THIS IS MY NOW time...!!!!!!!!!!

[michka]

Dear Andy BB, I am so happy you posted and that you are well. I remember at the beginning of my journey when I was down and suffering, I would read your posts to give me courage and stop having negative thoughts. Just when I needed sun again your post arrived! take care Andy, we love you Michka

[Ellie F]

Oh Andy it is just so lovely that your hope and inspiration reach across the pond.You epitomise the saying that if one person can beat this disease so can others.
I wish you continued happiness.

Hugs
Ellie

[Pray]

Priceless!

[Joan M]

Andi, Great to hear that you continue to do well. You are an inspiration to all of us!! Joan

[sarah]

Great Andi, what a wonderful post, totally inspiring. so happy for you.
hugs and love
sarah

[suzan w]

Andi! Great to hear from you...I am not on the boards much these days as I am traveling a lot without much internet. It was so good to read your post and know that you are still doing well and feisty too!!! Keep it up!!! XOX Suzan

[lkc Gumby]

Hi Andi,
Unbeleivably I was just wandering how you were doing. I have been following your inspiring posts since I received my " poor Prognosis" in 2005. Your posts helped me tremendously in those early days. Its' now 7 plus yrs later. I am well and living large, totally in the present and thankful everysecond of ever day. A much belated thank you dear girl for being the rock of inspiration and strength to me when I needed it the most.
blessings to you!

[tricia keegan]

Andi I too love reading your posts and I'm so happy for you that you're doing so well and delighted to share your joy

[Vicky]

Andi, I absolutely feel the energy and light pouring out of your words. Its wonderful to both read, but also truly absorb the peace and sense of calm they bring me! Thank you for taking the time to post and encourage us all!

I usually get an odd look when I say I am lucky too- and I mean it in the way you do- I still function well and mostly I feel well and that is not to be taken lightly. Blessings to you!

[Sandra in GA]

Many thanks for your inspirational words and thoughts, Andi.

[CoolBreeze]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE amazing stories like yours! You are an inspiration to people like me, who have had mets for one year only. It's been a rough road and I can only imagine what you've been through but I want to be like you someday!

[dawn]

Thank you so much for your post. It is just what I needed at a very trying time. I have just lost a very dear friend from BCO boards this past week and it has sent me into a spin. Things have a funny way of working. It's been awhile since I've checked with this board and tonight the first thing I saw was your post. Just reading it I could feel myself being uplifted again. I begin my 3rd cycle of cisplatin and gemzar this week and was feeling very down about it and if I would get stable or ned with my scans in 2 weeks. Thank you so much for your post. I think it may have been the boost I needed to become positive again.

dawn

[sassy]

Thanks for lifting all our spirits, Andi! What inspiration!

[karen z]

thanks for your inspirational post.
you brightened our lives.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

IMPORTANT THOUGHTS TO SHARE. I so want to offer inspiration to those struggling. I always felt during my toughest years on chemo, dealing with the angst that comes with the journey, that I was on a path. That I saw the end result -- my living and surviving it all -- and I just had to do what I had to do to get there.

I used the power of my thoughts. They are energy. They are sensed, and responded to, by others, by our bodies and by the Universe!!!

That is about the hugest Life Lesson I discovered.

Our bodies hear EVERYTHING we think, say or whisper. And they respond accordingly. They have no sense of humor, so thoughts like -- This is killing me -- are verboten. We need to troll our thoughts consistently, as we sometimes mindlessly mentally babble, you know? So we must take charge and consciously realize what we are focusing our minds on. It's so important.

WHAT WE THINK E X P A N D S. The power of the energy of thoughts is mighty. Once we fully realize that, we become unbelievably EMPOWERED. Able to control our destiny. Blessed to become the Captain of our Soul, the Master of our Fate!

It is hard, once diagnosed with cancer, not to think all day, Oh, my God! I have cancer. I could die. To be realistic, I have to face that. BUT -- WE NEED TO GET A HOLD OF OURSELVES. SHAKE OURSELVES. Understand that those kind of thoughts are -- dangerous to our healthy and well-being.

I learned, almost immediately, to live AS IF. I K N E W that I would live! My Spirit told me this on the day before my mastectomy. After a week of mammogram, sonogram, breast surgeon, oncologists, tests of every previously unknown kind checking my body from my toes to the tip of my head, pre-op tests (including stress tests, EKG, MUGA, blood blood and more blood) and my head racing in every direction -- I K N E W not to call the funeral home just yet. I had a smile on my face, blood pressure 120 over 80. I felt joyful and serene. KNOWING I would have to navigate rough waters but in the end -- the heroine lives...

I K N E W I wanted to live. And I K N E W THAT I FULLY INTENDED to live. I didn't know yet that our clear Intentions and our EXPECTATIONS are key to success. Now I include them in my thoughts, and mantras, daily. HEALTHY AND WELL. When I have an issue -- I instruct my body to HEAL. We have the power to heal ourselves. Honest, we do.

If you listen to Olympic stars or anyone who has just accomplished something astounding there is a common thread. They all say -- I K N E W I was going to... And if you listen to those who fail, they too commonly say -- I just K N E W that I wouldn't...

So when I say -- KNOW that you are going to achieve your goals, Own it and make it real -- there's a whole lot of positive passionate energy in KNOWING a thing!!! Don't ever forget that... Hold on to it. Tight.

I envision myself far, far, far into the future. At graduations and such. Specifically. In vivid detail. That too sends a message, to my body, and to the Universe. Both respond -- in kind.

