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

Wednesday 08 August 2012

Yes that's right it's only Wednesday and I'm seeing the DR.  As it turned out, Bothe Amber and the DR changed their schedules at about the same time, so I go on Wednesday's now.  As the DR is at another clinic on Thursday now.  I only see the Dr about every 6 - 8 weeks now the reports are further apart.  Still getting my port flushed once a month and that’s not a big deal.  More of a hassle than anything else.

There is some good news. This new drug does seem to be working, so far so good.   I saw Dr R today, he's excited in that it seems that this drug is working well. So we will keep fingers, legs, toes and eyes crossed that it continues to work in a positive manner. However I was told that I need to WEAR a HAT when out walking as one of the side effects of this drug is Drug-Induced Photosensitivity 

Keep-Her and I have been walking about 2-2.5 hours a day lately, early in the mornings before the sun gets to hot. 

 Yes she has "doggy tennis shoes" on her feet.  she needs them in the heat we've been having.

 We log between 10-12 miles a day that way. I have started walking the hills around here to help with the cardio/workout. The wonky vision also tends to keep me home these days. So I spend my time walking on my treadmill or riding the stationary bike. I wonder if I went off all these “wonder drugs” (I wonder what they are doing) if my vision would return to Normal? Whatever that is/was.

Last weekend I acquired a"friend" for Keep-Her, she seems to be enjoying her  time out in the back yard doing the doggy 1000 with him. They are already fast becoming great buds. He's 2 years old, color is grey.

 

Keep-Her and Tommy

 

It's that time of year again and we are gearing up, for our annual walk in the Race for the Cure, which is to be Sunday 16 Sept 2012.  How many of you are going to come and join us in the walk this year?

 

Jann the Overcomer.

07 June 2012

Ok so since I only see the Dr about every 6 - 8 weeks now the reports are further apart.  Still getting my port flushed once a month and that’s not a big deal.  More of a hassle than anything else.

There is some good news. This new drug does seem to be working, so far so good.  But as I told   Dr R yesterday, we’ve gotten this far before with the shrinkage of the tumor than it rears its ugly head again. So we will keep fingers, legs, toes and eyes crossed that it continues to work in a positive manner.

 

The extreme exhaustion, is the major problem, and the “mini tropical” (Hot flashes) vacations I’ve been having have been interesting to say the least. I’ve been having trouble getting 10,000 steps a day in not my usual 15,000 - 20,000 that I was doing before I stared on this drug. Of course the weather isn’t helping with the outdoor walking either. The wonky vision also tends to keep me home these days. So I spend my time walking on my treadmill or riding the stationary bike. I wonder if I went off all these “wonder drugs” (I wonder what they are doing) if my vision would return to Normal? Whatever that is/was.

On the home front here I lost my little Chihuahua (whom I loved very much) Kerby, Tasmanian She Devil. She had a major stroke and a major  heart a little over two weeks ago.  She has been greatly missed. I rescued her 12 years ago and was told that she was between 2-4 years old at that time.  So she lived a long happy life for 12 years. 

Quote of the Day
A friend is a gift you give yourself.
Robert Louis Stevenson

06 May 2012

There is nothing new to post really. only going to the clinic once a month for port flushing and once every 6 weeks to see the DR, I tend to forget about the blog.  Sorry about that. 

The extreme exhaustion, is the major problem,  I've been having trouble getting 10,000 steps a day in not my usual 15,000 - 20,000 that I was doing before I stared on this drug. The wonky vision also tends to keep me home these days also. I wonder if I went off all these “wonder drugs” (I wonder what they are doing) if my vision would return to Normal? Whatever that is/was.