Today is My Favorite Day

Today is my favorite day.

You may ask why and my answer is simple. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Ps 118:24

It is simple in it's decision, but not always simple in it's action. There is so much in this world that makes it easy for us to feel alone, bitter, and afraid. These feelings lead us to anger and destructive behavior. We can be of no help to anyone when we let our emotions rule how we respond to the hardships that we encounter in this world. We must remember that Satan is out to destroy those who follow God. But we can kick Satan's butt. We can choose to speak to our emotions and follow God's will, which is a win-win for us and God while at the same time we're spitting in the devils face and putting him in his rightful place...under our heels.


Ps 31:7 says "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul." God doesn't promise any of us a nice cushy life. What He does promise is that He will always be there for us. Gods plan for us, and for the world, is perfect. We may not always think that when it's our turn to make an impact, especially when it involves unpleasant circumstances that we must go through, but God sees the big picture, we don't. He knows how to run the universe and knows the chain of action our little part makes in that big picture.

At times we go through a long dark tunnel, and while there Satan will take full advantage of our situation and taunt us that God has forgotten us. " In my alarm I said, "I am cut off from your sight!"... But God IS there, He does hear us. This is when we have to have faith in what He tells us and believe that His word is true... " Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help." Ps 31:22

This week I received news about 2 women. One is a young mother who was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. The other,a breast cancer survivor in mid-life who was just told that her cancer has returned. This time in her bones. My heart is heavy.

PS 31:24 says " Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD." "... the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine." Ps 33:18-19

We cannot look at what is presented to us when it contradicts what the bible tells us. We must look to God and His word. We must have faith that God doesn't lie, that His word is the truth. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Heb 11:1

Does this change my circumstance today? No, but I can change my outlook today. I can choose to rejoice in His love. I don't rejoice at these women's illnesses, but I do rejoice that they both love and serve our God and that He will be with them through these trials. He will use these circumstances to draw them and those around them, even closer to Him.

Today is a day fresh from the hand of God. When we are raised up from sickness, or are going through it or other dark times, it seems a new life is given to us. Each day, week, month, year that we live is added to our lives, as if it were created anew for this very purpose, that we should rejoice in God's love for us. We should, therefore, regard life not as our own, but as so much given to us by the special mercy and providence of God.

In honor of these two women, I choose to rejoice and be glad today for this is the day that the Lord has made.

Life goes on....but not like before.

Wow, I cannot believe how long it has been since I last posted an update.  Life has pretty much settled back into a routine of sorts. Life does go on for a breast cancer survivor. However it's not the same as before.  Some things are sweeter, others are not.  I am more sensitive to the blessings in my life,  my family, my friends, and others who are suffering. And I have less patience with those who are ungrateful and ignore their abundant blessings, instead focusing on minor inconveniences.

Physically, I am dealing with the side affects of the chemo drugs I will continue to be on for the next three years.  I am (thankfully) off of Tamoxifen and as of this past February, started taking Arimidex. The blessings to this new drug is I rarely have severe cramping now. My leg cramps were so intense on Tamoxifen that I was often in tears, trying to walk off what wouldn't release for many, many minutes. Seemed like hours some times. I was cramping in my hands, my ribs, my glutes, and always, always from the knees down. Have you ever cramped on the outside of your knee?? There isn't much you can do to release that area. I am very thankful to be off that drug! 

This new drug has it's own side affects. They aren't fun either, but I have to say, it is the lesser of the two evils.  This drug makes me feel like an 80 year old woman. My joints hurt, my knees swell and my hands are very stiff. Arimidex depletes my bones of calcium, so the risk of fractures and breakage is very real. And I feel constantly fatigued, yet  if I get woken up in the middle of the night (and that happens frequently) I cannot go back to sleep for a couple of hours. It is very frustrating.  I don't recover from exercise quickly either. I gardened last week and for three days I ached EVERYWHERE!  I am not exaggerating. I could barely stand up straight and hobbled and shuffled like.... yep, an 80 year old woman.  I am way too young to feel this old.

Then there is the weight. Within less than two weeks of starting this new drug, I put on 8 pounds! I gained weight right away with Tamoxifen too, but managed to get it under control and lose the weight.  With Arimidex, I've yet to lose all that I've gained.  I've lost about half of it and am managing to not gain anymore, but that other 4 pounds just dosen't seem to be coming off.

