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I spent last weekend at a 2-day training to become a certified counselor with Network Of Strength, a 24/7 peer support hotline for breast cancer patients and their loved ones.

I attended, along with 16 other women from around the country, and shared a hotel room with a woman whom I met at my oncology ward,  who was also in training.  Together we all learned how to help patients who call the hotline to discuss their most pressing issues and emotions while dealing with diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. I learned a lot about various aspects of the disease as well as resources that are available to patients.  I also learned a lot about the social prejudices that often keep wo(men) from seeking screening and treatment, and how to deal with people when they are at the end of their rope and want to end their lives.  It was an intense and packed-full weekend, but one that assured me that this is the direction my life needs to go as I seek to turn my cancer experience into something that helps other people. Network of Strength’s mission is this:

“…to ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.”

This week I took my online test and I passed! Starting Wednesday and Friday this week I will begin shadowing calls that come in through the 1-800 hotline, listening to my manager speak with people who call, and then reviewing various aspects of the conversations and what I have learned. Next week she will shadow me as I accept the calls. Within the next few weeks my computer and phone will then be wired to their hotline headquarters and I will begin to be scheduled with shifts to be covered throughout the week while I am at home.

This new position will force me to STAY home more, which I need to do in order to complete everything around the house and with  my business. I thought I would get a breather after the Christmas holiday rush, but things have picked up as much as they did in mid December!  The only way to ensure that I don’t get behind, is to commit to staying home more and filling the orders as they come in.

Good news is that I haven’t had any allergy outbreaks since beginning the daily Allegra last week, and the rest of my blood tests should be in by the end of this week.  Hopefully after the doctor reviews them all she can diagnose what the underlying cause of these are and what can be done to correct it. 

Tonight we have 2-6 inches of snow forecasted, this, following 5 inches we got over the weekend! I think 2010 is now making up for a lack of snowfall we haven’t had in the last 3 years!

Well today I saw the allergist, and can now add another to the long list of professionals treating me since cancer stepped in.  She was very nice and fit me into her busy schedule, even though I accidentally showed up 3 1/2 hours EARLY for my appointment (seems I got the chemo brain blunders again!) She wanted to keep the pile of photos I brought in to share with her colleagues.  Some of them were pretty “extraordinary”,  and had I not known it really had happened to me, I would have thought those pictures were photo shopped myself!

She is running a bunch of blood tests to check categories in my immune system. She is also testing other things like liver enzymes, red blood cell counts (anemic 3 months ago) , protein levels (which were low in October) and in about two weeks we should have an idea of where we can go from here.  In the meantime she has prescribed an Epi-pen (self injecting epinephrine syringe) and showed me how to use it and practice with a sample practice pen for use when the coughing episodes return causing potential airway constriction.  She also put me on a daily allergy medication in hopes that maybe I will see a reduction in frequency of reactions.

Tim & Koryn -touring Washington D.C. MLK Day January 18, 2010

I’ll see my other doctors in 2 weeks for follow ups, although nothing remarkable there to discuss.

Today was 60 degrees, a nice change from our cold and wintry blues!

I took a walk with the dog and hope to get some more walking in soon as I prepare for the 40 miles walk May 1-2. It’s going to be here before we know it! To view Curtis’ Avon Walk page you can go to

http://AvonWalk.org/GoTo/CurtisHutchison He thanks you, as do I , for all your support!

January 20, 2010

Yesterday I had one of the worst allergy attacks thus far. I woke up and felt like my eye was swollen. Well, it was. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast or taken any medications. In fact, I don’t take medications at all anymore, well, except for Tylenol now and then. SO this time I couldn’t even link it to THAT. Within 2 hours I looked like an absolute FREAK and couldn’t leave my house for fear of scaring little children! Not even to take a walk! I think I even scared the dog! I scared myself looking in the mirror!

January 20, 2010

I called the allergist and he told me to go ahead and take the Atarax, which is kind of like Benadryl.  He told me that he didn’t think they would be doing any skin testing on me next week anyways, and that this doesn’t sound like a typical food allergy (which is what they normally test for). But by the time I made that call, I had been in full BLOWN angio edema for several hours and the Atarax did nothing except make me very sleepy. (I almost missed American Idol because I fell asleep on the couch! Now we CAN’T have THAT happening!! :) ) So I am hoping to get some answers next week as to how to prevent this from going “full blown” (pardon the pun) again! They already tested me for the C-1 deficiency which I didn’t show to have, so maybe there are other immune disorders that they can test for. If anyone has ever heard of anything like this happening to patients who have been through chemotherapy I would love to hear from you!

