Tykerb Tigers need an Oprah show

[Adriana Mangus]

Whatever happened to this project? Is it something we are still interested in doing. I just came across this posting. Had no idea. I wrote to Oprah over a year ago and suggested for her producer to put a group of us together so that women-especially the newly diagnosed- know that there is hope. I have walked this road more than once, we're the face of hope, compassion, bravery, assertiveness, etc. etc. Please let me know.

We can always put together a video, this is an idea, we introduced ourselves no more than 3 minutes each., begin by stating your name, year of diagnosis, treatments, recurrences if any etc. then we will circulate the video among those who want to participate, once completed we'll send it to Oprah!!

Sisters, what do you think?? I'd love to go to Chicago and meet a lot of our sisters who live in the South, East, and Midwest,etc. what a wonderful idea.

Please respond.

[hutchibk]

The project got a little side-tracked when the site went down. And, I have been in two hells.... 1) house buying hell (we close on Tues) and 2) starting Tykerb/Xeloda/what to do about the brain mets hell. And I have been trying to work and will be traveling a little the next couple of weeks. After the 3rd week in June, I think I can sit and devote a little time to it. In the meantime, keep posting girls! Lets post ideas for a proposal. In the meantime, I will work on getting the name of the person at Oprah that my friend dealt with and see if we can get our foot in the door.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Brenda, honey -- you blow me away! What you're dealing with, all at the same time -- YOU ARE WONDER WOMAN! I'd think it can't be done, but here you are doing it all. Stay strong, positive and determined. May the brain MRI go well. HAPPY MOVING! What hell is that?! Stress is your middle name. May you somehow find moments of peace in the coming weeks. I will say extra prayers for you. You deserve a badge of courage, a medal of honor and 13 platinum gold stars. (13 is my lucky #. I will share with you.) Several times a day, go within, in silence, and connect with that Something that is the True You. It is your Spirit. It wants what you want. It knows, beyond knowledge. Follow your heart. Listen to your Inner Voice. And talk to your body! Tell it to get it's act together. Command it to HEAL. BE WELL. HEALTHY. I do this every day still (since '95). I stay connected to my Soul. I swear it is a life-saving, life-changing experience. Sending you loving, healing energy... ANDI

[hutchibk]

I am not as amazing as you might think... I do allow myself alot of down time. Just can't afford very much for the next couple of weeks. Luckily we don't have to move right away. Our lease isn't up until July 31. It's just trying to get the danged thing closed has been a headache, but we are almost there!
My counselor is teaching me meditation... it is so lovely. I am on the path to serene, but it is just a little out on my reach for the time being.
'om namo guru dev namo'

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Brenda, I read your signature/med history. You have been through a lot and you should be proud of your personal growth, the courage and strength you've uncovered within yourself. I meditate daily. I go deep inside myself, in silence. Sometimes Andreas Bocelli's Romanza helps me float up to a cloud w/my eyes closed. As I go within, fully relaxed from my toes inch by inch up to the top of my head, including every little aspect of my body -- I then imagine myself as weighing about 2,000 lbs. From that I imagine myself as a feather and with that I float up and look down at myself. As I do this, I become SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE SELF I KNOW. I become connected to my Spirit. I re-identify myself. I am more than a mind and a body. I AM BODY, MIND AND SOUL. I am truly a Soul. We are each Soul.

I have come to see others as a Soul. To treat them as a sacred being, as they truly are. I try to talk to their Higher Self, even when they are acting as their basest self. And the energy changes almost immediately.

You are energy. Your thoughts are energy. They go out from you on varying frequency waves -- into the Universe. They vibrate at a higher rate when filled with positivity (love, joy, serenity, belief, compassion, awe, gratitude). They vibrate slower when filled with negativity (anger, resentment, stress, the inability to forgive, remorse, sadness, fear, blame). THE UNIVERSE SENSES WHAT YOU ARE TRANSMITTING -- AND RESPONDS IN KIND. So what you think all day, the composition of the thoughts you dwell upon -- draws equal energy to you. Believing in your ability to call wellness to you fills you with thoughts that are pure and positive. Then you feel all the positive emotions those thoughts evoke. And the Universe sends you what you send it! Positivity draws more positivity. Negativity begets more negativity.

