Hello to all my family and friends and amazing supporters! It has been 12 years and 10 days since I was told I had stage 4 colon cancer. For 5 years I underwent multiple chemo treatments, had 2 surgeries, radiation therapy, experienced a short remission, then relapse, and remission again.
That remission is still in place 7 years later. Yes. 7 years. I hope someone reading this finds hope in that. It hasn't been 7 months. It's been 7 years. Every single scan I've had (most recent being 1 week ago) has been clean. I thank you all still. For all the prayers, support and love that has been shown myself and my family. The shine and beauty of that support and love has never faded.
I've been wanting to update the blog for awhile and my friend Emily, by her own cancer situation has prompted me to do it.
Emily is from England. She contacted me 3 years ago after reading my blog, and we have been friends ever since. She got in contact with me because she too, had also been diagnosed with stage 4CC. She had given birth to her daughter only 2 months prior.
She has battled and fought, been through hell and back many times over and is still here fighting. She is trying to raise money for a self funded liver transplant in Norway. I understand not everyone can donate. If you can give anything I thank you. You can also do great things by sharing her story on social media, by praying for her and maybe sending her words of encouragement. If nothing else just reading her story will inspire you as to the power of the human spirit.
Here is the information.
Here is the link for her fundraiser:
https://www.gofundme.com/emilylocking
Here is the link if you want to follow her story on FB:
http://www.facebook.com/emilylocking1
After dealing with cancer and death in my face for so long I have come to some conclusions. I feel that living life to the fullest doesn't really mean climbing Mount Everest, traveling the world, or jumping out of a plane etc. It's the actions we take and the things we do and say to help someone else. I don't mean financially. But even sending a word of love, or support can accomplish so much.
Thank you again to everybody for everything.
Best,
Karen
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Friday, April 20, 2018
Stage 4 Colon Cancer: The Great Isolator
Hello my friends. All is fine with me, please don't worry. I am writing this to reach out to those who are dealing with late stage cancer.
Being diagnosed with late stage cancer is devastating. But you can hardly grasp all of the devastation at once. It's like seeing a town decimated by a tornado. To take it all in. To really wrap your head around what these people have lost and now have to deal with is mind boggling. I am sure the victims of such devastation don't know where to start.
When you are diagnosed with stage 4 cancer it's the same. Your mind is reeling. Your family and friends minds' may be doing the same, but perhaps not to the depths and extent that you, the diagnosed, are experiencing.
There can be very dark places your mind and spirit go when dealing with stage 4 cancer. You want to share with your loved ones. But how can they respond to your thoughts that consist of your worst nightmares that are now reality? They want to understand but they cannot, and all you end up doing is upsetting them and each other.
There are dark places of death that now always walk with you. There are feelings of a deep sickness in your gut when you think of leaving your children without a parent. Your mind wanders to thoughts of what will it be like if/when you're not around. It sends shivers up your spine and terrifies you.
To hold all that unto yourself can be part of the burden of cancer. It can be even more unbearable than the physical pain and suffering. That is the isolation. It can make your spirit feel like stone and hold it hostage.
It is a profound thing then, to be able to know someone and speak to someone who knows what you are going through. I have thought so much about this. What is it that comforts us when we find someone who has, or is walking in our exact shoes, on our same path? Why do we feel comforted? Why is there that immediate comfort we feel with them, when so little needs to be explained?
I think it's because now there is a link. To someone, to something. We feel less alone. Perhaps we feel that now our burden is shared.
When that burden is shared with someone already deeply familiar perhaps it makes it easier to get through the next minute. To take a few more steps on a path that is terrifying, ambiguous. A path that no one knows how or when it will end. No answers. That is part if stage 4 cancer. To share that with someone who knows, connects us to other human beings and takes away the isolation. Maybe delivers our spirit from those bindings and helps us handle our illness a little better. And love those around us more purely.
Please know you are not alone. I have been where you are and only want to be able for you to know I am here for you in anyway I can be.
Don't beat yourself up from being down, or negative or discouraged. You're human. It won't all of sudden make your tumors grow. Sometimes we just need to put our head in our hands and cry and hurt. But don't give up. Never give up.
For me personally until my oncologist said to me, "Karen there is nothing more to do. We need to call hospice." Then I wasn't giving up. I felt discouraged at times, negative, and yes, I complained. But then I picked myself up and kept going. Never give up.
