Re: Who We Are
 

I'm Ann, mom to two boys, 25 and 15. Wife to one man. :) I have done all sorts of things in my life but I'm a high school school secretary and love it. I have a greyhound and a cat. I used to keep tropical fish. I love to read. I'm very simple.

Re: Who We Are
 

I forgot to reply to this post before..

I'm Chris.

Always first on the list because of quantity of time spent...but not the most important in the big picture...

I am a top executive at the most sought after skateboard company in the world!
I know these posts are limited in size, and I have much else to say, so I will have to spare the details. Personal details about my job include loving working with a smart, dynamic and much younger workforce who are gracious enough to laugh when I tell them I'm old enough to be their mother. I get to manage the greatest teams in the company, who have done so well during my current absence from work, that it proves they are amazing people and the I must be a good manager, right? Actually, working where I do has been the greatest blessing in my life - another "destiny" move. My 2 bosses - the owner and the president of the company have been supportive of me over the past 10 years of this sucky cancer thing, in ways that cannot be described. The way I choose to describe it is, I found true love in the workplace. From my bosses, staff, co-workers, and associates. I know I am very very lucky.

Now to those who SHOULD claim more than they get

I'm married to the man to whom I was his college sweetheart when we were in college...although I didn't realize we were dating and certainly didn't realize he was my destiny until about 12 years, with ZERO contact, and 2000 miles later! Living my life with John was truly my destiny, I guess we both just needed to be ready! He is my rock, my lover, my best friend, the one who keeps me laughing and makes me smile every day.

My hero is my sister. She would say "no, YOU" and we'd go on like that for days. She's th ultimate super mom, raising my beautiful almost 16 year old niece all on her own, while generously giving her time not just to my niece, but to just about anyone who asks. My wish for her has long been that she give more time to herself, but I have come to realize that maybe her gift is to be that person who always unselfishly gives and wish I was as generous by even half.

My goal in life is to be the worlds greatest aunt. It makes me sad to realize I may not have time to be there for all the milestones in my nieces life, so full of promise! But I still want to, and to have her know I am always there for her, and to help her become the wonderful person she is destined to be.

The hardest thing for me is that my sister and niece live 2000 miles away, so I miss the casual, normal moments that bring lives together. I really miss shopping with my sister (nobody else can laugh at fitting room follies like we can!) aNd especially just hangin out. How bout comin over for BBQ Sunday?

Whoa!, you now know more about me than my analyst, if I had one! But I guess you already do anyhow.

Re: Who We Are
 

Does anyone know how to make this a sticky on this board. I love learning about the people's lives outside of cancerland. If. It was a sticky post it would be easier for new comers to learn more about the wonderful pros here. I will add my life when I am not on my smart phone.

Re: Who We Are
 

I am Paul, a 52 year old male, married to Nina, a 52 year old female. Nina was born in the former Soviet Union. She was a PhD in Geology, but her computer skills and personality were better suited to Massage Therapy, which she did professionally from 1994 (just before we married) until 2005. In 2005 Nina decided that she wanted to be an operating room nurse, and got her BSN from the top school in the state. She worked in operating rooms and on ICU floors, but struggled. In Nov 2009, an MRI showed brain involvement, which we dealt with and Nina continued to work/live/pester me to lose weight by walking five miles a day when she had time. Work was with bariatric weight loss centers with lap bands, both pre-op and adjustment of the bands.

Since December 15, 2011, Nina's world has changed location and focus. She lives at her brother's house in Houston, while I work in Raleigh and travel every two weeks to Houston to be with her. She has a car to drive, her five miles to walk, her Yoga, her Kindle, her computer, and her phone. She is not any different than a disease frr person, except that she has the same fears of everyone on this board. She has to go to the hospital twice a week at this point (but two days back to back every two weeks next week).

As everyone on this site knows the same, mortality weighs on her every day. Her diagnosis with spine involvement as well as brain involvement was devastating as my step son is 27 and just starting out on his own in life. He works in Maryland and lives in Arlington.

Our house had an offer two weeks before she was told about her disease progression. The sale of the house was handled, but the buyer delayed the sale for no reason twice for an additional 35 days, which caused a major financial burden as I had moved to an apartment with a lot of stuff in storage. We have now recovered financially, although $1000 per month in travel costs to visit Nina is painful.