I guess that having a sense of humor about it all can help ease the situation, and as with everything in this life, I am learning that laughing is better than crying about things that are not life threatening.  Besides, I have such great friends & family, and they’ve been through so much with me. This is one we won’t soon forget!

I just had to show off my new BANGS!

Chemo can do strange things ot the body months and even years later, I am learning!

The port removal site  on my arm developed a red, prickly and itchy rash about a day or two after surgery and is still there one week later. Seems I have developed a hypersensitivity to different substances now that chemo has compromised,  or rather – “confused”, my immune system.  Other allergic reactions have been occuring for the past 8 months to include angio adema, a swelling of my face and lips, as well. (Yes, this is really me and not NOT Angelina Jolie!) And no, it isn’t funny!  (Stop laughing!)  This lip swelling has actually happened to me at least 8 different times and I have now linked it to the use of Ibuprofen as well as some foods. I have been taking Ibuprofen my whole life and never had this happen before!  It is quite embarassing! The scariest reactions have been those where my throat begins to seize up and I can’t stop coughing.  This happened last week at lunch with some friends after eating Indian food. I took an oral allergy medication and it subsided shortly thereafter, but I still went home with the left side of my face swelled and the lower right lip swelled up!  I see an allergy specialist later this month to see what can be done about these.  Nothing seems to be helping the rash stop itching so I guess I have to just wait it out. (?)

I saw the oncologist for my one month follow up today. He has referred me for some spinal x-rays to see what could be the cause of my back pain and numbness in my upper spine. This has gone on for well over 6 weeks now so I thought I’d better mentiion it to him. He said if the films don’t show anything but the problem persists he will order an MRI. I asked him if I am being paranoid, and he said every former cancer patient is paranoid but with good reason. So he assured me he will always exhaust all possibilities before assuming that it is really nothing. As we know all too well, it can sometimes be “something”. Rarely, but sometimes.

The snow from 3 weeks ago is still on the ground here, but the sun decided to come out today, and the temperatures went above 38 degrees so I took the opportunity to enjoy a very long one hour walk as I have really got to start preparing for my Avon Walk! Just less than 4 months to go! Curtis is now actively soliciting donations for his walk. You can read his Avon Walk Page by going HERE . He leaves today to go back to college after a nice long month home.  Kyle left last week to go back for his last semester, so things just got much quieter around here. And Keith got word this week that he has been accepted into James Madison University (in Harrisonberg, Virginia where Kyle attends) in the fall, so we will be just one child away from a truly “empty nest”.

Ouch! I feel old!

Update 1-7-10 * Owie! My arm is very sore. The port removal went well, but it was surgery so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that it hurts now. Bandages can come off  Friday.  Full activities can resume in about a week.

Tomorrow is the big deportation!  The day I get my medi-port removed!  Before beginning chemotherapy last year, I had to have a port surgically inserted into my left , above the elbow on the underside, where the infusion needle could access my veins all year.  At one point someone came up to me this year and said, “You know you have a big bruise on your arm?!” But that is the only time anybody really noticed it and I had to explain.   Now that I have finished treatment, it is time to have that taken out.  A lot of people who undergo chemo, have theirs inserted

Port under skin

on the chest, but my hospital does things a little differently and places it in the arm, especially of breast cancer patients, since this leaves one less scar on the chest, and is virtually undetectable when my arm hangs at my side.  (The scar from my MRSA infection on the right arm is much worse and farther forward and quite noticeable, actually.)  But I am glad to put this stage of things behind me and to move forward.  Unfortunately, they do not put me to sleep for this procedure, and use only a local anesthetic in the surgical suite, so needless to say, I’m just going to be glad when it is all over! (Apparently putting it in takes longer and more manipulating than taking it out.) They will access the same small one inch incision site you see running horizontally my arm, and after removal, will simple stitch me up and send me on my way.  I’ll let you know if it is an easy as they make it sound!

My left arm with port installed under the skin

Happy 2010!

A few words of wisdom were given to me this first day of 2010.  I thought I would pass them along to you!  My personal favorites are numbers 1,  8,  18,  25,  33   Enjoy!

