TOUR DE FRANCE!!!!!!!!!

http://www.livestrongaction.org/bike/brandy-rides-for-my-sister-lori

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO GO CHEER ME ON IN MY VIRTUAL BIKE RIDE FOR MY SISTER LORI!!!

If we win then HER NAME will be on LANCE ARMSTRONG'S BIKE during the TOUR DE FRANCE!!!

How incredibly cool is that????????

TBCW & TBDW & NO MO MOMO!!

Cancer Survivor - Day 6! LESSONS TO SHARE

I just want to SHOUT TO THE WORLD that I am cancer free and share ALL of my feelings of joy!!!! :-) This is the place I have chosen to do it (gotta lay off the facebook posts - HA HA)!

Over the weekend I received two messages from people that have been effected by cancer with either themselves or a loved one. They turned to ME! Now that my friends is what it is ALL about!!

See the second I was diagnosed, literally within 5 seconds, I looked up and said to God, "ok Lord, I know you must have something really cool in store for me" and since then I think I did a pretty good job at staying positive and taking it all in stride. Now, some of you know (and those that have read this blog long enough) that I have had my moments where I just needed to throw a good ol' hissy fit and get angry. It is hard to keep positive all the time when you feel physically ill most of the time.

When I received these messages I KNEW I had come full circle and that I went through everything that I HAD to go through to come out the other side and be a completely different person and KNOW that God wanted to use me for a bigger purpose.

I always used to think my role on this earth was to help orphans and refugees and when I was diagnosed it was like a was hit upside the head with a brick - I just KNEW this was where I could spend my energy helping other people. I have always known I was placed on this earth to help, it just took me 36 years to find out exactly WHERE! :-)

I can honestly say this is the second BEST week of my life. I believe this is the longest stretch of days that I have been blissfully happy and nothing crazy has happened (6 to be exact - we call these crazy moments Brandyisms - just start this blog at the the beginning and it will give you a small taste of what I am talking about). :-) I think God is giving me a nice reprieve from the craziness called MY LIFE! :-)

I am starting to think everything in my life culminated to the past two years and I pushed through it and now moving forward is a whole new life full of exciting and positive possibilities - NO MORE NEGATIVE BRANDYISMS (check back in a week or so - haha)!!

I really do wish that everyone could experience this feeling of euphoria and the TRUE knowledge that life is precious and to NOT WASTE IT!!! Without having to go through something so scary and horrible that is! :-)

One BIG lesson I learned years ago (thanks to my sister Michelle) is to NOT have expectations of people. If you think about all of the pain, disappointment, and hurt you have suffered over the years is it not due to YOU expecting someone to BE something they are not, to react the way you want them to, etc...... you are only causing pain for yourself by expecting others to act the way you WANT them to! We are all totally different human beings. If you live life with the best intentions than If someone does not treat you with LOVE and RESPECT than you have to realize that they have to live with themselves. If they like drama or like to stir up trouble then that is just sad that they like to waste their lives like that. As my sister Jennifer always says, "you're just another day dead"!!!

I saw this quote a while back and it sums it up perfectly:

Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever...-- Isak Dinesen

Now.... take inventory of the "negatives" in your life and think about if YOU are actually causing your own pain by expecting people to do what you want them to do - pretty deep huh?? HA HA

That is enough for now.....

~ NO MO MOMO ~

Cancer Survivor - DAY 3!

What a wild ride this is!!! I guess I had envisioned this moment for ...... well 2 years now and I am surprised it isn't what I had imagined!!!!

IT'S BETTER! :-) I thought once I heard I was cancer free that I might just kind of want to back off and NOT hear about cancer and think about everything we had to go through, etc.... (take a break). BUT.... it is the opposite!

When I was diagnosed I immediately wanted to HELP - I wanted other cancer patients to feel the LOVE. Now all I can think about is how I want to do what I can so other cancer patients can feel this EMPOWERMENT and sense of STRENGTH!! I am more on fire now than ever before!!

I am a group leader starting today for Cards for Cancer - I will collect cards (bought or handmade) for cancer patients and deliver them to MD Anderson (along with the afghans). I know when I received a card in the mail it just made my day. It is a wonderful feeling to know you are NOT alone and that people do care - even if we have not met them in person.