There are other side affects that I won't go into here, but for those of you who have gone through menopause, I have those issues too. There was nothing gradual happening in that area. Chemo threw me under that menopause bus and the chemo drugs since then have stomped on me to make sure I stay there. I talk to my doctor about issues that I never dreamed of discussing with anyone.

In the days since I have "quieted down" with all my treatments, I have started studying nutrition and the effects the foods we eat have on our body. I am amazed at what I am finding. One of the biggest "aha" moments came when I watched the DVD "Forks Over Knives".  This DVD is not for casual health nut. The information presented is both scientific and clinical studied and will challenge anyone on their idea of eating healthy.  I am not a 100 % convert, but I cannot ignore the studies presented either. In a nutshell, it proves that cancer is directly related to the American diet, and other countries diets that are similar to ours.The doctors and scientist in the DVD endorse eating a whole plant based diet and steering clear of animal based anything. If you're curious, check it out. It definitely has some information in it that is hard to ignore.

Life has changed for me. Not all of it good, but so much of it is. I found the courage to quit my corporate job and have started my own businesses.  Check out my website and give me some honest feedback on it. I'm new at this entrepreneur business, so I welcome your suggestions.  I am so loving being challenged. It's up to me to make it happen, set my schedule, give myself a raise and to do what I love instead of working for someone else and finding it hard just to get  up every morning.  Be sure to visit my website, then come back here and let me know what you think.

Thanks for sticking around when I vacated over the entire summer! I have been trying to get into a new normal, but have realized there is no such thing as normal when you own two businesses and are exploring all avenues of interest.  I'll give you more insight on that in some other posts.  For now, click on my link to check out my website, Make My Day.  I'm on Facebook too as Make My Day, LLC. Like my page to see what I'm up to there.  Talk to you soon.  I'll be writing again, more often.

www.MakeMyDayMindyKaye.com

My First Haircut....

I finally gave in and got my hair cut tonight.  Let me preface this with, I was planning on NOT cutting it at all until my 5 year "all clear" was given. But practicality won out with the realization that with uneven growth and really dry ends it wasn't very nice looking. It was getting very long, which I'm OK with, but had no shape to it. And with all my new found curls, I didn't know what to do with it except let it air dry.

So I visited my friend Bonnie over at La Bella's salon in Medina for a consultation on what we could do with my hair while still letting it grow out. One of my fears was that all my Shirley Temple curls would get cut off. I didn't want that as I've grown very fond of my much curlier hair growth.  My hair has also come in much thinner since chemo and the longer it grew, the more it pulled out any body on the top of my head.

So, once Bonnie and I caught up on the last 2 years of not seeing each other, (she had the advantage as she keeps up with my blogs), she gave me a look that I could either air dry and show off my tight little curls or I could style very quickly to add fullness while keeping curl in my hair, as in the picture below.  What do you think?

Bonnie, you've been a blessing in my life. It was so good to see you again, and I thank you for such a nice cut and time of fellowship. My hair already feels so much healthier.

I had my quarterly visit with my oncologist yesterday. As of 2012, I will only have visits every 6 months and annual mammograms! That means I've graduated to the next level of survivorhood!


He switched my drug from Tamoxifen to Arimidex  I told him I will finish out the next 3 months of Tamoxifen first. ( I just got my next bottle of 90 days in the mail!)  That will give me 2 solid years of Tamoxifen and will put me at almost 3 years since my last period. I was heading down that menopausal route before I was diagnosed, but chemo cut my journey short.  Arimidex has it's own set of risks and side effects, however it seems to have a better statisitical rate of non-reoccurance of breast cancer.


Below are some highlights I found while researching this new drug. And new is the key word. Tamoxifen has been around for over 20 years. Arimidex is relatively new and thus not as much research has been done.

In a woman who has gone through menopause, the adrenal gland is the largest source of estrogen. Arimidex works by preventing the conversion of steroids made by the adrenal gland into estrogen.

Statistics:

With an average of four years of treatment on the ATAC study, hormone receptor-positive participants taking Arimidex were 22 percent more likely to be cancer-free than those taking tamoxifen. As more study results become available, the curves will probably continue to diverge, and we expect that over another five or ten years, we’ll see an even greater difference between the effectiveness of the two drugs. We also expect that Arimidex will improve overall survival rates, because we’re seeing fewer recurrences in distant organs among women taking Arimidex.