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.  Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone for everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

December 29th, 2008, one year ago, I began chemo therapy. The start of a path I never chose, but a path I had to take nonetheless.

I’ve come full circle now, able to look back and now find my direction on another path, that of wellness and healing.

The day following that first chemo infusion I remember Tim and me saying to each other that “chemo is a piece of cake!”,  and wondering what was everybody talking about? Chemo didn’t seem to affect me at all!  Then, about 24 hours later the walls came crashing down and thus began 6 months of my life on the couch.

I honestly don’t even remember much about those months. It’s sort of a big blur to me now, but I know that many angels encamped around me, protecting me, comforting me, and serving me in ways I had never imagined possible!  Some came in the form of human smiles, cards, meals, flowers, encouraging phone calls, and some in the form of a deep sleep, a relief from pain, a calm in my soul, a peace I couldn’t explain.

As I bring 2009 to a close in the next couple of days, I will always remember it, not as a horrible year, but as a year God showed His great love to me and reached down to my body and my spirit in very real and tangible ways. Had I never gone through this experience, I never would have known such goodness in people, such reliance on God, and His love to me in a reality few people ever grasp.

I pray that 2010 WILL be a Happy New Year for us all!

The Hutchison Family Tim & Koryn, Kyle (21), Curtis, (20), Keith (18), Kelli (16)

What is Christmas all about?  In the words of Charlie Brown’s character, Linus, I think it is said best…

Luke 2: 8 – 14

“In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the

fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the

Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone

around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to

them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great

joy which will be for all the people;  for today in the city of David there

has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. “This will be a

sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a

manger.” And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of

the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men .”

We wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season!

Our back deck December 20, '09

Our driveway!

100% there!

The Hutchison Family Christmas tree 2009

Yesterday was a day of celebration! I reached my $1,800.00  goal for fund raising for my Avon Walk for breast cancer, which I will participate in on May 1-2, 2010.  This only took me 2 months to accomplish and I could not have done it without the wondferful support of friends and family and strangers. Yes, even strangers!

A few months ago I met a woman in a support group at our local hospital. She recently contacted me saying that she wanted to help me with my fund raising by holding an in home party for Tastefully Simple, which is a company that offers things like dip mixes and soup starters, etc. I agreed and together we invited more than 100 people to attend.  Needless to say, the event was a HUGE success and the hostess and consultant donated 100% of their proceeds to my walk! Over $425!  This put me over the top of my goal and now I am focusing on helping my son Curtis and his girlfriend reach their goals. We will be walking together this spring.

At this time of holiday celebrations, I am reminded that there are people in this world who are selfless and generous and have given from their hearts for the good of someone they barely know. I am humbled and grateful, and I know that what often seems impossible, is a miracle in the making if we just believe!  This amount  of money seemed impossible to me 3 months ago, but I had faith that because I was determined, it would happen and IT DID!

My Avon Walk Page <—

Curtis’ Avon Walk Page <—–

Rachael’s Avon Walk Page <—

Click Here or on the arrow below to watch this beautiful video about HOPE and achieving miracles!

Wishing you many Merry Christmas miracles!

I Survived!

* 12/05/09 Update below Today is my final Herceptin infusion and I will be officially finished with “chemo” therapy! (Some say Herceptin isn’t really chemo but it is a chemical designed to attack cancer cells, and it goes into your body through an IV and can damage your heart  – it just doesn’t make you ’sick’) Yeah! I’m doing the happy dance!  I can have my port removed next month and bid farewell  to the frequent visits to the oncology ward. I have been declared NED, which means No Evidence of Disease. When you have had cancer you’ve never really been “cured” because the risk of recurrence is always there, but remission is a good place to be and I intend to stay there.

I must admit it is a little strange and scary to not be actively treated for my cancer any longer. It puts me in what feels like a vulnerable position. Part of me wishes I could actually continue Herceptin. It hasn’t been used long enough in cases like mine to know whether or not the long term coverage is promised  to keep Her2Neu cancer away. But I am keeping my faith and believing that I’ve done everything possible to stay healthy and that is all any of us can do,right?  Lifestyle changes including regular aerobic exercise is one way to offer myself a 3% reduced recurrence rate, and so that is something I began months ago. The dietary changes are a little harder to  implement since the whole family would have to be on board. One thing at a time, one day at a time. I’ve done the “biggies” – surgery, chemo, Herceptin and now hormone therapy. The rest lies in God’s hands, the ultimate healer!

