Praise Jesus, he's carrying me through the water!

HANG LOOSE!

Hi everyone,
I got the first round of my A/C chemo cocktail, Monday, March 23rd at 2pm. It will usually take an hour for further treatments, but Monday we were there until 5pm. We had to learn about all the medications and they trained my husband, Dimitri how to give me neupogen shots in my stomach. Those shots start tonight at 8pm. They are to help increase my white blood cell count. Good times!

Praise God! So far I really haven't had any side effects. They have loaded me up with anti-nausea medications and I have been taking other vitamins which my naturopath recommended to help with the chemo. I have not felt nauseous even once yet, nor thrown up! My temperature has remained normal. Essentially, I would not even know I had chemo if I were not so woozy, groggy, can't think as fast or sharp. Plus, every time I walk through a door jams I bump into it and bounce back and forth like a pinball. My equillibrium is pretty off. But other than that I feel great! I have been able to sleep about 8 hours which is a miracle for me! My poor hubby was a bit choked up, sad and stressed out on Monday. But, he is better now, seeing how I'm doing. I don't really know what to expect in the next few days. But, after this first round, my next is April 6th, I believe we should have a better idea of how this is all going to play out. At least until they change my cocktail from A/C to Taxol on May 18th for another 8 weeks.
I am just so thankful that I haven't felt sick. We went shopping for wigs last week before my first treatment. I didn't get anything yet. They say your hair falls out about the 12-14th day. Maybe God will protect me from that too. We'll see! If not I have some potentials. I didn't realize how expensive wigs are, and they are not covered by Kaiser. And any of the decent ones are around $265, here's one example. Tee Hee! Of all the wigs I tried on, they still looked like wigs, but you got to do what you got to do!

Also, I have been trying to eat what was recommended. I even had a friend (Thanks Bonnie) who loaned me a special juicer, the kind that squeezes out the juice not the centrifugal force that takes out the nutrients and just leaves the sugar. As we speak me husband is meeting with a plumber who will be installing a special filtration system which takes out all of the chlorine from the sinks, tub and shower. I have learned that chlorine especially in vapor form (from shower) takes out the oxygen in your cells and cancer thrives in oxygen deprived cells.
We also bought an aromatherapy device that filtrates delicious aromas throughout the bedroom and part of the house. Right now I have peppermint and spearmint for anti-nausea. Yummy!

My mom is taking me to the Naturopath tomorrow, I will learn more about diet and what to do to make chemo most efficacious and mitigate the side effects as much as possible. I am so grateful that I have not been nauseous. I hope this new shot tonight will not cause any unpleasant side effects. I am so grateful for my mother in law, Tanya. I need to take my meds every morning at 8am, she has been bringing me my breakfast (unsweetened applesauce, organic bananas, and organic toast. Tomorrow I think I'll try organic oatmeal). For all meals I am doing only organic. I'm mostly been eating light chicken broth, without spices or salt, beans, white rice, and veggies. For dinner last night I had a little fish. They recommended that I eat very bland food. I know I'll get used to it. I'm just thankful I have an appetite; and I have already been drinking about 160 ounces of water a day as recommended.
Thank yous:
Thank you to everyone for all for your prayers!
Thank you to Cathey whom I met at Life Church this weekend who told me she saw a blanket of protection around me and my husband (this was before the pastor announced I was battling cancer). After she found out she prayed that the chemo would kill only the cancer and the Lord would protect and keep all my normal cells healthy and alive. We stand in agreement with you, Cathey!
Thank you, Joanne for your card and all your support. I too believe that after each round I will have renewed strength and health. Thanks for all your encouragement.
Thank you to everyone in my marriage bible study at the Ray and Terri's house for all your prayers and encouragement!
Also, it's hard to keep up with face book, but thank you to everyone checking up with me there too. I will try to mostly respond via this blog rather than facebook or email messages; it's just too much! But I definitely want to stay in contact.
Many people have asked how they can help. I seem to have all meals covered. I expect I will be ready for anyone who wants to visit after I have an idea of how this first round goes. My next round starts April 6th. So, if you would like to visit, leave me a comment on my blog (it goes right to my blackberry) or email me at kandie-arbonne@hotmail.com. After April 6th I'll have a better idea of when I can have visitors.
If there are any changes in my symptoms or progress between now and my next treatment, I will update this blog. If you don't hear from me assume I am resting. My daily plans are to do my morning devotionals and Bible studies, exercise and spend time catching up with people, keeping my house clean and relaxing. So, that my body will be strong enough to fight off anything it needs to.
Love and Blessings to all!
XO, Kandie

DECISIONS, DECISIONS...