In the study, more than 5,000 women with hormone-receptor-positive tumors were followed for more than three years after treatment was stopped. The researchers show that an additional 25% of recurrences were prevented by Arimidex, compared with tamoxifen, says John F. Forbes, MD, professor of surgery at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

More than eight years after treatment started -- and more than three years after it stopped -- Arimidex scored better than tamoxifen on almost every measure:

• It lowered the risk of breast cancer relapse by 15% compared to tamoxifen

• It reduced the spread of cancer to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or liver by 16% compared to tamoxifen

• It slashed the chances of a tumor in the other breast by 40% compared to tamoxifen.

Benefits:

There haven’t been many breast cancer-related deaths so far among study participants, so we haven’t yet observed a difference in survival. The ATAC study also indicated that Arimidex is better tolerated than tamoxifen.

Arimidex offers a small but real improvement over tamoxifen, and in general, side effects are minimal.

Dec. 14, 2007 (San Antonio) -- Even after treatment ends, Arimidex beats out tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer recurrence in women with hormone-fueled tumors.

Studies have shown that Arimidex is better at preventing relapses than tamoxifen during the five years that women are being treated with these drugs

Risks:

Updated results from this landmark trial also show that the increased risk of fractures associated with Arimidex therapy disappears after treatment stops.

During treatment, nearly 3% of women taking Arimidex had bone fractures vs. only 2% on tamoxifen. More than three years after treatment ended, the percentage was about 1.5% in both groups.

Arimidex side effects are often predictable in terms of their onset and duration. The most common side effects of Arimidex are:

Hot Flashes

Nausea

Decreased energy and weakness

Bone pain

Cough

Most people do not experience all of the Arimidex side effects listed


So, as you can see, I could use your prayers.  I hope for none of these side effects, but covet the wisdom to deal with them if I do get any. I was just getting the hang of dealing with Tamoxifen side effects, but hopefully these new ones, which I won't start until about March of 2012, will prove themselves to be less painful and risky. 



Resources:

oregon.providence.org/.../

www.webmd.com/

www.everydayhealth.com/

breast-cancer.emedtv.com/arimidex/arimidex-vs.-tamoxifen.html

Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure - Cleveland July 2011

Early morning July 28th at the Port Authority. These illuminated balloons were guiding beacons for a large group of pumped up walkers ready to walk for a fantastic cause.

Team 'Marcia's Girls' were one of the top fundraising teams. Thank you to all who supported us!

I was a flag bearer in the opening ceremony. What an awesome experience.

Belief was the flag I carried. What an honor to be a part of such a moving ceremony.

Here I am with one of the many fun sweep van teams. These "Elvis's" were there to make sure all the walkers were safe and taken care of.

The neighborhoods we walked in showed their support of the walkers in several ways.  These little beauties were out in the heat offering lemonade and water along with these beautiful smiles.  I walk to find a cure so little girls like these never have to experience breast cancer.

This guy was sporting a t-shirt his group sold to raise funds. Love the saying!

Morning of day 3, we stopped at the blister tent to tend our wounds. This was one of the busiest sections of base camp each morning.

My new friend Kris and I posed before heading out on day 3. Both of us with blisters and gimpy knees. But we were determined to finish the day and walk into closing ceremonies on our own two feet.

This young man was totally into the fun and  spirit of the walk as he walked for his aunt.

One of the final pit stops, Kris and I were hot and tired and limping, but as one button we saw said.."Limping doesn't need chemo".

My last medical tent stop and I had to get a picture with my buddy and therapist Jeremy. Jeremy made sure I was ready and able to finish walking on day 3.

One of the many chalk messages along our path. These messages were encouraging and inspiring. Thanks to the crew members for writing these every night.

Walking into the closing ceremonies with other survivors and flag bearers. We were all totally pumped. I was thrilled to see my family in the crowd!

Part of the closing ceremony, raising a shoe in memory of those who couldn't join us and those who are fighting the battle.

Closing flag ceremony. An extremely moving event.

I cannot begin to put into words the amazing and moving experience I had during the 3-Day for the Cure walk. I hope if you ever have the chance to participate in an event like this, don't hesitate to sign up. Whether, I walk, crew or just cheerlead, I plan to be a part of this event as often as I can.

