If you have Lifetime Channel...

First of all, thanks so much for your positive comments to me! I know that you all rock. I also know that it is difficult for some people to make comments on this blog...so please do not worry if you wanted to make a comment and you didn't. I have a great imagination and I envision a world of supporters out there holding me up. I know there are many and I appreciate all of YOU!

Okay, now to a status update before I talk about the Lifetime movie I am now pedaling. I had a procedure today to clean out my blocked bile duct. They had put the stint in before. Actually, they had put a temporary stint in before. Then they put in a larger, more permanent one after that. Now, for some reason, there was a blockage...so they cleaned it out.

Apparently, this can just happen with stints because they are not a natural part of your body. I just have to be mindful of it, like if I get fevers in the future or something. It could be related to the stint. The in-house oncology team here is great and I spent a lot of time Friday asking the doctor questions so I could know how to anticipate the future. I don't think I will get an infection in the future...at all, however, I just always have to have that type of information so I can be prepared. That's just my way since I got cancer. I have to have all my ducks in a row and lead my medical team.

As always, with me and surgery or procedures...everything went well. The G/I doctors said I could go home today, but the in-house oncology team wanted to observe me for one more night and keep me on I/V drugs. That part is not fun because they have pumped me with a lot of excess fluids to keep the I/V open when they aren't giving me antibiotics. I have put on like 10 lbs of fluid weight. I could care less from an aesthetic perspective (I mean, once you lost your hair, vanity gets pushed aside.:) It has just made me swollen and it stresses the lymphatic system out.

Side tangent about the lymphatic system: The lymphatic system is really cool because it works to pull fluids from your appendages. Yet, with breast cancer survivors, or any cancer survivor for that matter...we have had lymph nodes removed to be tested. So, for me, I had 5 lymph nodes removed when I was diagnosed four years ago. That was on my left side near my arm. So, I always have to watch that arm that it won't get a condition called "lymphedema", where the lymph nodes near that area can't pull the fluid out of the arm anymore and it can get very strange looking.

I don't have a major issue with lymphedema because I watch it. I exercise the arm a lot and never stress it out. I can never get blood pressure or any I/V's in that arm so Michael and I are always vigilent about making sure all hospital people know this. Yet, I had my sister bring my compression sleeve down here to the hospital for me so I could make sure to keep fluid off of that arm as best I can. Right now, it is swollen like the rest of me. Everything will return to normal when I get off the I/V fluids. Hopefully, Michael will bust me outta here tomorrow!

Last thing, the Lifetime movie...so Lifetime had a great movie on Saturday night about my type of breast cancer, which is driven by the her2neu protein. I always talk about this drug called Herceptin and how it changed the face of this disease for me and my co-survivors that are her2 positive. Yet, I know it is kind of hard for everyone to understand if you are not obsessive, like me, and entrenched in the science of it.

So, I am recommending this movie to you. It is called "Living Proof". Harry Connick, Jr. plays the doctor who invented Herceptin, Dr. Slamon. They do such a thoughtful job of explaining the disease and why it is so aggressive and why Herceptin has helped. I say this being a very picky person when it comes to cancer in movies. Many movies get it wrong and end up scaring people by doing more harm than good. That is not the case with this movie. It will be emotional, but you will learn a lot from it.

I know I have been through a lot with fighting my disease, but Herceptin (and the inventions that came about because of Dr. Slamon's idea to attack the protein) are part reason to why I am able to fight against my disease. Before Herceptin, there was not much of a fighting chance for us her2 girls. It is just a blatant fact. I always think of people who are my age, but who lost their mothers to breast cancer when I was young and I wonder if they had her2 disease. I don't think all women were even tested for it before Dr. Slamon came along.

But, now so many of us with her2 type breast cancer, are living cancer free or living with a stable situation. It is because of Dr. Slamon that this reality was made possible...that we have an ability to fight. I am thankful to him and now that I actually know his name, I plan on thanking him in some personal way...by figuring out his email or mailing him a card. I will figure it out somehow.

Because of his dogged approach to fighting, my story changed to a story of victory from the beginning (plus, I believe there is divine intervention involved). Healing was always a part of my equation and even though I am dogged in my fight, tenacity pays off. Dr. Slamon IS living proof of that. I have been inspired by him and this movie...and I am a tough sell. I was skeptical going in, but Lifetime was very thoughtful. If you have Lifetime Channel, you may want to consider watching it. It will not only educate you about breast cancer, but about cancer in general. Other types of cancer use this approach, too.

You can click on the link to this post to get to the Lifetime website for "Living Proof". I will also put a link to the left. I am sure they will show it the rest of this month.

Blessings,
Lolo