Chemo Has Started But All Is Well

It is Sunday, October 19th and I am finally updating my blog due to a hectic couple weeks. October 17th was my first “chemo cocktail” of taxotere and Cytoxan. At this time I am tired from the experience over the last few days along with the nausea medication but no other major side affects or reactions yet. It has been almost two months since my surgery and the anxiety of waiting for the chemo to start…fearing the unknown…was worse than the last couple days. Chemo was worth waiting for though to see our beautiful daughter Amber, marry her love Brandon Vincent on Friday, October 10th. It was a wonderful day in our life.

I am now 25% through with my chemo treatments. I will have three more treatments every three weeks. The last treatment will be on December 19 if my white blood cell count stays high enough to continue the treatments every three weeks. After chemo, I will begin the 5 to 7 weeks of daily radiation. Keith and my spirits are strong though and we feel God’s presence along with all our friends who are praying for us.

I have cut my hair to attack the hair loss that I am told will happen within 10 to 14 days.
Here I am right before chemo...you will just have to wait and see if you will see further pictures with no hair (smile).

Many of my friends have written me what a strong woman I am. Although I am flattered by this comment, what strength I have I get from my faith in God. Putting on God’s Armor each day gives me the strength I need to fight this battle. Also, the love and support I have from all my family and friends gives me so much courage and hope for my great life ahead as a survivor. I will be a much stronger person because of all this.

Many friends have asked how they can help. Again, I feel more blessed than I ever have ever been in many ways in the past few months due to all your love and support through my Benefit and the words and gifts of kindness you have all shared.

For those that are calling and emailing me to still bless us more with food during my chemo treatments we welcome the support during my treatment weeks but due to my treatments mixed with my candida I am limited on foods I can eat. Basically, I try and eat only organic foods and I need to stay away from alcohol, all sugars, even natural fruit sugar, artificial sweetners, preservatives, most dairy, I eat some cheese...one of my favorite food. Due to the chemo, they want me to eat high protein so we eat organic chicken, turkey, steak, and fish and vegetables mostly. The only pastas and bread I eat right now are made of brown rice. I need to also stay away from fermented sauces such as soy sauce and vinegars. Here are a couple links of recipes we cook from.
http://www.geocities.com/hotsprings/4966/recipes/recipes.html; http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Candida-Diet; http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Candida-Diet-Part-III

Now I would like to again thank the family and friends (who include all the sponsors below) who donated to Cabo San Freddie on October 1st. Your generosity, love and donations have been overwhelming and have filled me with joy through this crazy journey and also helped me cover my enormously high insurance deductible for this year! THANK YOU! Cabo San Freddie was The BEST event I have ever been to! Ok, I was the guest of honor and it felt like my birthday but friends call and email me daily still raving about that night. Our industry is awesome how we prove time and again that we come together for each other. Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming together for me…all of you. A special thanks again to Danny Findley, Kristin Hutton, Steve and Allison Kinsley and Terri Utecht for spearing this great event.
Here are pictures taken from Cabo San Freddie: www.grantoakes.com/blog/freddie
Below are the sponsors who supported Cabo San Freddie

A Music Plus
Butler Rents
Capital Grille
Catering by Design
Crown Trophy
Dave and Busters
ESPN Zone, Kristin
Fun Productions
Gourmet Fine Catering
Grand Hyatt Denver
Hacienda Colorado
Hard Rock Café:
Image Audio Visual
Images by Grant Oakes
Jay’s Valet
Kevin Taylor Restaurant
Kinsley & Associates
Maggianos
McCormicks Catering
Michaels of Denver
Mile High Station
Millennium Harvest House
Northern Lights
Perfect Petal
Ritz Carlton
Rock Bottom Brewery
Sarah Edgell
Splash Promotions
TDA Design
The Oceanaire
The Palm
The Stanley Hotel
The Wildlife Experience
Tripping Griswolds

I would also like to thank Deanna Brown and the Grand Hyatt, Grant Oakes, Images by Grant Oakes, Jennifer Young with Bella Studios, Cal Cheney of All Digital Photo & Video, Fun Productions and A Music Plus. With their additional generosity, we were able to pull off a beautiful wedding for my daughter that will live on forever in our memories. Thank you!

I will keep you all posted via my blog on my continued journey.