bright…..Erins little way of saying F**K CANCER! We march on……
There are no words! -Adam
December 10-
So much choice and so little tasteWhen Erin first heard the words “you have cancer” two thoughts quickly flooded into her mind, 1 – Will I die? And 2 – Will I loose my hair?...... the former WONT happen but unfortunately it appears that the latter will. Now anybody who knows Erin would either relate to her huge beautiful smile or her long curly hair. As I am slowly learning about women (and it’s still very much a work in progress) one thing I have learned is that a woman’s hair is not just a morning inconvenience and the reason to get out of bed at least two hours before they have to leave the house. It’s a badge… their very identity!.. so to face the prospect of loosing their hair is facing the prospect of loosing themselves. Most guys have, (through choice or necessity) shaved off their hair at one stage in their lives…… in my case I quickly realized ‘no I don’t look like David Beckham’ more like a P.O.W and grew it back pronto! Yesterday, Erin made the leap from long curly hair to short curly hair, as her chemotherapy treatment was at last starting to do what it’s supposed to. Chemotherapy essentially enters the body and destroys all fast growing cells such as the type of cells that produce tumors. Unfortunately the little cell killing warriors aren’t quite smart enough to distinguish the difference between the enemy and Friendly fire and also unleash their cell killing fury on ‘good’ fast growing cells, the most notable of which is your hair……. Problem!The theory in ‘going short’ is to minimize the shock element of loosing the locks and retain some sort of sanity….. stress the word ‘theory’The appointment was made at the very ‘swish’ salon (Thankyou Dr Clouser!!) and Erin’s ever increasing entourage bullied its way in. After the initial consultation, myself and Mrs Painter made a hasty retreat in the direction of Starbucks…caffeine and cake.Once the job was done we were then off to our next appointment. Armed with our prescription for a ‘cranial prosthesis’ ……………. Hang on!... I always thought that these ‘technical’ terms were designed to make crappy things sound better… this time…not so much!Now if we weren’t traumatized enough the below picture gives you all some indication as to what came next….If you are African American you have an infinite choice of ‘styles’ with such befitting names as ‘Whoopi’, ‘Oprah’ and ‘Beyonce’……. If not, you’re pretty limited. We decided that you must have one hell of a sense of humor in this type of situation…. You can imagine the rest!We left the store with a blonde ‘crop/bob’ number (think Julie Andrews, sound of music!) and one bright pink bob and when I say ‘bright’ I mean, stop traffic bright…..Erins little way of saying F**K CANCER! We march on……
There are no words! -Adam
Kick Cancer's Ass Update 1
Adam is also blogging, and sending out updates along the way. It is an emotional outlet that helps all involved...and it is a great way to spread the word of what is going on. Here is his first post of my journey:
December 4th...
On Tuesday Erin had two successful surgery's, the first was the removal of one of her ovaries...this is a precautionary measure taken to protect her ability to have children as the blend of Chemo can damage her egg production...her ovary was removed and then cryogenically frozen (like Walt Disney....allegedly). Then when she gets through this shit (and she damn well will) it can be put back in full working order. The second was the insertion of a 'power port' this is an IV access point that is used for her chemo instead of IV in her arm, this is to protect her from having arms like Amy Winehouse! Friday is now chemo day and we will be in for round 3 this upcoming Friday complete with portable back massage pad (the girls gotta be comfortable right?!) and ample selection of gossip magazines (for Erin's use only you understand..)As it stands Erin is having monthly doses of Zomeda, this is a super strength bone medication designed to strengthen bones and repel cancer cells. She is also on a weekly dose of Abraxanne, and in two weeks time (due to the impaired ability to heal (surgery)) she will also be on weekly doses of Avastin. These are pretty cutting edge chemo drugs and if you look at "Avastin with Abraxanne" on the web you will see some very favorable results. The initial rounds of Abraxanne only, have up till today shown no side effects at all..... a positive / negative in Erins eyes as she would prefer side effects as this would be a sign that 'its working'!...myself im perfectly happy to be going to bed with somebody with more hair than me!We have also been encouraged to exercise regularly so 'armed with an ipod and a copy of the Rocky soundtrack' we will be embarking on a regimen Rocky himself would be proud of. Mrs Painter has been placed in charge of nutrition and supplementation, a position she has embraced much to Erin's distaste, and a morning serving of cottage cheese with flax seed oil is the order of the day followed by absolutely every 'green' item in Whole Foods Market swilled down with a glass of Kiffer (a classic example of the internet being both a blessing and a curse!).... in forced support myself and Mr Painter have been placed on a 'red meat only once a week' diet.......there is rebellion in the air.We are all in good spirits and ready to go to war with the little critters, they have picked on the wrong girl! Our plan is to get through the first regimen of chemo and then look to continue treatment back in Orlando as Erin is in need of a sense of normality and the distractions of everyday life.Cancer may be a part of her life but I am determined that it wont become her life, merely an inconvenience.