My Warmest Regards,
Karen
Being diagnosed with late stage cancer is devastating. But you can hardly grasp all of the devastation at once. It's like seeing a town decimated by a tornado. To take it all in. To really wrap your head around what these people have lost and now have to deal with is mind boggling. I am sure the victims of such devastation don't know where to start.
When you are diagnosed with stage 4 cancer it's the same. Your mind is reeling. Your family and friends minds' may be doing the same, but perhaps not to the depths and extent that you, the diagnosed, are experiencing.
There can be very dark places your mind and spirit go when dealing with stage 4 cancer. You want to share with your loved ones. But how can they respond to your thoughts that consist of your worst nightmares that are now reality? They want to understand but they cannot, and all you end up doing is upsetting them and each other.
There are dark places of death that now always walk with you. There are feelings of a deep sickness in your gut when you think of leaving your children without a parent. Your mind wanders to thoughts of what will it be like if/when you're not around. It sends shivers up your spine and terrifies you.
To hold all that unto yourself can be part of the burden of cancer. It can be even more unbearable than the physical pain and suffering. That is the isolation. It can make your spirit feel like stone and hold it hostage.
It is a profound thing then, to be able to know someone and speak to someone who knows what you are going through. I have thought so much about this. What is it that comforts us when we find someone who has, or is walking in our exact shoes, on our same path? Why do we feel comforted? Why is there that immediate comfort we feel with them, when so little needs to be explained?
I think it's because now there is a link. To someone, to something. We feel less alone. Perhaps we feel that now our burden is shared.
When that burden is shared with someone already deeply familiar perhaps it makes it easier to get through the next minute. To take a few more steps on a path that is terrifying, ambiguous. A path that no one knows how or when it will end. No answers. That is part if stage 4 cancer. To share that with someone who knows, connects us to other human beings and takes away the isolation. Maybe delivers our spirit from those bindings and helps us handle our illness a little better. And love those around us more purely.
Please know you are not alone. I have been where you are and only want to be able for you to know I am here for you in anyway I can be.
Don't beat yourself up from being down, or negative or discouraged. You're human. It won't all of sudden make your tumors grow. Sometimes we just need to put our head in our hands and cry and hurt. But don't give up. Never give up.
For me personally until my oncologist said to me, "Karen there is nothing more to do. We need to call hospice." Then I wasn't giving up. I felt discouraged at times, negative, and yes, I complained. But then I picked myself up and kept going. Never give up.
My Warmest Regards,
Karen
Monday, January 22, 2018
6 Years Of Remission
Hello all my family and friends. It has been a year since I have posted and I apologize. I'm doing it now though!
I have had 2 scans since I last posted. The most recent one being this past month. Both, as with the last 15 or so have been clean. I am talking squeaky clean people!
I don't know why I didn't post last time, or the time before. I think my heart wasn't in it. I have been so lucky to be healthy for so long without a recurrence while at same time I was experiencing people my age and younger dying from the same disease. I just felt too conflicted posting my good news I think.
I want to switch gears a bit and speak to a very special group of people. I want to speak to those out there reading this who are going through cancer whether it be late stage or not. Maybe you have just been diagnosed, or been battling for awhile.
I am here for you. Please feel free to contact me. Even if you just need to vent. Maybe you need to say those things that are so hard to express, or have your loved ones understand.
Though you are loved and have well meaning people around you, late stage cancer can be very isolating. The fear and debilitating effects of chemo can bring you to your knees. The knowledge that after all you are putting yourself through with chemo and other treatments, may in fact not net a curative result. It makes you want to give up. You want to stop. Say just forget it. But people will be afraid if you tell them that. Tell you to stay positive. Which is a normal reaction. But your mind is screaming, "I can't do this anymore!" That's what it feels like after awhile. What do you do with those thoughts and feelings that are as real as the air you breathe?
How do you handle when you lose someone you have bonded with, with the same cancer? You think that could be me. That fear feels like ice water in your veins that can stop your heart. Followed by the guilt of thinking that, followed by the guilt of still being alive.
When you see your family suffering and scared and hurting. Adults knowing they could lose you. Your kids seeing you sick. Knowing you can't say, "don't worry honey, I'll get better and it won't come back." That is one of the worst, most sickening feelings I have ever experienced.
You are not alone. I know what your going through. Please don't hesitate to contact me. You shouldn't carry this alone.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Karen
I have had 2 scans since I last posted. The most recent one being this past month. Both, as with the last 15 or so have been clean. I am talking squeaky clean people!