My hair is really starting to come in now and lots of people have asked me if I will keep it this way. I’m thinking NO, but as soon as it gets long again, if I decide to cut it it will be on my terms. I just still really miss being able to comb its long tresses, tie it off in a pony tail, twist it up in a bun…I even have recurring dreams about doing that! On a positive note, it sure makes getting ready in the morning very quick!

My MRSA infection is healing and I’ll be meeting with Infectious Diseases next week to come up with an action plan to eradicate it completely. My surgeon believes that once my port ( direct line to my bloodstream) is removed, and I stop frequenting a hospital setting (i.e. the chemo ward), that it will eventually stop. He has provided me with a special bandage which is changed daily and used for burn patients to help aide in the healing of the many scars MRSA has left on my body.

The Avon Walk is just 5 months away now and guess what? I am very close to my fund raising goal of $1,800!  This week, a woman whom I barely know from a hospital support group,  hosted a Tastefully Simple party for me in her home. The final numbers aren’t in  yet, but so far it has brought me to within just under $400 of my total! I amazed and awed by the generosity of strangers and friends who have come beside me in this fight. If you’d like to follow my progress you can click on my Avon Walk page HERE. The number there is not final and is constantly updating. I believe it reads $1,115 right now but after the party it is closer to $1,450! Thank you to all of you who have given – it really means so much to me. Once my goal is reached my efforts will be given 100% to help Curtis raise his goal. You can read his page HERE. His girlfriend Rachael will also be walking again. Each of us has to raise the same amount and as college students, they really need some help!

I can’t believe the holiday season in upon us and Christmas will be in just 3 weeks. Ready or not, it is coming, and being swamped in business orders I am miserably behind this year.  Since cancer I don’t really sweat the small stuff anymore.  I press on, and figure that if the candies and cookies don’t get made, and the cards don’t get mailed until new years, and the tinsel never makes it onto the tree, the world will really not come to an end.  My family is happy and healthy and celebrating what really matters THIS Christmas!

Update 12/05/09 Thursday after my infusion I went for a nuclear scan of my heart. My fifth one in a year…Herceptin is known for causing decreased heart function. Anyways, before I started chemo last year my function was a 69. Optimal is 55 so I was doing pretty well! The numbers started to drop over the months, down to 65, then 64 then 62…I got scared.  I joined a gym as you know, and started walking vigorously. The number went up to 64 in Sept. Guess what it was this week?? My ejection fraction output is now a 70!! As good as it can possible get! Woo-hoo! I am soooo happy!

Seasons Come, Seasons Go , as they say, and in the past year each season has presented its own challenges and victories.  It amazes me that time just marches on, and without fail, the leaves turn colors, fall from the trees, snow makes its appearing, and once again an entire year has gone by!

This time last year life was very uncertain and fear loomed like a large freight train in the fog.

The year has come full circle and fear no longer rules my dreams at night. I still don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds my future!  His plans have proven to be that of good and not of destruction, “to give me a future and a HOPE!”

Just as the seasons are faithful to return, so is God faithful to be by my side no matter the storm that decides to rage around me.

This week I had another visit to the surgery clinic for an incise and drain of a skin abscess. The procedure wasn’t nearly as painful as the one on my arm. I had a different doctor this time and pleaded that he use more care in “pain management”.  He suspects that this too is a MRSA infection and has referred me to Infectious Diseases at Walter Reed where I have an appointment in 2 weeks. For some reason my body just can’t seem to fight off this infection which has potentially very serious complications.  I feel fine physically except for swollen lymph nodes and am thankful I haven’t run a fever, which would indicate that it had entered the blood stream.

At Thanksgiving time once again, we give thanks to God for all His blessings, His gift of friends and family, His gift of Hope, and answers to many prayers.

<—-Please click on this photo listen to a beautiful song                            listen carefully to the words.

“GRATITUDE” <—–

To view my fund raising progress for my Avon Walk, go HERE


 

MRSA again?