Remembering this as thoughts occur keeps you on track, to call your desired destiny to you. I was dx in '95 at age 50, post menopausal. 4th stage. Multiple mets to the liver in '98. Her2+. Poor prognosis from the getgo. But I was determined to endure whatever I had to (mastec/reconst/chemo then mets and Taxotere and the godsend, Herceptin, which I remain on since '98. You too can be a miracle. With the power of your thoughts. And through your meditation and your finding your True Self in meditation. You are a radiant Soul. Beautiful.

Tell me what 'om namo guru dev namo' translates into. It is a mantra? Sending you loving, healing energy... ANDI

[mrsd]

A BIG thanks to all here who visit and post, I mostly visit as you can tell. Maybe the way to get Oprah's attention is to post a link to this website? We need people to know that we are living with cancer, and I might add we are doing it very well!

[GemmaG]

HI Flori, HI Everybody, all my co-divas!
I had to stop taking Tykerb/Xeloda for a week due to severe rash, diarrhea, hives. etc....I'm back now lower dosing from 5 tykerb/day to 3/day now 4/day.....
I'm always looking forward to open my computer and read all your postings. I LOL and sometimes CIN (cry in silence) :-)
I agree with you Flori!

[SoCalGal]

Hi Ladies,

We can work together to be heard...I sent an email to Oprah the other day. I registered and stated briefly that we want to be seen and heard - so many messages of hope, so many strong, wise woman warriors.

On Oprah.com you then choose the Oprah Winfrey Show link. On the left, you can send them an email. If we all send an email it will get their attention.
xoxo Flori
Here's the link:
http://www2.oprah.com/email/reach/em...ch_fromu.jhtml

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

I sent my message! Do you get a signal that it has been received????Because I did not. Kept paring down, though within limit of 2000 characters. Hope I/we are heard! ANDI

[GemmaG]

I just did! We will be heard!

Hugs,
G

[hutchibk]

I just sent mine in, too.

Andi - I never answered you.... 'Om Namo Guru Dev Namo' means "I bow to the teacher within my soul, I bow to the friends that I've come to know." My counselor taught it to me, it is a Kundalini Mantra and it is used for healing balance of the chakras through the fingertips... the fingertips of each hand corresponds with the chakras as follows: thumb with 2nd chakra; index finger with 5th chakra; middle finger with 3rd chakra; ring finger with 6th chakra; and little finger with 4th chakra. I don't know much more than that, but I know I am experimenting with it as I learn more about meditation.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

BRENDA THAT IS SOOO BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for remembering to share that. I am reading a link Leslie posted in CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC and I have thrill chills. It speaks of connecting with that teacher within, with your Spirit and the INFINITE POSSIBILITIES that alignment holds for us.

We have each been thrust into a process of RENEWAL with our dx of bc. Mythologist, scholar, teacher and author Joseph Campbell speaks of "regeneration...a retreat from the desperations of the wasteland to the magic" within, "golden seeds (that) do not die". The Soul being eternal.

Medtation allows the "self-righting" mechanism of the body to come into play. Learning to "live in" in the positive images we create is key component of self-HEALING, I am reading. That resonates as a KNOWING I had but was not yet aware of. Having the ability to shift out of "the critical, analytic mode of information processing", to SEE beyond -- "inhibits the interfering signals of doubt and skepticism", says researcher Ian Wickramesekera.

Those "blessed" with the awareness of their healing capabilities have "easier access to...a primarily intuitive and emotional response, thather than a logical or rational one". Harvard anthropologist Richard Katz notes "healers" are "more 'expressive' and passionate'". They raise within heir bodies the "boiling energy", as he studies the African Kung Bushman tribal ceremonies. Katz points to healing being associated with unexpected recoveries. The experts are busy studying "psychological changes that might precede healing -- searching in effect, for a Tumor Necrosis Factor of the Mind".