I was born and raised in the US. Pharm manufacturing work appealed to me early and I have enjoyed my work. Herceptin is made on a large scale with work I did for an earlier drug. TDM-1 has its attachment occur with work I did at the same time. I did work on a project that now has implications on many of the stem cell products in the news. I worked on the primary cancer treatment for Ovarian cancer, and for colon cancer. Right now I have multiple drugs, but the primary one is for genetic Emphysema. And my foray into the food industry brought fat free yogurt and fat free sour cream's main ingredient.

My work gets 45-50 hours per week. I come to this board on breaks and lunch. I work on getting treatment for my wife and spreading what we have found to other patients, government agencies, cancer centers, and pharm organizations. I sleep four hours a night, and feel refreshed. I should walk five miles a day, but do not, so I look like John Candy and not like Brad Pitt.

Nina and used to travel a lot (Europe, Mexico, US, etc.), and now take a day of every trip to still do so locally to Houston. We want to cruise the Danube from Budapest to Southern Germany next year. We are going to Yellowstone this July for our birthdays/anniversary July 10 is mine, 15 is our anniversary, and 22 is Nina's.

This stuff is hard to deal with. Nov 2009 we were told 6 months, then two years of "two years", and then six to ten weeks, and now it looks like normal life span. I went to a counseler about stress and she said I am lucky that I am not in a hospital next to my wife due to a heart attack. I told her that I try not to stress over most things, but the road rage animal sometimes is not pretty.

All I can say is that this site has given me hope, resulted in frustration with how others are treated by docs, insurance, work, etc., and given me an opportunity to help others. There are many long term survivors which should give all hope.

Re: Who We Are
 

Rolepaul,
You and I share a birthday! High Cancerians! I am so happy that we are getting to "meet" such delicious people via this thread. I am amazed, excited each time I read another personal profile.
Thank you and all for posting,
Karen

Re: Who We Are
 

I am a 64 year old mother of three wonderful adult children. My retired, career naval officer husband and I have been married for 38 years. Daughter Marisa is a family-practice physician in Waynesboro, Va. She has given us two precious grandchildren who are 8 and 6 years old. Son CJ is married and an advertising executive living in Manhattan with our wonderful daughter-in-law who is a children's book editor. Son Nick lives nearby and is an IT specialist working with the NATO forces at Naval Operations Base, Norfolk.
I allowed my first 20+ years to be defined by the fact that I had polio as a very young toddler. As the only child in my small, rural CT town to contract polio, I bore the brunt of taunts like "peg leg" and "cripple." Despite some difficult obstacles and surgeries, and because of the love and support of the most wonderful parents, I graduated from college, met this wonderful man, and gave birth to and raised three accomplished children. I taught school for three years before giving that up to stay home and be a great (or at least competitively good) mom. When they were all in school full time, I found a new career as a Practice Administrator for a busy pediatric group. I firmly believe that God chose this path for me so that I would meet, and become close friends, with so many physicians in the community. They have come to my rescue during this latest health crisis with advice and the best of care.
I have pretty much sailed through surgery and chemotherapy with no loss in stride and I don't miss the opportunity to go to lunch with friends or attend a party. I refuse to let cancer define the last 20 years of my life. Your posts give my great hope!

Re: Who We Are
 

THANK YOU for making this a sticky!

Re: Who We Are
 

Hello,
My husband and I were filmmakers, mainly making documentaries and music films. He directs, we co-write, co-produce and I edited. I retired in '99 when I was first diagnosed because editing was too time consuming for me to continue and soon after that we moved to the south of France and changed our life completely and haven't regretted it.
we love to travel, garden, read. We've been married forever and he's been great through all my illnesses.
Yesterday we and our rescue dog, a griffon, (photo) drove to Italy and had lunch there. Love this life.
After my recurrence in 2004, I was hesitant to make plans too far out but over the last several years (even whle still getting Herceptin) we decided to travel widely and have traveled all over Asia and still continuing to travel.
What's nice about this thread is how everyone has taken control of their life and living it well, hopefully we can all continue to do so.
health and happiness
sarah
I forgot to mention that along with a psychologist and chemo nurse, I helped found a Cancer Support Group for Anglophones in Mougins in the south of France, we are now celebrating our 3rd year and hope to continue to help people here. We all speak fluent French as well and have French members, Dutch, Chilean, German, Canadian (me), Danish, English and American. Our temp website is:
www.csg06.therivierawoman.com

Re: Who We Are
 

My name is Maryann and I am 52 years old. I am the Regional Compliance Officer for an integrated health system in Portland, Oregon. I was born in Portland, and returned 4 years ago to take my current job after living in San Francisco and Seattle for 10 years. This is where my family is, so it's nice to be home.