I don't know why I didn't post last time, or the time before. I think my heart wasn't in it. I have been so lucky to be healthy for so long without a recurrence while at same time I was experiencing people my age and younger dying from the same disease. I just felt too conflicted posting my good news I think.
I want to switch gears a bit and speak to a very special group of people. I want to speak to those out there reading this who are going through cancer whether it be late stage or not. Maybe you have just been diagnosed, or been battling for awhile.
I am here for you. Please feel free to contact me. Even if you just need to vent. Maybe you need to say those things that are so hard to express, or have your loved ones understand.
Though you are loved and have well meaning people around you, late stage cancer can be very isolating. The fear and debilitating effects of chemo can bring you to your knees. The knowledge that after all you are putting yourself through with chemo and other treatments, may in fact not net a curative result. It makes you want to give up. You want to stop. Say just forget it. But people will be afraid if you tell them that. Tell you to stay positive. Which is a normal reaction. But your mind is screaming, "I can't do this anymore!" That's what it feels like after awhile. What do you do with those thoughts and feelings that are as real as the air you breathe?
How do you handle when you lose someone you have bonded with, with the same cancer? You think that could be me. That fear feels like ice water in your veins that can stop your heart. Followed by the guilt of thinking that, followed by the guilt of still being alive.
When you see your family suffering and scared and hurting. Adults knowing they could lose you. Your kids seeing you sick. Knowing you can't say, "don't worry honey, I'll get better and it won't come back." That is one of the worst, most sickening feelings I have ever experienced.
You are not alone. I know what your going through. Please don't hesitate to contact me. You shouldn't carry this alone.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Karen
Monday, January 23, 2017
Clean For 2017!
I start this first post of 2017 saying I am now 5 years NED!! I have had 2 scans since I last posted, the most recent being in December of 2016. Clean, clean, clean in 2017!
So here I am cancer free still. I am starting to even entertain the idea of considering myself a "healthy" person. That isn't a category I put myself in. When Dr. Moriarty told me 5 years ago that there is no evidence of cancer it's not as if all of a sudden, "poof" the last 5 years of fear and illness, and well, fear and illness disappear. Not to mention the cancer had been gone and come back before. So I am pretty slow to move on I guess. But over the last month I would think "hmm just maybe....I can entertain healthy." Is that so bad? I guess I am getting there.
It has definitely been a different kind of journey these later 5 years dealing with the emotional aftermath of things. Something I didn't anticipate after remission and felt guilty for even having to admit any struggles at all.
But I would much rather be working on that than be living the ambiguity of late stage cancer. I am so grateful. There are many people I am grateful too also. Not the least of whom, is Dr. Daniel Moriarty. That guy had the nerve to retire last April! Can you believe it?
I couldn't bring it up in the last post. My emotions were too raw. Having known the whole year previous this day was coming, I don't think it mitigated my heartbreak all that much. Logically I knew it was good and right. Deep down I was and still am very happy for him. But after being in the trenches hand and hand with this person, this person who not only saved my life, but became my mentor, my cheerleader, and a very cherished friend saying goodbye does not come easy. He saw me through 5 years of hell, and the next 4 years recovering from hell and all the fear and worry of recurrence that comes with being in remission. Aside from my husband I don't think anyone else has seen my cry and stomp and blubber more than this man. What a lucky guy huh?
There are only a few people in this world who have deeply impacted my life in the way that he has. So if you have a moment please spare a kind thought and/or a prayer for my friend. Someone who possesses great intelligence, wisdom, and even greater compassion not only for me, but for all of his patients, absent of all the ego he has every right to have. That's what makes him a beautiful doctor, and an even more beautiful human being.
That's my Dr. Moriarty. I miss him, but I am so happy for his new life, and I hope it is full of joy, and laughter and peace.
Thank you Dr. Moriarty.
So here I am cancer free still. I am starting to even entertain the idea of considering myself a "healthy" person. That isn't a category I put myself in. When Dr. Moriarty told me 5 years ago that there is no evidence of cancer it's not as if all of a sudden, "poof" the last 5 years of fear and illness, and well, fear and illness disappear. Not to mention the cancer had been gone and come back before. So I am pretty slow to move on I guess. But over the last month I would think "hmm just maybe....I can entertain healthy." Is that so bad? I guess I am getting there.
It has definitely been a different kind of journey these later 5 years dealing with the emotional aftermath of things. Something I didn't anticipate after remission and felt guilty for even having to admit any struggles at all.