In 16 days, I will join 100’s of other men and women in Cleveland on a 60 mile, life changing journey. So many of you have been affected or know someone besides me who has suffered from this terrible cancer. It is for all of us who have been touched one way or another that I am fighting and walking for a CURE!

Words cannot express my gratitude for your support over these past couple of years since my diagnoses. Time is a precious commodity and social economics are even tougher, but one way or another you have stepped up to show your support. Maybe it was your card or note of inspiration; maybe you took the time to walk with me during my months of training or you attended a fundraiser. Maybe it was your words of encouragement or maybe it was a donation you made to support my walks. Whatever your contribution was and is, I am blessed and forever grateful for all you have done.

You know it’s not about the 60 miles, or the 3 days, or the 24 weeks of training, or even the dollars raised…it’s about the research and finding a cure to END breast cancer. It’s about the hope of living in a cancer free world one day.

Thank you doesn’t seem to be adequate, but please accept my HUGE THANKS for joining me in this effort to fight back against a nasty disease that engulfed over one year of my life and still affects me and millions of others every day. Not all of us are fundraisers, or can give the time to commit to these types of events. But today, right now, I CAN! And thanks to your support, you are fighting this battle right along side of me.

I will write again, after the walk with a photo or two to share. Much love and appreciation to all of you.

Ten Miles and Tired Dogs

I just wanted to provide an update. After all the set backs I've had recently in preparing for the 3 Day, 60 mile walk, I am proud to tell you that I managed to walk 10 miles recently with most of my team mates.

Four of us met in Mansfield on a Sunday morning and chatted away for about  3 and 1/2 hours and 10 miles. It was a perfect day for a walk. Partly sunny and temperatures in the upper 60's to mid 70's.  Overall I felt pretty good.   Once I drove the hour plus back home I checked out my feet to see how they held up.  My right foot, well, I will have pain in that foot until I decide to take medical procedures serious and fix that issue, but other than the pain due to an injury years ago, the right foot held up well. The left foot had a small blister on the right side of my heel. This is the first time I've worn my orthotics such a long distance so I was curious to see how that would hold up.  I felt the edge of the orthotic while I was walking and figured I'd end up with a blister.  I am surprised that a small blister was all I got.  I think I must need to loosen up my shoe laces because the top of my left foot was red when I took my shoe off and it was sore for a few days. So I still need to experiment with my footwear to find that right balance. At the end of the 10 miles my dogs were tired but I was pleased with the overall results. I will still need to double that distance and do it again for 2 more days after that at the actual event. That's just a little intimidating

After completing my online check in for the walk, Komen wanted me to check with my doctors that it is OK for me to participate in the walk. I checked with my oncologist as well as my cardiologist and both gave me the thumbs up!

I have a fundraiser planned July 11th at the Brunswick Applebee's. I am so close to my fundraising goal, but still have a little way to go. That night will be fun. All diners who bring in a flyer will have 15% of their meal donated back to my fundraising efforts.  I'll also have some baskets to raffle off and daughter will be giving back massages for a fee that she will donate back to the fundraiser! There will be other fun things planned as well. If you're in the area on that Monday, stop by!

I am seriously excited that the walk is soon to be a reality. I can still only imagine how tired I will be at the end of the 20+ mile days, but am looking forward to experiencing the excitement and weariness for such a good cause.

I will update again closer to the start day.  Stay tuned!

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon/10K Walk

I entered my first ever timed race on May 15th and didn't do too bad if I must say so myself. I've been training for the 3-day, 60 mile Susan G Komen walk and thought this would be a good event in which to get some training. A 10K is a 6.2 mile event. As I don't run unless I'm being chased by something that could eat me, I chose to walk.  Daugther walked with me, or rather I signed up to walk with her.  The day was miserably cold and rainy, but we bonded during our time of comparing red cheeks, wet hair and blue lips. Not the fashion statement I was going for, but my cold blue fingernails matched beautifully to pull together this lovely ensemble.

Daughter and I were doing well until we stopped walking, then we both sort of waddled, or felt like we were, as our complaining bodies made us feel like little 80 year old women. But over all, I was fairing about the same as the "kids" who were 20 + years my junior.

A little Aleve and some hot tea made things better once we were back home.

