12 Sept 2013 - 17 Oct 2013

I am remiss in that I have not been keeping my blog updated well at all. My last Dr appointment was 12 September 2013 at that time Dr R ordered blood test and a CT Scan to see where we were.

On Thursday 10 October 2013 I had my CT Scan done. I received an email with some not so good news.  The current drug is no longer working, and Dr R is recommending another IV medication. Said that he would call me in a day or two.

Well a week later, DR finally called back and we are going to start the new drug, #7 next Thursday 24 Oct 2013 that is if we can fit in on the clinics schedule. this one is only done once every 3 weeks.

Thursday 11 July 2013

I had my follow-up appointment today Thursday 11 July 2013, with Dr R.  As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time.  This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to remain status quo.  For which I am very thankful as I’ve been quite ill this past month with the “Crud”.  I had it all; some people only get one of these symptoms, not me I got to do them all, the upper respiratory, nausea vomiting and the runs, along with the fever.  I’m finally down to the annoying nagging cough that seems to linger on forever with the junk.  In the pass when I’ve gotten ill the tumor has taken that as a sign to grow again----this time it’s behaving.

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, no, just staying close to home and the bathroom. He just laughed at me and told me my lungs were clear and that I definitely sounded like I was on the mend.  YEAH!!! I can hardly wait. But I do hope to start back to walking next week. I’m finally feeling better, and not as friendly with the “ivory throne”, and able to stay away from it for longer periods of time.  

I see him again in two months.

Thursday 25 April 2013

I had my follow-up appointment last Thursday 25 April 2013, with Dr R. As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time. This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to shrink.


This was our first visit with him at his new clinic location down in Salem, OR (about an hour drive south of here). It was a pleasant drive as the weather was great, and since it was the middle of the day, traffic was light also. He told me to keep up the good work, and he’d see me in three months around the end of July 2013.

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, “No, not since I broke three toes and the Orthopedic DR told me to stop my walking and let the foot heal”. He said “oh is that what all the flurry on your chart was about?” yeah klutzy me, and of course I blame it on the dogs. He told me to take it easy and no more broken bones. Yeah yeah

So we will continue on with this drug as long as it continues to work. I'll Check back in after my next appointment which should be around the end of July 2013.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

I had my follow-up appointment today with Dr R.  As I expected he didn’t have any more/different information than he did last time.  This drug appears to be working its magic still and the tumors continue to shrink.

He reminded me that this would be his last visit with me at this clinic and asked if I was going to follow him to Salem (about an hour drive south of here). I told him yes! I wasn’t about to break in a new DR. He Laughed at me. So I will see him around the end of April 2013. He told me to keep up the good work. 

Asked me if I was still walking and I told him, “no my feet are acting up, I’m now getting blister BETWEEN the toes, and they are very painful”.  He says that’s a strange reaction and he’s pretty sure it’s not from the drug.  I told him to leave it to me to find an obscure reaction to a drug.

My friend Jean B who opened her home to me when I first started going to National Institutes of Health (NHI) in Bethesda, MD, was out on the West Coast for a very brief visit and I had a chance to go and visit with her.  It was great to see her again, so sorry it was such a short visit but it was a good one. I really can’t thank her enough for her hospitality in 2010, to me, a total stranger to her, to see if I qualified as a candidate for their study, which I did get into, however my Tumor didn’t care for, or liked their brand of drugs as it thrived on it instead of shrinking. So that was short lived experience, traveling back and forth for treatments.

So we will continue on with this drug as long as it continues to work. 

I do want to thank you all for your support as I travel this rocky road to remission. ONE day I WILL OVERCOME and get there again.

Wednesday 07 November 2012

Well there is good news, not so good news. where to start?
 

the good news is this drug has continued to work, so we'll stay on this regime for another 3 months/next year, till I see him next.

the not so good news.  He's being transferred to a clinic an hour south of here. hmmm I may just follow him down there.  he's been treating my cancer from day one in 1991. Do the math folks that's 21 years. I was in remission for about 17 years.

The poodles and I have reduced our walk to an hour and a half daily 5-6 miles. (usually in the mornings, unless it's raining hard then we try to wait for a dry spell) we do the hills for the cardio workout I get from it. Here is a picture of the three of us.

I have named the new boy Kayekids Smokey Shadow, call name is Shadow. 

Race for the Cure September 2012

Brittany Comstock, Jann Hayes (me), Sarah McKay

Me walking across the finish line

Me, Keep-Her and Amber Dodgson

Brittany Comstock, Jann Hayes (me), Keep-Her and Sarah McKay

Race for the Cure September 2012, This year, Amber Dodgson, her friend Jamie Sandness and her husband Krist and their two children Kason (3) and Kamryn (1), along with Sarah Mckay and her friend Brittany Comstock, Keep-Her and I walked together, with 30,000 of our friends. 

This drug seems to still be working. I still suffer GI side effects periodically from it, but medication helps make it tolerable.  The dogs and I continue to walk daily, we'll see what happens when the rains come, but for now we have slowed down a little only doing about 8-10 miles a day instead of 13-15 miles a day.  My feet started to rebel, so since they are most important part of the "walking" I had best listen to them.

I want to thank you all for your support in my battle against this horrid disease.  One day soon "we all hope" they will find a cure.

Komen Portland Race for the Cure® 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Once again, my poodles and I will be walking, this September 16th, 2012, we will join more than 30,000 runners, walkers and volunteers for the Komen Portland Race for the Cure.  As one person in a crowd of thousands, I am accepting a challenge to make a difference.

I am a 21 year survivor-----the last 5 I have been OUT of remission and have started the battle anew. I was diagnoses again in April of 2008 and have been receiving ongoing treatment ever since, when one drug quits working we move onto the next one. 

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.  When I stop to think of the co-workers, friends, aunts, neighbors, mothers and grandmothers in my life, eight women easily come to mind.  And I do not want to see a single one suffer from this terrible disease.

I want to make a difference for our children, so they have the promise of a full life.

Will you help me?  The size of your contribution is not important, because every dollar adds up and makes a difference, providing breast cancer education, screening and access to quality healthcare in our Oregon and SW service area.  Early detection saves lives.

Not a fan of online gifts....If you would prefer, you can mail your tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below.  Please just include a note on the memo line that indicates the gift is on my behalf so that you will receive credit on my fundraising page and I'll know you made a donation on my behalf! 

http://race.komenoregon.org/goto/Jann.Hayes

Komen Portland Race for the Cure®
Unit 15
PO Box 4500
Portland, OR 97208

Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.  Thank you for joining in our promise to create a world without breast cancer!

ONE way or another I will do the RACE for the CURE again this year.

Sincerely,

~~Jann