But I would much rather be working on that than be living the ambiguity of late stage cancer. I am so grateful. There are many people I am grateful too also. Not the least of whom, is Dr. Daniel Moriarty. That guy had the nerve to retire last April! Can you believe it?
I couldn't bring it up in the last post. My emotions were too raw. Having known the whole year previous this day was coming, I don't think it mitigated my heartbreak all that much. Logically I knew it was good and right. Deep down I was and still am very happy for him. But after being in the trenches hand and hand with this person, this person who not only saved my life, but became my mentor, my cheerleader, and a very cherished friend saying goodbye does not come easy. He saw me through 5 years of hell, and the next 4 years recovering from hell and all the fear and worry of recurrence that comes with being in remission. Aside from my husband I don't think anyone else has seen my cry and stomp and blubber more than this man. What a lucky guy huh?
There are only a few people in this world who have deeply impacted my life in the way that he has. So if you have a moment please spare a kind thought and/or a prayer for my friend. Someone who possesses great intelligence, wisdom, and even greater compassion not only for me, but for all of his patients, absent of all the ego he has every right to have. That's what makes him a beautiful doctor, and an even more beautiful human being.
That's my Dr. Moriarty. I miss him, but I am so happy for his new life, and I hope it is full of joy, and laughter and peace.
Thank you Dr. Moriarty.
Friday, April 29, 2016
Still Here My Dears!
Hello my friends and family! I am finally updating! Thank you to my friends out there for letting me know you wanted to hear how things were. It lit a fire under me to get moving on the blog.
So this past April 7th marked the 9th year from my diagnosis. I had tumors in my liver but didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what stage 4 meant. I didn't know anything. Now 9 years later I feel like I know too much. I asked a lot of questions in the "early days" which is important and good. Always question and make sure your with the right people who will treat you.
Through this cancer and remission experience, I am very lucky to be able to talk to a lot of folks with stage 4 colon cancer through emails that I get through this blog, and through a great organization called Cancer Hope Network. In essence, they match cancer survivors to cancer patients. I consider it a privilege to work with them.
People say there is a big conspiracy going on and there is actually a cure for cancer! Did you know this? But too bad for us because all the doctors in all the whole wide world are hiding it from us along with big pharma so they can get rich on whatever they make from us little sicklings on chemo. Maybe one day Indiana Jones will find it deep in some jungle somewhere in special little vials guarded by a lot of booby traps.
But until that happens this is what we have. Chemo. Some people have hardly any side effects compared to me and compared to others. Everyone reacts differently. I know of an amazing woman in Scotland who emailed me. She has stage 4 colon cancer. She gets chemo every two weeks. She also works full time as a pediatric nurse, and works out more times a week than I do, doing boot camps and kickboxing and all kinds of stuff. That is the other side of it. You may not have any side effects.
When you stop for a second and think about it, think about all the commercials we watch for Viagra, Humira, every birth control on the market. Or just look up any medication. They are loaded with side effects. Some pretty scary ones. Chemo is no different.
To the newly diagnosed, I understand it is so scary when you read all the side effects there are. But you don't know which ones you are going to get and how strong or mild they are going to be. Once you start you get an idea of how you are going to react and you can kind of plan your life around that as you go. When we are diagnosed, life is worth living and we have to try. You can do it. If there is anyone out there peddling something else that is not proven they are lying to you and preying on your fears. This is what makes me so angry, because sometimes people listen to these quacks out of fear and desperation and they die, they never had a chance.
Maybe one day there will be a cure. It is something I pray for. There are better drugs coming out all the time and who knows where immunotherapy and cancer vaccines will take us in the future of cancer. But right now lets use what we have and try to be brave and surround ourselves with loved ones who's support and love is better than any medicine out there.
I want to thank everyone who has been emailing me and sending comments to encourage me to update the blog and let you all know I am still healthy and still in remission. God's mercy knows no bounds.
I want to encourage people to continue to email me if they want to through the contact page. I am happy to talk to you, and consider it a privilege.
Please let's continue to stop and smell the roses. Focus on your here and now. Put away the phones and be with your children. Tell your children to put away their phones and be with their parents (ha ha)! Enjoy your family and friends for who they are and where they are at, and love who God created you to be. Beautiful and perfect as you are. Time and life is precious.
All My Warmest and Best,
Karen
Things with my health are perfect! I had scans in late January of this year and my scans came back clean-again! I repeat myself every time but it completely shocks me every time. It humbles me and re-energizes me. I am still gonna be here for awhile!