So make absolutely certain that your thoughts, what you concentrate on all day, isn't merely reasonable (reflecting statistics, past experience, seeing others lose their battles and feeling crushed by that). The thinking of others can doom you once you take it on as your own. YOU have the power to compose the dialogue that will play out in your head!! KNOW it is being heard by your body and by the Universe itself. And, that it will be responded to IN KIND. Claim your chosen dream!

Stop being reasonable.

Reach for the previously thought unimaginable.

Yes, you will falter. Get back up anyway.

Yes, you can do it! See it, feel it, own it.

Make it real!

Listen to your Inner Voice.

It is your Spirit, your sacred Soul, guiding you.

Remember -- when you are passionate,

life is electrifying.

So adamantly refuse to renounce

your battle for your dreams.

Stay in The Now, full of love, giving and gratitude.

You must vow not to let

the noise of others’ thinking doom you.

KNOW a thing with all your heart and let it be.

Burst forward with focused fire;

Create impossibilities…

With Grace and Love and thoughts of so many
of you on this site, as always, Andi

[StephN]

Dear Andi of Rarified Womanhood -

Yes, I have also heard the oncologists start to use the "other C word" for us long time remission types. Two years ago at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, those words were said out loud and the doctors who know the likes of us are in the process of gleaning info to share with each other as to our paths to this point. (Up to the point HIPA allows.)

I had a very interesting chat with a Senior Staff Scientist at Genentech who wants to know more about those of us who had many years of Herceptin, went off it and have remained NED. I told him there are several of us who share this previously unbelieved path.

At five years out, they were mildly interested and now some of us are at 10 years, off our precious Vitamin H, and this has them really curious.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Takes a lot to get their attention it seems. Even when I was on Vit H and NED I thought they should be studying the likes of us "rarified Women"! And now...

I also believe that those who benefited from being in a position to get Herceptin (and respond well to it) from the getgo are doing outstandingly well.

Others must find their personal magic bullet, and that is to me the hardest of roads. I applaud those Warrior Women who I have been from this site, and in chemo rooms from NY to Fl, who forge on with astounding Grace and Courage!

Please read my IMPORTANT THOUGHTS TO SHARE post (above, post #35 in this thread) , my Sisters, if you haven't already. I honestly believe there's some hard-found pith in there. I had to really dig to discover some of that insight.

Wisdom and answers aren't always a mathematical formula based on logic. Einstein said something about the most amazing truths being unproveable and unseen. (I know I botched your quote, Albert, but I believe I got to the heart of the matter to make the point...)
Andi

[ElaineM]

You are absolutely right Andrea !!

[tricia keegan]

Andi I wish your posts or some of them could be here as a sticky to refer to when ever I feel I need a little uplifting, which you always manage to do!

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

ELAINE -- SAW YOU'RE LUCKY 13 NOTE AND CLICKED AND FOUND THIS --FROM 2010! Your post is below...

I AM LUCKY #13...! When I recurred in '98 throughout my liver, my positive attitude faltered. Big time. I read that less than 15% survived what I had. They (my oncs) didn't expect me to live the year.

Then my friend said, Come on, you've done this before, you'll do it again. I told her about the less than 15%. I was horrified. She said, FINE, MY LUCKY # IS 13. AND I'M GIVING IT TO YOU! YOU'RE #13!! That's it, she insisted. Done. 15 will survive. You're #13. She had a rhinestone pin made up for me that says --#13.

I have it by my sink. In my face. From the moment she spoke those words the #13 kept popping up in my life. The very next morning my injection materials for a really really low white blood cell count arrived at my door. The driver said, Just sign here. I'd forgotten my glasses. I looked at the blur before me and asked, Where do I sign. RIGHT HERE HE SAID. YOU'RE #13.

At the bakery, I got my ticket as I stood on line. I was #13. And on and on, to this day. My husband put it on his license plate. His initials followed by 13.

It's official, I thought. Every time I saw a 13, I K N E W that the Universe had my back!

And here we both are, Elaine! God bless.

The next August (after re dx) my 2nd grandchild was born. ON THE 13th of Aug! (My dghtr called upset, she was in labor, I was going to witness the birth as I had with the 1st. I'm on my way, I said. NO, she squealed, I can't give birth today! It's Friday the 13th. YES, I told her, 13 is lucky -- remember. Oh right! And soon I saw my first grandson somersault out into this world with his flaming red hair! Awesome...

MUCH LOVE,
ANDI

ElaineM
Senior Member



Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,951


12 years and still counting
Happy New Year !! Hauoli Makahiki Hou !!
I couldn't let this occassion pass without wishing all of you peace, good health and joy in 2011 and beyond.
I was diagnosed in early January, 1999. A doctor told me I had 6 months to live at the beginning of 2000. I remember that day. I did not say anything. I just laid on his exam table quietly, but in my heart and mind I decided that was not going to happen to me !!!!!!!!
I didn't know how I was going to accomplish that task that day, but I figured it out as I went along. I learned as much as I could, was not afraid to challenge doctors when it was appropriate to do so and found ways to get the things I needed. This journey has not always been easy, but I kept going even though I changed the route a couple of times.
I changed doctors when I needed to do that. On the other side of the coin I am still working with one or two doctors I first saw in 1999. Thankfully they are willing to travel with me through this journey.
I am still learning and putting one foot in front of the other. I promised my doctors I will be showing up for check ups when I am 90. That is my goal.
Never give up !!!!!!! Determination, believing in the possibility of success, learning as much as we can, refusing to give up, and being proactive and aggressive are the keys to long term survival.
All the best to each and everyone of you !!!!!!!!!! Never give up !!!!!!!!!!!
__________________
Peace,
ElaineM
12 years and counting
http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=48247
Lucky 13 !! I hope so !!!!!!
http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=52807
"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." author unknown
Shared by a multiple myeloma survivor.