I am single - never married - and currently without pets. Come to think of it, I don't even own a house plant. I have 5 older brothers and I am the only girl in my family. My father is still alive and well, but I lost my mother 14 years ago (and still miss her everyday). I have 10 beautiful neices and nephews, and 9 (soon to be 10) beautiful grand neices and nephews.

I love to travel and was lucky enough to work on a cruise ship for a time after college. That started a life long love of exploring the world. I also enjoy cooking and reading. I am currently obsessed with the "Game of Thrones" series of books by George RR Martin. Not getting much sleep these days because I stay up too late reading.

Re: Who We Are
 

Hi i'm nikki, i'm married to a wonderful man, have a son of 23 & daughter of 21 & we have 2 dogs. I live in New Zealand, I love life, I have travelled & intend to travel more. I currently work part time at my local hospital.

Re: Who We Are
 

My name is Pam, I am 59 years old and I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been married for 36 years (gulp!) and my husband is the rock on which my present existence rests. I have one son, who is 24 and still living at home - so proud of him, and hope to see him "settled" and happy. I come from a big family, with three brothers and three sisters. My working life was in teaching, first in high schools, then teaching English to adult migrants and refugees in the tertiary sector. I retired a couple of years ago, mainly because I was sick of the bureaucracy.
For five years I have been an active volunteer with a breast cancer peer support and information service based here in Melbourne. I am currently "on leave", as the advanced diagnosis is still too raw and treatment hasn't settled to routine.
I love reading and have eclectic tastes; to me, a day without a few hours immersed in a book is wasted. My other interests include film, theatre, restaurants and travel - all of which I do as often as possible. I am quite fit, except for the week after chemo, and work out for about 30 minutes a day, as well as doing a lot of walking.
I now have a sense that my life is finite and hope to enjoy myself as much as possible in what time remains.

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Hello,

My name is Idelle Davidson. I'm coming up on 7 years NED. Hooray!! This group means a lot to me. It was the first place I turned when I was diagnosed and needed support from others with HER-2. This is a wonderful, wonderful community.

I'm also a health writer. I co-authored a book with Dan Silverman at UCLA called, "Your Brain After Chemo: A Practical Guide to Lifting the Fog and Getting Back Your Focus." I have a blog devoted to "chemo brain" at www.YourBrainAfterChemo.blogspot.com if you'd like to come visit.

I also have an article in the Huffington Post this week about ASCO. The organization sets standards for cancer care yet their chemo consent form that patients sign is outdated and doesn't include warnings about treatment-related memory side effects. If you're interested, here's the link. Would be curious to know what you think.

In the meantime, it's good to be here. I don't always participate -- life gets in the way. But it always feels good to come back.

Best to all.

Idelle

Re: Who We Are
 

In my past life I was a psychiatric nurse, working mostly outpatient, walk-in clinics. I went through a hippie phase and worked drug treatment programs. Finally realized I was an alcoholic myself and am now sober for 27 years!
At age 50 I decided to paint and found I am a pretty good artist, have won awards, etc. I consider it a gift of sobriety!
Do alot of volunteer work. Currently with animal shelter. Also a Navigator at the Cancer Center, working with newcomers. Started a Journal Group there too
My husband is an airline pilot so we have traveled to interesting places even though I dont love to fly!
No kids, 2 great dogs.
Keeping the faith.