I am still getting my blood work done every 2 months and my scans every six months. I don't think that routine will change for quite a while if at all. Maybe when I am 80 or 90? Maybe for my 80th birthday I will have the courage to get my port taken out!
Everyone here in the Shanahan household is great. The kids are now 10 and 12 growing up great and being kids. Fran is working hard and running all the time all over the place and I am living and breathing and working and loving being alive!
So this past April 7th marked the 9th year from my diagnosis. I had tumors in my liver but didn't know what that meant. I didn't know what stage 4 meant. I didn't know anything. Now 9 years later I feel like I know too much. I asked a lot of questions in the "early days" which is important and good. Always question and make sure your with the right people who will treat you.
Through this cancer and remission experience, I am very lucky to be able to talk to a lot of folks with stage 4 colon cancer through emails that I get through this blog, and through a great organization called Cancer Hope Network. In essence, they match cancer survivors to cancer patients. I consider it a privilege to work with them.
Through speaking to people the one main question I get asked is if I did anything with my diet or alternative medicine. I understand this question and when I was first diagnosed asked those same questions. Dr. Moriarty said that I could try alternative things in conjunction with chemo but he stressed it wouldn't do anything for the tumors. In regards to diet, all the nurses, Dr. Moriarty, along with the oncology dietitian I met with encouraged me to eat. Period. Keep the calories going in so my body can do what it needs to do.
Now I am not a doctor and I am not qualified to give medical advice of any kind (only dental)! But I am a qualified cancer patient. I feel very passionate about this topic because there is a lot of stuff out there that preys on the very raw and ragged fears and anxieties that cancer patients have.
I never changed my diet. I ate pretty healthy before I was diagnosed. Fruits, vegetables, drank tons of water, ate lean protein and I worked out. I also had my sweets and kept things in balance. After my diagnosis I did the same thing. Except- except for when I had chemo. The first few days eating and staying hydrated was the greatest challenge. Sometimes I would barely eat and just sip Gatorade (I now despise Gatorade). If the next day I felt like eating a bowl of ice cream I would eat that. Once the chemo funk lifted I would go back to my regular eating routine. My point is I am still here. I know everyone is different and has their own beliefs. But when you have stage 4 colon cancer you are fighting for your life. There is so other way to say it. So I don't think starving yourself before chemo, or not eating any sugar etc. is going to help you at all. You are making yourself even more miserable, and depriving your body of the nutrients and carbohydrates it needs to fight back, to keep your muscles strong, to keep your immune system from collapsing. To keep you from losing your mind!!
I know people who did all different kinds of things. They followed traditional medicine protocol with chemo and added,with the approval of their doctor, alternative medicine. Some stopped eating sugar. Some people like my very dear and wise friend Don when he felt good, and his tongue could taste-enjoyed all the culinary delights the world had to offer. I know someone who refused chemo and insisted on eating a "special cancer diet" of cottage cheese, peaches, and peanut butter.
All of these brave people have passed away. My point being this late stage cancer stuff is a crap shoot. I know that sounds cold and unfeeling, but it's true. I can't say there is anything or anybody I know of who manged to get rid of cancer by diet. It is also what any peer reviewed, evidenced based medical journal will tell you.
In regards to people wondering if they should even do chemo and well meaning friends and family members cautioning them not to do it. I would not do that. Please don't tell someone who has cancer not to do to chemo. Unless of course on sound medical advice the doctors tell the patient they are too far along for help. That is a different situation, and not what I am talking about.
Chemo rots. It's rotten. It's toxic nasty stuff. But so are the tumors my friends, so are the tumors.
Chemo made me very sick. It made me bald, it made my mouth and throat full of sores. It made the soles of my feet feel badly sunburned making walking painful, it made some of my toenails fall off. It made me so nauseous and exhausted I wouldn't leave my bed all day and I fantasized about having a catheter so I wouldn't even have to get up to go to the bathroom. I was covered in pustulant, painful and sometimes oozing sores, and being in the sun made me feel like I had acid being poured on my face, my fingers were covered in bleeding fissures. Not to mention the explosive diarrhea followed by it's alter ego constipation. But guess what? It shrunk my tumors. It shrunk my colon tumor in so far as it was not there anymore. It disappeared. My tumors which were so many, and big (8 in my liver) that I could palpate them and feel them through my stomach. Chemo shrunk them enough that I was a candidate for surgery. Something that was just a dream for so long, was now possibly achievable. All because of chemo and my bodies response to it.