I will be sending out info soon if you want to give cards - it won't be a one time thing, there are too many patients and unfortunately that won't stop soon. :-(

I am feeling more alive and energetic than ever!!! I feel like a whole new person today. I tried to explain it to someone and all I can come up with is that even though I thought I had a pretty good attitude along the way I didn't realize what a CONSTANT burden and weight cancer was on my shoulders. As soon as it was lifted I instantly felt AMAZING - not just because I knew the cancer was gone but because there was no longer a "black cloud" always looming in the background of my mind. I have room now for ALL THINGS POSITIVE now! :-)

I am just gibber jabbering - I am a constant ball of energy now. I am STILL giggling, dancing to the tune in my head, smiling from ear to ear, etc......... I wish everyone could feel this euphoria! :-)

Love you all ~

NO MO MOMO!!!

I KICKED CANCER'S ASS!!!!!!!!!

IT IS TRUE!!! MD ANDERSON CALLED ME YESTERDAY (sorry.... I have been to busy dancing around giggling to post here) AND I AM OFFICIALLY CANCER FREE!!!

2 years, 1 month, and 3 days later and it is DONE!!! I have a LOT to tell you all but I must get back to dancing around for a bit.....

I promise to fill you in on all of the exciting details later today....... the doc was FULL of great information!

WE DID IT!!!!!!!!

NO MORE MOMO

My Ultrasound On My Neck

MD Anderson - Where I took the shots

ONE DAY TO GO - OF COURSE THERE IS A BRANDYISM!!!

** Ok I started this post late last week.... read on for the latest.

Well I am sitting here typing this from home, I have been confined to within these walls since Tuesday. For those who do not know I had surgery on Tuesday to remove ......... well you can tell by the picture it had to have something to do with my belly right???

HERE IS THE STORY:

On March 11th, 2010 I started a 4 day period without my high dose of hormone replacement therapy (since I don't have a thyroid for those keeping track). My doctor decided to DENY my medication in order to force me to call in and make an appointment. Well it was the weekend by the time I got to the pharmacy and calls to the "on-call" doc went unanswered. This started what I can only describe as a medical domino effect..........

On March 13th I noticed that my belly just "popped" out - yes there were jokes that it could have been all the Girl Scout Cookies that I consumed (I am not telling anyone next year about how many boxes I eat - HA!!) but it just felt different. After a few days it really started to hurt and just kept getting bigger (it was rock hard) and I was becoming concerned that it had something to do with not taking my thyroid medication (mind you the doc takes out my thyroid due to cancer then denies the medication I need to function on a daily basis - very nice - the poor pharmacist had to see me cry!!). I talked to a few of the docs I worked with and their main concern was fluid retention due to not taking the medication which can lead to heart failure. I immediately went to the doctor, not my regular doctor, she was out of town.......

The "fill-in" doctor confirmed that I indeed did have all of the symptoms of heart failure! WHAT?? This was beyond irritating and between you and me, quite scary!! The doc sent me for all sorts of tests and told me to go to the ER immediately if this or that happened. I went back to work the next day and told my boss (neurologist) what was said and he got on the phone with his good friend who is a cardiologist and just happened to practice across the street. He saw me that day.

I recognized the doctor and he was so excited to meet me in person - see we have passed each other several times over the years walking around the hospital and he is about 5ft tall and always gives me this HUGE smile. He was extremely gentle - that sounds a little strange but he made me feel SO comfortable and he LISTENED!!! After he had me explain what had happened he told me to get up on the exam table and then he grabbed my hands (as if to calm me - he apparently does not know I am an ol' pro at this medical "stuff") and told me softly, "Brandy my dear, you do have all the symptoms of heart failure so I am going to examine you". Well after poking and prodding, ECHO, etc..... he stated that he did NOT feel it was heart failure but something in my abdomen (good guess doc). So he ordered a CT of my abdomen & pelvis.

The next day my REGULAR internal medicine doctor called me to come in and within 5 minutes she asked if I had been on an antibiotics lately. I said that I had been on a high dose of Levaquin due to a 2 month bought of bronchitis - she said, "AH HA!" that was it - the good bacteria had been killed and the bad bacteria took over. Well..... I don't want to go into the traumatizing lab work I had to go through - GROSS!!! Needless to say those results came back NEGATIVE for toxins (after she made me down gallons of probiotics).