Fascinating stuff! Makes my heart smile to know such prestigious inquirers are scrutinizing this virtually untapped, hidden resource within each of us.

Sending loving, healing energy to all my Soul Sisters... ANDI

[H&B]

Hi
I just wanted to quickly say that I think its a wonderful idea and that more positive publicity is required especially now that there are so many new targeted therapies being made avaialble and also in the pipeline. Stage 4 certainly comes with its multitude is preconcieved ideas that society has labeled from the past especially many parts of the medical profession adds to the doom and gloom story with a high level of ignorance and i think FEAR.
The ladies and men dealing with stage 4 today are stronger, smarter, more empowered than ever before and it really is time to change the streotype of both the stage and the disease.
Would also be a good way to highlight all the wonderful work being done in dozens of labs around the world that are investigating the use of targeted cancer medications that will reduce sideeffects and provice an individualised treatment plan.
When this translates to a wide spread acknowledgement that we as individuals can change our attitudes to what it means to live with this change in our bodies, then we will see the next generation not have the same FEAR of the C.
A full life is generally filled with love,understanding,and passion. I am blessed to be beside my wife who is in the club and dealing daily with the battles you all face, it is private and only those going through it will really truely understand. But certainly by bringing it out into the masses there will start to be more understanding, and more love for all those being touched with Cancer.

Good luck with your proposal and let me know if you would like any help from down under.

[LAURIE]

I just sent my e-mail to Oprah too!

[Sheila]

I did too/ I was watching the morning show with Mike And Juliet and they had on 2 breast cancer survivors who had written a book called
Nordies at Noon...it was about 4 BC survivors who were young, all became friends. 2 have since passed away...here is a link to the book.

http://www.nordiesatnoon.com

[GemmaG]

Each morning when I get up from my bed, first thing i do is thank HIm for another beautiful day. Yes, It's still beautiful even though I live with my stage 4 cancer mets here and there, pain here and there.
At 39 years old, single mom of two beautiful children. My daughter, almost 10 and my son, 8 years old who has autism.
I am armed with prayers, strenght, courage and determination.
All my sisters here are all fighters and we want to be heard.
My love to you all. Thank you for this support group.

Hugs,
G

[IRENE FROM TAMPA]

YESTERDAY... hope it gets to her or her producers.

Pls let me know if anyone hears anything.

[SoCalGal]

I noticed there were 801 views to this post. I hope that all 800 of us sent an email to Oprah.

If not, here's the link with which to email her producers.
(Oprah.com). It takes a few minutes but it would be great to get the message out there.

https://www.oprah.com/plugger/templa...lugId=B2100004

Here's what I wrote - feel free to copy (control c) and paste (control v):

Extraordinary women surviving the "C" word...tomorrow on OPRAH!

Someone recently said that stage four cancer, metastatic disease, is the new "C" word. With Aqua the new Brown, which was the new Black, I think that Mets is the new "C" word.

EVERYONE speaks out loud and with optimism about "regular" cancer but people still whisper about "stage 4" in an ominous tone, wide-eyed and sometimes with pity instead of compassion.

Since learning about my own stage 4 last month, I see that you can survive this, too, as is evident on a fantastic, supportive and highly informative breast cancer website, www.her2support.com.

Surviving is more than a wish, more than a prayer, it's a possibility.

It is important to educate the general public - to gain support as we keep fighting for a cure, for clinical trials. To show life with mets. Oprah can provide a forum to continue where Mrs. Edwards left off. There is more of a story to tell!

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Hey Flori,

I saw your post and had to send my message to Oprah -- AGAIN! Perhaps louder and clearer than the last time. Used your words as a jumping off point. Should have copied what I wrote to share, but...

You all know my spiel by heart by now any way. I love you all, sweet Soul Sisters. Flori, you're sounding more like yourself! This is very good news, as you are in my thoughts often and in my prayers as well.

I know you will soon be back to NED with your unsinkable Spirit and beautiful smile! Sending healing energy to all... ANDI

[jones7676]

I sent a note to Oprah too! I sure hope she and her staff seriously consider us! Way to go team!