Please understand I am not judging anyone who has been on chemo and has had enough or who decide they don't want to do it at all. It's not my life it's theirs. I am giving my opinion on the general questions I get asked in regards to chemo and diet.
I never changed my diet. I ate pretty healthy before I was diagnosed. Fruits, vegetables, drank tons of water, ate lean protein and I worked out. I also had my sweets and kept things in balance. After my diagnosis I did the same thing. Except- except for when I had chemo. The first few days eating and staying hydrated was the greatest challenge. Sometimes I would barely eat and just sip Gatorade (I now despise Gatorade). If the next day I felt like eating a bowl of ice cream I would eat that. Once the chemo funk lifted I would go back to my regular eating routine. My point is I am still here. I know everyone is different and has their own beliefs. But when you have stage 4 colon cancer you are fighting for your life. There is so other way to say it. So I don't think starving yourself before chemo, or not eating any sugar etc. is going to help you at all. You are making yourself even more miserable, and depriving your body of the nutrients and carbohydrates it needs to fight back, to keep your muscles strong, to keep your immune system from collapsing. To keep you from losing your mind!!
I know people who did all different kinds of things. They followed traditional medicine protocol with chemo and added,with the approval of their doctor, alternative medicine. Some stopped eating sugar. Some people like my very dear and wise friend Don when he felt good, and his tongue could taste-enjoyed all the culinary delights the world had to offer. I know someone who refused chemo and insisted on eating a "special cancer diet" of cottage cheese, peaches, and peanut butter.
All of these brave people have passed away. My point being this late stage cancer stuff is a crap shoot. I know that sounds cold and unfeeling, but it's true. I can't say there is anything or anybody I know of who manged to get rid of cancer by diet. It is also what any peer reviewed, evidenced based medical journal will tell you.
In regards to people wondering if they should even do chemo and well meaning friends and family members cautioning them not to do it. I would not do that. Please don't tell someone who has cancer not to do to chemo. Unless of course on sound medical advice the doctors tell the patient they are too far along for help. That is a different situation, and not what I am talking about.
Chemo rots. It's rotten. It's toxic nasty stuff. But so are the tumors my friends, so are the tumors.
Chemo made me very sick. It made me bald, it made my mouth and throat full of sores. It made the soles of my feet feel badly sunburned making walking painful, it made some of my toenails fall off. It made me so nauseous and exhausted I wouldn't leave my bed all day and I fantasized about having a catheter so I wouldn't even have to get up to go to the bathroom. I was covered in pustulant, painful and sometimes oozing sores, and being in the sun made me feel like I had acid being poured on my face, my fingers were covered in bleeding fissures. Not to mention the explosive diarrhea followed by it's alter ego constipation. But guess what? It shrunk my tumors. It shrunk my colon tumor in so far as it was not there anymore. It disappeared. My tumors which were so many, and big (8 in my liver) that I could palpate them and feel them through my stomach. Chemo shrunk them enough that I was a candidate for surgery. Something that was just a dream for so long, was now possibly achievable. All because of chemo and my bodies response to it.
Please understand I am not judging anyone who has been on chemo and has had enough or who decide they don't want to do it at all. It's not my life it's theirs. I am giving my opinion on the general questions I get asked in regards to chemo and diet.
People say there is a big conspiracy going on and there is actually a cure for cancer! Did you know this? But too bad for us because all the doctors in all the whole wide world are hiding it from us along with big pharma so they can get rich on whatever they make from us little sicklings on chemo. Maybe one day Indiana Jones will find it deep in some jungle somewhere in special little vials guarded by a lot of booby traps.
But until that happens this is what we have. Chemo. Some people have hardly any side effects compared to me and compared to others. Everyone reacts differently. I know of an amazing woman in Scotland who emailed me. She has stage 4 colon cancer. She gets chemo every two weeks. She also works full time as a pediatric nurse, and works out more times a week than I do, doing boot camps and kickboxing and all kinds of stuff. That is the other side of it. You may not have any side effects.
When you stop for a second and think about it, think about all the commercials we watch for Viagra, Humira, every birth control on the market. Or just look up any medication. They are loaded with side effects. Some pretty scary ones. Chemo is no different.