Re: Who We Are
 

My name is Mike and Im the lucky husband of a wonderfull woman named Barb. Weve been married 31 years and Id be lying if I said they were all as wonderfull as she is. In our earlier years I was the typical young, selfish all about me husband. I dont know what she saw in me but I thank God she hung in there. We had 4 fantastic children 3 girls then "finally" a boy. December 16th 2009 is a day we will never forget, we were awakened at 3:00 AM by the local police requesting our presence at a home in town. We were told it had something to do with our oldest daughter who had been struggling to make sense of this life after a long relationship she was in fell apart. In the car on the way to this home we talked about our Kristen and what we could do to help her only to arrive and find out she had passed away in her sleep after apparently celebrating her 34th birthday a little to hard. An autopsy would be inconclusive and we were left to wonder WHY? Shortly after learning of Kristens death Barb became aware of a small lump in her left breast but just couldnt deal with it and attempted to sweep it under the rug so to speak. After several months of a nagging "pulled muscle" in her back I insisted we go to the doctor and this is when she shared her concerns of what she knew to be Breast Cancer. Needless to say after approximately 8 months of untreated activity the cancer spread to her spine and lungs. The doctors here have been great they treated the spot on her spine immediately with radiation then started Navelbine and Herceptin to try and get control of the cancer which they did for several months. Its been a roller-coaster ride neither of us would wish on anyone. There is so much hope on this site I have learned so much about treatments and the amazing spirit you all have within you. I lost my mother do Breast Cancer 25 years ago and can remember my father flying from the Chicago area to Philadelphia once a month for treatments. We have come so far since those days and have learned so much about how to treat this. God has been so good to Barb and I and our family in the last couple of years. We trust him to have His way with us and lean on Him for understanding. Thank you all for being here and showing us how to fight.

Re: Who We Are
 

I also went back to that older thread and here it is updated. Before cancer, I had my own business, doing faux finishes and murals. I now teach various biology courses at community college about 45 minutes from my home. Throughout grad school I did everything I could to get out of teaching. Most of the time I had a research assistantship. Because of lymphedema I could no longer do the faux finishes and found myself applying for a teaching position. I was scared to death. My throat tightened, my palms sweated, for weeks. Then it got better. I really enjoy teaching and just finished my third year. There are so many things that I want to do that I don't know how long I will teach.
I have two beautiful daughters And nine wonderful grandchilden. My husband, Dale has been a part of my life, on and off (as a friend and now husband), for over twenty five years now and I am so glad that I have him.
We both love making things and gardening, we have many interests in common. I still paint and some of my work can be seen on my fan page on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lesli...71146169643748

Leslie

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Hi all. My name is linda. and I was dxed w/ stage IIIC seven yrs ago. I am married to my true soul mate who didn't run for the hills when I was dxed. I have one grown dtr and 3 Grands and feel blessed every day.
I have always. known Breast Cancer in my life as it has coursed through the veins in all of my mother's family and sadly they are all lost to this dx. I became a nurse in my early yrs, but was never passionate about my work. Now, I live in a tropical paradise now, focused happy as a clam am totally committed to my my passion, which is working with Breast Cancer Patients.

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Hi- I'm Jeri. I love this site! I was diagnosed in July (2012) and am still trying to get a grip on this entire thing.

I am very lucky. I am 56 years old and have 4 fabulous children (my FAB 4) and 7 grandchildren. Three of those 7 were born last year (2 are in the picture with me). They are such a blessing and joy in my life. I have been married to my husband for 5 years but I feel like we have known each other forever. He is the most unselfish person I know and the greatest strength I have.

I have lived in Utah most of my life but have also lived in Egypt, California and Texas. I have worked the past 27 years with foster children and now adoption. I was adopted at birth so working with adoption means a lot to me. I love to read, ride my mountain bike or road bike, hang out with my family and now photography. My husband bought me an amazing camera as I told him I needed something to do besides think of cancer. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about photography and hope some day to actually be good at it!!

I, like so many of you, have a strong belief in God and in a Cure! I have appreciated this site so much and the kind and supportive words from so many of you. Thank you~

Jeri

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http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...&highlight=fun

This thread reminded me of one of my favorites from the olden days. It contains a lot of the same stuff from long ago. Isn't it great that there are so many of us still here to remember and love those who are no longer with us. I think we may be in the majority. Nothing much is new with me but I am getting older.
And I could bore you to tears with a summation of all the other stuff that has happened to me but I will not do that. It is tedious.
And I believe many of you could probably top me.
Love and Hugs,
Marlys