Well.... the CT results came in and the cardiologists office called me to say, "Mrs. Chandler your results came back and you have a mass on your adrenal gland". Those are not words I was wanting or ready to hear. I am just days away from finding out I am FINALLY cancer free (you all know I have been counting down the days for a year) and quite frankly I was scared. Just like the thyroid I had NO idea what the adrenal glad did or where it was. I was then scheduled to see a specialist that Friday.

Since most of my medical issues have been found by me "digging" into my own results I saw on my report there was a ovarian mass. I called my internal medicine doc who went over the results with me and she told me to call my OB/GYN. I did and they got me in quickly.

I went to my OB/GYN and after laughing at my protruding belly (yes we have that type of relationship where he can laugh with me) he did a quick exam and felt this "mass" from the outside and said, "we gotta get that huge (golf ball sized) thing out on TUESDAY". So.... that was that.

I went to the adrenal glad doc and he said all was well and he showed me that the ovary mass was the area of concern and NOT the adrenal gland - WHEW!!!!! That is the end of that.

I had my surgery this past Tuesday and while they were in there getting the golf ball out they discovered "massive amounts" of endometriosis which they cleaned up as much as they could but could not get it all - therefore I get to go on another journey of 6 months of medically induced menopause (been there done that in 2003 and it was NOT pretty - I am still apologizing to my loved ones).

When I woke up from surgery and Gene told me what they found I felt like I was punched in the gut (not just from being cut open - ha) but we have all been counting down the days until May 4th where I would finally hear I was cancer free and WE COULD MOVE ON WITH OUR LIVES and hopefully start getting the hormones right to have a baby this year. I spent the next few days at home and had way too much time to think. I pretty much cried for 3 days.

I am 38, have thyroid cancer, and now have to deal with 6 months of menopause. This was a hard blow since I have been really looking forward to starting a fresh beginning tomorrow - and mostly looking forward to starting a family.

So, we pushed forward and started the MD Anderson appointments on Saturday, May 1st. The first day went great - just a headache and nausea from the Thyrogen shots. Then Sunday, yesterday, it was a full blown vomit fest. Oh man I was hurting! Then today I went in WITH JUST ONE DAY TO GO and they told me that since I had had that CT with CONTRAST a few weeks ago that I could not have the radioactive iodine pill and the scan tomorrow that will show if I have any cancer tissue.

So, there ya have it! I have counted down the days for the past YEAR to find out the DAY BEFORE that I cannot find out if I am cancer free tomorrow. Dang it! BUT - there is still good news - I find out TOMORROW if that ovary mass is benign or not! How cool is that that it just so happens to be tomorrow!??? So God didn't want me to go the past year counting down for nothing! :-)

That is the latest - I will give another update tomorrow after all of the appointments. I will be going back to MD Anderson to get two results which will ease my mind. One being the thyroglobulin which the number will tell us if there is any cancer cell activity and the ultrasound results which I can already tell you they measured 4 nodules (tumors) and the largest was .49cm so that is good - they biopsy if they are 1cm or larger. So, they will probably not do anything about those until next year to see if they have grown.

So, tomorrow I will get the ovary mass biopsy result and learn when I can get the scan done that should have taken place tomorrow.

~ GO MOMO ~

LET'S DO THIS!!!

Well I must admit, after starting the cancer support group and then Lori getting cancer I just got pretty sick and tired of CANCER!! I have been so ANGRY! I guess it has just started to wear me down hearing all the stories and talking to so many people that are suffering. It seems that I hear about a new person with cancer every SINGLE day! It is just so overwhelming and heartbreaking.

I think I reached my breaking point this past month, had to cry and talk it out with Gene, and now I am back at it!

I am back on the bandwagon to bring awareness to cancer research and to try to get people involved!

I am starting a CYCLE FOR SURVIVAL team (www.cycleforsurvival.org) to raise some money for a great cause. I have been a fan of Ethan Zohn for a LONG time (2002) and when I heard he had cancer I started reading his blog. He has the BEST attitude! He is really using his celebrity to bring awareness to cancer research and it is amazing!

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO AND YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY I WANT TO DO THIS!!

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=cfs_about_gallery_video6

So, if you want to join my team (name to be determined but I am thinking of TEAM TAWANDA since I will be riding for Lori - Gene will be riding for me!!). You can walk, swim, or what every exercise you choose! It is free to register, we just have to raise $1,000!! We already have 5 team members!!

LET'S DO THIS FOR OUR LOVED ONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO TEAM TAWANDA & MOMO!!!!

Email me at: brandykc72@yahoo.com for more details!!!