To the newly diagnosed, I understand it is so scary when you read all the side effects there are. But you don't know which ones you are going to get and how strong or mild they are going to be. Once you start you get an idea of how you are going to react and you can kind of plan your life around that as you go. When we are diagnosed, life is worth living and we have to try. You can do it. If there is anyone out there peddling something else that is not proven they are lying to you and preying on your fears. This is what makes me so angry, because sometimes people listen to these quacks out of fear and desperation and they die, they never had a chance.
Maybe one day there will be a cure. It is something I pray for. There are better drugs coming out all the time and who knows where immunotherapy and cancer vaccines will take us in the future of cancer. But right now lets use what we have and try to be brave and surround ourselves with loved ones who's support and love is better than any medicine out there.
I want to thank everyone who has been emailing me and sending comments to encourage me to update the blog and let you all know I am still healthy and still in remission. God's mercy knows no bounds.
I want to encourage people to continue to email me if they want to through the contact page. I am happy to talk to you, and consider it a privilege.
Please let's continue to stop and smell the roses. Focus on your here and now. Put away the phones and be with your children. Tell your children to put away their phones and be with their parents (ha ha)! Enjoy your family and friends for who they are and where they are at, and love who God created you to be. Beautiful and perfect as you are. Time and life is precious.
All My Warmest and Best,
Karen
Monday, August 17, 2015
Stage 4 Colon Cancer-Just Keep Swimming!
Summer hello's to all my family and friends! I will get right to it.
I had my scans about a month ago and once again I held my breath and waited, planned out my chemo schedule and how I would handle it all, planned how we'd tell the kids. Because with every scan, with every blood test I expect the worst. Somehow, for reasons I will never understand God gives me the best.
Perfectly clean scans. Nothing. Dead calcified tumors still dead and calcified. No growth-no change.
Every other organ and scanned part of my body is normal. Unremarkable-as they say in the reports.
I love that word.
Unremarkable.
I have been feeling good, but still have to take things kind of easy. I have, finally, well almost 90% accepted that I can't do the things I used to do at a physical level. If I want to exercise-even if it's just a 2 mile walk I try and make sure I don't have to much to do the next day because my body will be physically drained. My memory is crap-the other day someone asked for my phone number and for 10 embarrassing seconds could not remember it. Thankfully it was over the phone and she couldn't see my blushing.
It's all good and I'm not complaining. I am grateful to be alive but I am just speaking to where I am now. I'll take it any day of the week.
We have been having a great summer, the kids are 9 and 11 now and thriving. I am so grateful to be by their sides and helping them and guiding (I hope!) them as they grow into this new tween/adolescent phase of their lives. It makes my heart rejoice to have made it with them this far in their lives. It feels like I've made it to another marker with each milestone in they come across and experience with each birthday they have.
There isn't much I can say that I haven't already said. I am very far from perfect or very learned and I will never claim to be. But one thing I do know. Each day we are on this earth is a gift. I don't even ask for God's blessing for tomorrow because I don't even know if that day will come. Be with each other, listen to one another, love and forgive. If you are alone and isolated in this life seek out others who are who are in the same boat, or who are having a difficult time. Give them your love and company and you will find that healing love and companionship returned to you. There is always someone who has it worse. Always. Seek them out and have compassion. That is what I have learned. Because life is hard, we all need love, and tomorrow may not come.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It means so much.
I also want to encourage anyone who wants to, please feel free to contact me with any questions or anything you want to talk about in relating to cancer. It never bothers me.
Much love to everyone,
Karen
I had my scans about a month ago and once again I held my breath and waited, planned out my chemo schedule and how I would handle it all, planned how we'd tell the kids. Because with every scan, with every blood test I expect the worst. Somehow, for reasons I will never understand God gives me the best.
Perfectly clean scans. Nothing. Dead calcified tumors still dead and calcified. No growth-no change.
Every other organ and scanned part of my body is normal. Unremarkable-as they say in the reports.
I love that word.
Unremarkable.
I have been feeling good, but still have to take things kind of easy. I have, finally, well almost 90% accepted that I can't do the things I used to do at a physical level. If I want to exercise-even if it's just a 2 mile walk I try and make sure I don't have to much to do the next day because my body will be physically drained. My memory is crap-the other day someone asked for my phone number and for 10 embarrassing seconds could not remember it. Thankfully it was over the phone and she couldn't see my blushing.
It's all good and I'm not complaining. I am grateful to be alive but I am just speaking to where I am now. I'll take it any day of the week.