**UPDATE 11-22-09—things are getting worse, not better, so Monday morning I will be going back to see the surgeon. Looks like I could be spending Thanksgiving laying down…can’t sit (if you know what I mean!) This time the skin infection is on the “backside” :(

 

I was back to the hospital this week with another skin abscess…suspected MRSA infection.  This is about the 11th one, the last one being the worst one and the one that landed me in the ER!  The surgeon was ready to “clean it out” but I declined and asked that we TRY oral anti biotics first.  So that is what we are doing.  I just couldn’t bare the thought of a needle going into that thing since it was terribly painful the last time.

If it responds, great!  If it doesn’t respond, then MRSA would be assumed since the “R” in MRSA stands for resistant.   No fever, so that is a good thing, though my lymph nodes have been tender.  My body is fighting something. Let’s pray these medicines do their job and I don’t end up admitted to the hospital again. Here is my arm 6 weeks ago and (before surgery) again as it looks now.  A referral to infectious disease will be next as we do not know what could be causing these. My white blood cell counts are great and my immune system should be functioning, but for some reason chemo has caused it to be compromised.

Thanksgiving week is upon us. Kyle and Curtis will be home from school and we’ll spend a quiet holiday at home with our 26 1/2 pound turkey. Yes, I did say 26 1/2 pounds! What was I thinking? Is my oven that big?

Holiday shoppers are shopping in full force and I am a busy beaver with my jewelry orders. I don’t have time to get sick! I guess with Thanksgiving falling a little bit later this year, the shopping frenzy started early.  I’m personally behind the curve on that one, but ready or not, Christmas will come and if I don’t happen to get those Christmas cards out on time, so what.  Maybe we’ll send our Happy New Year 2010 letter celebrating my completion of chemo treatments! The last one will be December 3rd – yeah!

To view my Avon Walk fund raising progress, go HERE! I am half way there! 5 months and $930 to go!

Learn how to Reduce Your Risk of breast cancer HERE at my own educational/informational  web site!

The end is near

Today is the nex035t to the last infusion I will have for my one year chemo therapy treatment. Yeah!  I am beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel. This being a holiday week with Veteran’s day, I expect the wait to be long for a chair since they are sqeezing 5 days of patients into four.

I am feeling great (well, a bit sore from spin class) but I have more energy than ever and am working to get my heart function back to optimum levels.

I had a phone interview yesterday with the Network Of Strength organization. You can find them at www.NetworkOfStrength.org .  They “ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.” I am applying to become a peer support counselor for their national panel which fields phone calls 24/7, 365 days a year across the globe.  I will attend training for 2 days here in Washington DC the end of January.  It is an exciting opportunity for me to come along side other newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and help them navigate the rough waters of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.  When I, myself, contacted them a year ago I was paired with a woman 20 years older than me, not an ideal match since we were at very different places in our lives.  There is a great need for younger women as counselors to help the many hundreds of young women in their 30’s and 40’s who need a friend to talk to who has been in their shoes. I look forward to channeling my experiences into a positive tool to help other women.

My AVon Walk fund raising is coming along nicely! I am almost half way there! You can access my page at

MY AVON WALK and you can also access my son CURTIS’ PAGE <–here and read why he has joined in the effort as well!  He needs your support too!

A weekend away

Tim and I enjoyed 3 days in The Big Apple this past weekend. We had a great time forgetting all our cares and just having fun! We took a charter bus from D.C. and stayed in a 4 star hotel. What a treat! 041

Here are just a few pictures from our adventures! Click HERE to view

On The Move!

s110562069208_7991The training has begun! I am walking an average of 3.5 miles a day to prepare for the Avon Walk that I will be doing in just 6 months. CelebrateThe fall foliage and cooler days makes this an enjoyable activity and I also frequent the gym for additional weight lifting and endurance work outs.  I held a fund raising event at the breast care center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center last week and raised 8% of my goal by selling my jewelry creations. So far I am at nearly 30% raised so I continue pressing on with those efforts a little bit every day. Thank you to all who have donated so far! My Avon Walk page can be viewed HERE.

This week my MRI results came back all clear so that was good news! I must admit I held my breath for those 8 days waiting for results.  I am told that this feeling of dread lasts a long time, at least until the ten-year survival point.  Even then, with no cure for breast cancer,  the fear of recurrence looms all the time. The MRSA infection in my arm continues to heal well and is down to a dime-sized scab with some scarring.