As they say great victories come from great battles,
Adam
December 4th...
On Tuesday Erin had two successful surgery's, the first was the removal of one of her ovaries...this is a precautionary measure taken to protect her ability to have children as the blend of Chemo can damage her egg production...her ovary was removed and then cryogenically frozen (like Walt Disney....allegedly). Then when she gets through this shit (and she damn well will) it can be put back in full working order. The second was the insertion of a 'power port' this is an IV access point that is used for her chemo instead of IV in her arm, this is to protect her from having arms like Amy Winehouse! Friday is now chemo day and we will be in for round 3 this upcoming Friday complete with portable back massage pad (the girls gotta be comfortable right?!) and ample selection of gossip magazines (for Erin's use only you understand..)As it stands Erin is having monthly doses of Zomeda, this is a super strength bone medication designed to strengthen bones and repel cancer cells. She is also on a weekly dose of Abraxanne, and in two weeks time (due to the impaired ability to heal (surgery)) she will also be on weekly doses of Avastin. These are pretty cutting edge chemo drugs and if you look at "Avastin with Abraxanne" on the web you will see some very favorable results. The initial rounds of Abraxanne only, have up till today shown no side effects at all..... a positive / negative in Erins eyes as she would prefer side effects as this would be a sign that 'its working'!...myself im perfectly happy to be going to bed with somebody with more hair than me!We have also been encouraged to exercise regularly so 'armed with an ipod and a copy of the Rocky soundtrack' we will be embarking on a regimen Rocky himself would be proud of. Mrs Painter has been placed in charge of nutrition and supplementation, a position she has embraced much to Erin's distaste, and a morning serving of cottage cheese with flax seed oil is the order of the day followed by absolutely every 'green' item in Whole Foods Market swilled down with a glass of Kiffer (a classic example of the internet being both a blessing and a curse!).... in forced support myself and Mr Painter have been placed on a 'red meat only once a week' diet.......there is rebellion in the air.We are all in good spirits and ready to go to war with the little critters, they have picked on the wrong girl! Our plan is to get through the first regimen of chemo and then look to continue treatment back in Orlando as Erin is in need of a sense of normality and the distractions of everyday life.Cancer may be a part of her life but I am determined that it wont become her life, merely an inconvenience.
As they say great victories come from great battles,
Adam
Yeah...my hair is falling out...
I don't really want to blog about my hair falling out...although it has been kind of funny, I guess you laugh or you cry. So in order to talk about something positive, I thought I would share this video. I currently have one of my ovaries frozen next to the Lean Cuisine and Ice Cream at the Cleveland Clinic. It is some amazing stuff as you can see from this video. I was really lucky to be given the option for such a procedure.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Trying to get over the pink thing...
Ok, so the title of my entire blog is "Pink used to be my favorite color..." It still is...but I have to admit after first being diagnosed I lived in a Pepto Bismal hell. Is it fair 
for a color to represent a disease? It really doesn't matter unless you have the disease. It is for awareness, but I am aware of it more th
an ever. It is kind of like the rainbow. Straight people don't have the chance to have anythi
ng rainbow anymore. My pure disease free pink 
has been taken from me. And it pisses me off.
for a color to represent a disease? It really doesn't matter unless you have the disease. It is for awareness, but I am aware of it more th
an ever. It is kind of like the rainbow. Straight people don't have the chance to have anythi
ng rainbow anymore. My pure disease free pink 
has been taken from me. And it pisses me off.
You may now feel my pain...and as much as I am thankful for the pink kitchen aid mixer, pink dyson, pink converse tennis shoes...the pink strawberry ribbon in the vanilla ice cream...(when I just wanted to escape and have some ice cream) and we
can't forget the pink White House...these things still did not create enough awareness for
my doctors' to think it was important for
me to get a mammogram...hmmmm....and there lies the problem. Ok...now I am over it...keep on pinking people...buy pink shit...get money and find a cure...and hurry up, please.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Blogging is supposed to be good for my health...
I guess when you have a crazy horrible disease, you try to do things that are good for your health...I took a double wheatgrass shot at Whole Foods today. Blogging is an outlet and a good one, I did it through my divorce. It was very healing for myself, but I think it kind of tortured everyone else around me forced to read my strange 1am posts. Adam has started to do it in health updates and I have to admit he is talented! I am sure those will end up on this site as well. I have had a few weeks to process the fact that I have breast cancer. Still have no freaking idea why. Not that you ever know why...but believe me if you are the one diagnosed, you WANT TO KNOW WHY! Especially a person like me...who has yelled at everyone about drinking diet pop because it causes cancer...and who used to walk around in a non-smoking shirt that says "there are cooler ways to die"...shit, I guess that one is going to Goodwill! No risk factors, no family history and 2 doctors who told me not to worry. To make a long beginning a little shorter, I have also read online...that blogging is good for your health if you have a traumatic disease, it is aparently better if you write about it...so I apologize now, I am going to write about it. The saga continues...
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