We have been having a great summer, the kids are 9 and 11 now and thriving. I am so grateful to be by their sides and helping them and guiding (I hope!) them as they grow into this new tween/adolescent phase of their lives. It makes my heart rejoice to have made it with them this far in their lives. It feels like I've made it to another marker with each milestone in they come across and experience with each birthday they have.
There isn't much I can say that I haven't already said. I am very far from perfect or very learned and I will never claim to be. But one thing I do know. Each day we are on this earth is a gift. I don't even ask for God's blessing for tomorrow because I don't even know if that day will come. Be with each other, listen to one another, love and forgive. If you are alone and isolated in this life seek out others who are who are in the same boat, or who are having a difficult time. Give them your love and company and you will find that healing love and companionship returned to you. There is always someone who has it worse. Always. Seek them out and have compassion. That is what I have learned. Because life is hard, we all need love, and tomorrow may not come.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It means so much.
I also want to encourage anyone who wants to, please feel free to contact me with any questions or anything you want to talk about in relating to cancer. It never bothers me.
Much love to everyone,
Karen
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Still Using The "R" Word
Warmest of hello's to my family and friends. I hope all reading this are well, peaceful and happy.
Here I am-December 2014. Though it can change tomorrow or even today, I am still in remission. Three years-still in remission.
Cancer cells are still flowing around trying to find a place to take hold, which in my weaker moments terrifies me, but in most moments I can brush it off.
In November of 2011 Dr. Moriarty told me there isn't any clinical evidence of cancer. I think it took me just this past year to be comfortable saying that to people, though maybe it has taken me this long to believe it. And I am grateful. Most of the time I feel like I am living in a fantasy world. Like I am playing "life," like a child would play house. When I was diagnosed life became mind-numbingly difficult, everything was hard. I was living in a state of constant fear for my life, and no one could tell me it was going to be okay. That is sobering my friends. But today is different. All of that aforementioned stress, fear and anguish is gone.
Can you imagine? I just get to go to work, take care of my kids, go shopping, la, la, la. It's a breeze.
I am grateful for everyday I can wake up and put me feet on the floor. I am grateful that my children and husband, my family, are alive and healthy.
Everything else. Everything else icing on the cake.
Life is hard. Life is full of devastation and heartache. But if you stop and pause and take your time to live in the present, you can always find the greatness and kindness of life. Or at the very least find something to make you smile and bring you a moments peace, or healing. If you take the time to be still, be alive where you are, you can find it.
I cannot ever thank everyone enough, for all the prayers and support through-out these 7 and a half years. I will always be indebted to all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I continue to be monitored and have my blood checked every 4-6 weeks and my scans will be coming up in a month or so. If you don't hear from me - all is good.
I love you all and thank you for everything. I will continue to try and live my life gratefully in honor of all of you and in honor of all those no longer with us.
God Bless.
Here I am-December 2014. Though it can change tomorrow or even today, I am still in remission. Three years-still in remission.
Cancer cells are still flowing around trying to find a place to take hold, which in my weaker moments terrifies me, but in most moments I can brush it off.
In November of 2011 Dr. Moriarty told me there isn't any clinical evidence of cancer. I think it took me just this past year to be comfortable saying that to people, though maybe it has taken me this long to believe it. And I am grateful. Most of the time I feel like I am living in a fantasy world. Like I am playing "life," like a child would play house. When I was diagnosed life became mind-numbingly difficult, everything was hard. I was living in a state of constant fear for my life, and no one could tell me it was going to be okay. That is sobering my friends. But today is different. All of that aforementioned stress, fear and anguish is gone.
Can you imagine? I just get to go to work, take care of my kids, go shopping, la, la, la. It's a breeze.
I am grateful for everyday I can wake up and put me feet on the floor. I am grateful that my children and husband, my family, are alive and healthy.
Everything else. Everything else icing on the cake.
Life is hard. Life is full of devastation and heartache. But if you stop and pause and take your time to live in the present, you can always find the greatness and kindness of life. Or at the very least find something to make you smile and bring you a moments peace, or healing. If you take the time to be still, be alive where you are, you can find it.
I cannot ever thank everyone enough, for all the prayers and support through-out these 7 and a half years. I will always be indebted to all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I continue to be monitored and have my blood checked every 4-6 weeks and my scans will be coming up in a month or so. If you don't hear from me - all is good.
I love you all and thank you for everything. I will continue to try and live my life gratefully in honor of all of you and in honor of all those no longer with us.
God Bless.
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