I think I have been busier the last few months, than I ever have in my life. I have been trying to sift through all the information (and trust me there is a lot!!!) to decide what to do next. In my case, the Medical Oncologist at Kaiser is highly recommending chemotherapy, radiation, and 5 years of hormone therapy (tamoxifin). I have been researching incessantly looking for alternatives to the prescribed medical treatments. I'm sure some of you have heard that the side effects of chemo far out way the benefits. There is a lot of information on the internet; so, I’ve been praying and waiting for God’s direction.
Ironically, in all my research everyone is recommending chemo for me because I am so young (breast cancer usually hits in the 50 and 60s) and because of the size of my tumor 4.5 cms. When I went to the Susan G. Komen conference in February, they also recommended chemo for my parameters. I talked with quite a few breast cancer survivors there and they all recommended chemo; plus, I met with a "young survivor support group" (ages 30-45) and every single one of them did chemo. Still, I wanted to make sure that there were no other alternatives that would work for me.
So, I did a lot of research on CAM (complementary and alternative medicine). What I found was that again with my parameters, chemo was recommended. I spoke with quite a few Naturopaths. I even spoke with the Coordinator of Oncology at Bastyr University who is a Researcher, Naturopathic Physician and a Professor of Naturopathic Medicine and he told me to do the chemo. I have come to the conclusion and have a peace that chemo is the next step I need to take in this journey. I will be starting the first chemo treatment this Monday March 23rd. I will be doing 4 rounds of A/C and then 4 rounds of T (dual dosage) every 2 weeks.
Even though they were able to remove the entire tumor and it did not metastasize, chemo is prescribed in order to prevent reoccurrence and extend survival. According to the statistics, the chances of reoccurrence (the cancer coming back or getting another type of cancer) in the next 10 years is 67%. But with chemo, radiation and hormone therapy the chances of reoccurrence is reduced to about less than 25%.
Fortunately, in all of my research, I learned about all the benefits of having a Naturopath while treating cancer. They educate you on all the things you can eat and do in conjunction with the medical treatments in order to fight and prevent cancer. I found an ND who has started helping me prepare for the chemo and will continue to help me with the side effects and making the treatments most effective.
Once I am up to it. I will be putting some of the information I have learned on how to fight and prevent cancer. There are a lot of things we can do. One thing I will say now. If you are using any plastic with the recycle label number 5 or 7 get rid of it! Almost all plastic now has the numbers on the bottom. Number 1 and 2 are the best (avoid plastic if you can altogether). This came from the Komen Conference! I have a stainless steel water bottle and I use glass for storage.
Thank you again for all of your prayers. I have been holding on to the promise: Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7 NLT

I am not a writer but I found something that expresses how I look at this whole situation. It’s an excerpt from an Interview by Paul Bradshaw of Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Church in California and the Purpose Driven Life. Pastor Warren said, “People ask me, what is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems; either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting breast cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self centeredness, “which is my problem, my issues, my pain.” But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.” ~ Rick Warren

This pretty much sums up my perspective and the answer to why me? I will try to update my blog as soon as I can. I will let everyone know how I’m doing and when I’m ready for visitors or if I need anything as soon as I can. Thank you so much for asking. Forgive me for taking so long to update my blog. I wanted to be sure of my decision before I said anything. I am sure now. I’m ready and I will beat this! Because greater is He who lives in me, then he who lives in the world (1 John 4:4) and when I am weak, He is still strong!

THANK YOUS:
Thank you to Alla and Sergey for the bountiful care basket, pretty flowers and beautiful vase. Thank you for coming over and praying for us!!! We appreciate your friendship!
Thank you to Linda for the anniversary card. You are so good at remembering and letting us know you are thinking of us. You are in my prayers. Your battle with cancer is an inspiration!
Thank you to Darro for the heartfelt card. I love getting things in the mail, there’s just something about it.
Thank you to Diana and Damaris for the beautiful cards and perfume.
Thank you to Alicia for the card and candy and checking on me!
Thank you to Kirsten for the card. I’m so happy we’ve reconnected! You are a very special person. Thank you to for helping me to get informed about Natural Medicine!
Thank you to Kristi Gonzales for the delivery, the card, and the medallion! That was so thoughtful!
Thank you to everyone who is praying for me. I feel very supported! God is good!

Okay, I’m jumping in with both feet now. See you at the other side of the ocean! (Luckily, my God walks on water! LOL)!