I get to brag just a little about my stats. See below. A walking pace of a 20 minute mile is a good pace and I shaved off a few minutes from that.  My division was my age group, and no, I"m not going to tell you what my age is. The chip time is the sensor that was on my racing bib. The clock time is when our division of the race started, which means we were in the back of the crowds and caught up as we went along.

Clock Time 01:50:58


Chip Time 01:47:36

Overall Place 254 / 13309

Gender Place 201 / 7399

Division Place 26 / 430

Pace 17:19.6

Training update

I am so excited. My first donations have appeared this week! I am at 36% of my goal so I still need your support!

I went to the Podiatrist this week to be casted for orthotics.  He's recommend surgery, but he and I both know that isn't happening anytime soon. So, in the meantime, Doc thinks orthotics will help ease the arthritic pain in my right foot (thanks to a volleyball injury and an over-anxious team mate)  and relieve the tendinitis pain on top of my left foot. I'll get these in a few weeks. Unfortunately that will set me back on my training schedule as I have to learn how to walk in them.  Below is this weeks schedule. We're up to 8 miles!!

Monday Rest (accomplished)
Tuesday 3 miles Easy walking (didn't accomplish)
Wednesday 15 minutes Moderate cross-training (umm yeah kinda.. if climbing the stairs a gazillion times at home counts and I got in 1 mile of easy walking)
Thursday 5 miles Moderate walking
Friday 30 minutes Easy cross-training
Saturday 8 miles Easy walking  (I'll be walking at the IX Center this day for MDA's Muscle Walk event supporting my nephew Ryan.  Hopefully I get in 8 easy miles during the entire day.  I'll wear my pedometer)
Sunday 6 miles Easy walking

Thanks for hanging in there with me. 

See the post below for specifics on how to donate. I need your support, but know that your donations will also help to put an end to breast cancer!

3 Days, 60 Miles

I have taken on an incredible challenge. On July 29th - 31st, I'll be walking 60 miles over the course of three days. Scary, and exciting.

As most of you know, I was diagnosed in March of 2009 with breast cancer. This diagnosis came out of left field for me as I did not fit the criteria at risk for breast cancer. I don't practice risky habits. I don't smoke, I don't drink excessively, I'm not overweight (so they said), yet I got the shocking news anyway. I had children in my early twenties and breast fed them both, became a "young woman" at the average age and lead a relatively healthy lifestyle, all of which are good things. Then why did I get it?

With an ever-increasing diagnosis for women who are at risk and even those who are not, like me, the reason behind breast cancer needs to be found so that we can put an end to this disease. Susan G. Komen for the Cure® funds research focusing on decreasing breast cancer incidence and mortality in the next decade. This organization also funds research to discover new drugs to stop the disease from progressing any further. The drug therapy I am on for the next several years was discovered with research funded by Susan G. Komen for the Cure®

I have started training (I'm really stretching that a bit) by walking at home on the incline trainer and outside around the neighborhood and local forest preserves. I have also attended some sponsored training walks. This week we're walking 6-7 miles, in the cold and the rain....barefooted.  OK, so I lied about the barefooted part. I've also started paying attention again to what I'm putting in my mouth. Not that I have horrible eating habits, but there is always room for improvement.

The thought of walking on average 20 miles each day for 3 days is very intimidating. But I look back to where I was this time last year and I barely had the energy of an 80 year old woman, not in good shape....who smoked... all her life.... you get the idea. So why am I doing this? Because I can. I didn't think I could endure treatments for breast cancer, but I did. I have pondered if I can walk 60 miles. The last time I walked 20 miles in one day I was 19 and a fitness instructor. But here I am now, alive and healthy, and I will walk as far as I can, hopefully completing the daily mileage every day, because I can.

Please consider making a generous donation. If you can't give what you would like all at once, the 3day for the Cure website allows you to spread it out over four months using the payment plan option. (Click the Donate Button on the side bar and donate for me, Mindy Howell) You can also ask your employer if they will double your donation with a matching gift. I have this website up on my other blog as well. (See The Howell Blessings).

Those of you who know me personally know that asking for donations is not my thing.  But this cause is very important to me. I can't do this alone, I need your support.

When you think of supporters like support hose, supporting jock straps, support bras....think of supporting Mindy  :) And if you're in the neighborhood, come by and cheer me on!