September 2008 Archives

Voluntary poisoning at it's finest.

In the words of Kool & The Gang, "Celeeeeebration time... come on!" Let's celebrate!

Today was a great day, it was my last chemotherapy treatment.

My closest friends and family were there to support - brother K, friend L, partner C and daughter T!  My brother brought me balloons and a fabulously delicious, super moist lemon pound cake.  At the end of my treatment the infusion nurses gather together and threw confetti and presented me with a certificate of completion - super cool!

Although I won't be receiving anymore chemotherpy drugs I will still have to return every 21 days for the next six months to the infusion room to be administered the drug Herceptin.  Herceptin was included in my "chem cocktail" all though it is not a chemotherapy drug.  Because of the type of breast cancer I have I must have this treatment for a full year.

It is a monoclonal antibody which is a type of biological therapy.  Herceptin only works on breast cancer patients with high levels of the protein HER2. HER2 is found on the surface of some cancer cells. The drug attaches itself to the HER2 protein and stops epidermal growth factor from reaching the cancer cells. This prevents the cancer cells from multiplying and growing.

I will meeting with the Radiologist Oncologist in the next 2-3 weeks for my Radiation consultation which will begin some time in October - every day for 6.5 weeks - eek!

Better enjoy my weekend - because I know I will feel like crap next week!

Getting closer to the finish line.

I was excited to check out two new movie releases this past weekend - The Family That Preys and The Women.  Dallas was forecasted to have 12 inches of rain over the weekend, so what better way to spend it than by checking out some good flicks?  We didn't get anywhere near the amount of rain they said - but that's not unusual for Dallas.  No one can predict the weather accurately here!

Anyways.... back to the movies.  I won't review them in case anyone still wants to check 'em out.

The Family That Preys

Very good!  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Probably one of Tyler Perry's best productions.  It was good to see Sanaa Lathan's versatility by playing a not so nice girl role.

The Women  

le sigh......

I had high hopes for this movie -  I mean come on, it has an all star cast!

Jada, Debra, Meg all let me down.  The movie was extremely slow and boring.  Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with the 1939 original movie, but if it was anything like the re - make I don't want to know about it.  Jada's character is a lesbian and was added as it was not in the 1939 film.  They should have left it out!  Her role was kinda small, and I feel a bit over exzaggerated.  They had her walking hard and sitting slouched in her chair like a dude.  Trust me, all lesbians don't have these mannerisms, and I actually found it to be a bit offensive. 

Here is a snippet from an interview with Jada about the role:

Jada Pinkett-Smith: I play a lesbian, which is fantastic, and I got to be in love with Eva Mendes, which is even more fantastic. Will was like, 'Oh, I had her already. You can have my leftovers'. I love Eva. That's my girl. We had a good time together. That was one of the reasons I wanted to do 'The Women'. It was a first time female director. She had been working on this project for 13 years and it's called 'The Women' and its an all-female cast, and I was like, 'I have to do this'. It was just the statement alone.
Do you know any lesbian that you could have gone to for a frame of reference for the character?
Jada Pinkett Smith: I know lots of lesbians. (Laughs). I think there is a lesbian inside of me that I just pulled out. (Laughs)
Was there one scene that stood for you while making this?
Jada Pinkett Smith: Well, they took my favorite scene out. I thought I was going to the opportunity to kiss Eva Mendes, but that didn't happen.

Yeah Jada, I bet you did!

its a big deal for me!  Really, it is!

In the past, I would  blare my music while I danced around my room and made up my bed.  I would crank it a little higher so that when I showered I could hear it - which lead to dancing in the shower while I lathered up and rinsed off.

Since the breast cancer diagnosis the dancing started to dwindle, after surgeries, dealing with chemotherapy and not feeling good a lot of the time I don't remember the last time I danced in the shower.  I had a rough week last week following treatment.  I'm on the rebound this week and for the last two days I have felt really good.

In preparing to get dressed this morning, I thought about playing some music for the first time in months.  I started iTunes up on my Mac Mini and instinctively started to dance around the room.  Started the shower, and when I got in I started dancing.  This is my body, mind and spirit telling me - "I feel great today!"

I have one chemo treatment left on Sept 19th, now that is something to dance about!

Now, if my eyebrows would just grow back lol!

Two of my favorite people!  Yes, I'm dating myself, but I have LOVED Boy George since I was in high school back in the mid 80s!

Boy George on Obama's "Yes We Can" speech:

"I was deeply moved and motivated by Obama's 'Yes We Can' speech and I used it as a metaphor for personal change because there have been huge changes in my own life this past year. 'Yes We Can' equates as 'Yes I Can' from my own personal perspective and like many people I am excited by the prospect of Obama being the first black man in the White House and the next President of America. Most politicians fail to live up to the huge expectations we have for them but Obama exudes a sense of calm and after the stutterings of George Bush I feel he is just what America needs. I'm not too concerned about alienating Republicans because I'm pretty sure my audience is mostly Democratic!"

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Yes We Can!

One thing I love, modern furniture - the other... breast cancer, not so much!

I'm a sucker for design - and modern design is my ultimate favorite!  These classic modern chairs are from designer icons like Philippe Starck, Charles and Ray Eames to name a few.  They are coming in "breast cancer awareness" pink.  The chairs are being auctioned off by DWR (Design Within Reach) in the fight against breast cancer with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

The classics up for aution are:

Eames Management Chair (Retail $1,999)
Wassily Chair (Retail $1,824)
Saarinen Tulip Stool (Retail $1,014)
Heritage Rocker (Retail $825)
Swan Chair (Retail $3,045)

As you can see these classics ain't cheap, so they will probably go for big bucks in the auctions.  I'm not a huge "pink" fan, but these actually are really cute!  The auctions will be at the end of September.  Check the DWR website the week of September 22 for details and to place your bids.

I will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on October 16th in Dallas.  Mid October I will have just started Radiation Therapy so hopefully I won't fall out at the race :)