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Old 01-01-2008, 02:39 PM   #26
Andrea Barnett Budin
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: LAND OF YES! w/home in Boca Raton, Florida Orig from L.I., N.Y. Ever hovering IN THE NOW...
Posts: 1,904
Wink Dear Tricia And All!!!

Tricia, Tricia... You never cease to amaze me. Your beautiful face delights me, as do all your posts. You are wise and one of the most grounded, balanced people I have ever had the honor to know. You are a role model to me! You have fought with all your mind -- body, mind and Soul. You have bent your mind about unwanted realities and found a way to make peace with them. You are obviously connected to your Truest Self, your Higher Self, and you just radiate glory. It would be impossible not to love you!

I am, of course, deeply saddened by the loss of your oldest granddaughter and your daughter's ongoing struggle to somehow accept this harsh truth. Surely, her Spirit goes on, as death is not the end of our story. She still IS in the most sacred of ways, in the Spiritual Realm, apart from us, yet with you forever. And you will meet with her again, when it is time. NO RUSH!

Meanwhile -- how does one accumulate 32 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren?! How many children did you have?? Upon reading of just one great grandchild (your newest blessing!) I was covered in a shivery chill of sheer bliss for you. This is a dream and a goal of mine that I dare to harbor! Nothing is impossible, right Tricia?! How amazing Life is. Filled with drama, new life and the end of one (as we know it), yet I feel certain we move on, or *pass on* to another way of being, far more blissful and serene than we've ever known. We go *home*... And Life goes on...

Sending you my deep admiration, my sincerest condolences, my heartfelt congratulations and my prayers for you, and all of us, to enjoy a new year full of fresh possibilities we once thought unattainable. We are each so much stronger and braver than we ever imagined. In our darkest moments, this is revealed to us.


HAPPY 2008!
Andi

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Andi BB
'95 post-meno dx Invasive LOBULAR w/9cm tumor! YIKES + 2/21 nodes. Clear mammo 10 mnths earlier. Mastec/tram flap reconst/PORT/8 mnths chemo (4Adria/8CMF). Borderline ER/PR. Tamoxifen 2 yrs. Felt BLESSED. I could walk and talk, feed and bathe myself! I KNEW I would survive...

'98 -- multiple mets to liver. HER2+ 80%. ER/PR- Raging, highly aggressive tumors spreading fast. New PORT. 9 mnths Taxotere Fought fire w/fire! Pronounced in cautious remission 5/99. Taxotere weekly for 6 wks, 2 wks off -- for 9 mnths. TALK ABOUT GRUELING! (I believe they've altered that protocol since those days -- sure hope so!!)
+ good old Vit H wkly for 1st 3 yrs, then triple dosage ev 3 wks for 7 yrs more... The "easy" chemo, right?! Not a walk in the park, but not a freight train coming at 'ya either...

Added Herceptin Nov '98 (6 wks after FDA fast-tracked it for met bc). Stayed w/Vit H till July '08! Now I AM FREE! Humbly and eternally grateful for this life-saving drug! NED since '99 and planning on keeping it that way. To hell w/poor prognosis and nasty stats! STOPPED VIT H JULY '08...! REMAIN STABLE... Eternally grateful...Yes is a world & in this world of yes live (skillfully curled) all worlds ... (e e cummings) EVERY DAY I BEAT MY PREVIOUS RECORD FOR # OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS I'VE STAYED ALIVE. Smile KNOWING you too can be a miracle. Up to me and God now...
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