In the meantime I celebrate LIFE and help those newly diagnosed whom I meet, which seems to be nearly every week. The numbers of women affected by this disease never ceases to amaze me. Giving them hope and support gives me a reason to continue fighting for a cure.

Click HERE to view my Avon Walk page and to follow my fund raising progress! avonwalk_logo

As many of you know, I will be walking in the Avon Walk for breast cancer next May 1-2, 2010, which is just 6 months from now!  I must raise  $1,800 in order to participate in the walk. The funds raised will go towards helping women in our local community get access to early detection that they might not otherwise get, as well as to raise funds towards breast cancer research and development of treatments.

Having been through treatment myself, I have become aware that the drugs used in chemo therapy have had ot be studies for many, many years and funded in trials before going to market.  One of the I.V. drugs I receive took more than 10 years just to gain FDA approval and even 5 years ago was unavailable to women with my type of breast cancer called her2Neu.  Back then, these women were given little to no hope of surviving breast cancer. Today I am given an excellent prognosis because of the thousands of dollars raised in breast cancer walks around the country.

I will be walking with Rachael & Curtis, my college son at UVA. Rachael walked for me last spring 4153_1061588831262_1572180032_30180100_3754010_nand I look forward to entering this challenge with her.  We are in it TO BEAT IT! Beat breast cancer!

Please click on the above link to be taken to my donation page. Thanks so much! Any amount you can donate is very much appreciated and truly  does make a difference!

Love, Koryn

I am home from the hospital now, after 3 days on IV antibiotics. This was quite an ordeal! Home Sweet Home!After my last post my arm became worse and worse, more painful, and visibly infected.  My neighbor took one look at it and was so concerned she pleaded that I go to the emergency room. I did go, and within 3 hours the baseball sized abscess was turning black, the tissues were dying. The pain was acute.  They did a cat scan to be sure the infection hadn’t gone into the muscle or bone. Once I was admitted to a private room they gave me Morphine for the pain and began a heavy dosing of antibiotic for MRSA,  a very serious form of a resistant staph infection. They did blood cultures and tissue samples.

By Wednesday it became evident that the infection was worsening. They would have to open it up. The swelling had become so severe that the lidocaine to   numb the area couldn’t be very effective.  My screams could probably be heard down the hospital corridors.  I felt like I was going to go into shock the pain was so bad.  They began giving me Morphine every 2 hours and by morning the bright red bulls eye around the lesion had nearly gone away. The doctors left the wound open to heal, covering it only with light gauze.  A neat and smooth scar is not their concern right now.  I have to change my dressings at home now and the first time I did it this morning I must admit I had to sit down I got so light headed  just  looking at it.  It looks like I have been to war!

The surgeon agreed that because the chain of lymph nodes near this site had been removed when I had my node biopsy last October, the drainage system for infection has been compromised and that’s possibly why this boil didn’t heal like the others have.  Couple that with the many visits I have had to the hospital in the last 9 months, and germs floating around there, and it became a prime site for the dangerous MRSA to grow.

Hospital food is actually very good but I am glad to be home! I slept much better in my own bed last night. I am trying to manage now with Motrin during the day and reserving the narcotics for night time.  I will go back for a follow up with the surgeon Next Tuesday.

MRSA me!

Mercy! I finally think we have discovered what has been causing the lesions/abscesses on my neck, abdomen andMe - Sunday October 4, 2009 arm. I developed one last week on my right upper inside arm area (they start out looking like a boil) and by Saturday was miserable with pain, hot red swelling so went to the doctor.  She put me on Cipro but by Monday I was in A LOT of pain and the symptoms weren’t any better, in fact they were getting much worse. I drove straight over the the doctor’s office without an appointment after playing phone tag with the nurse all morning.  She sent me to an Urgent Care clinic and that is when I met Dr. Al, an Iraqi refugee turned doctor and 15 year breast cancer survivor!  She had an amazing story, by the way.   Right away she said she thought this was the dangerous MRSA staph infection and because I had gone through chemo last spring (when all of this started) and because I frequent the hospital so much, that I probably contracted it there.  She lanced and cultured it and sent me home with double duty antibiotics and instructions for the whole family so that they don’t catch it. MRSA is very contagious skin to skin, and if it enters the blood stream it can be deadly. She did a blood test right then and there and said I was very lucky.  I won’t post a photo of my arm, but suffice it to say that my family keeps asking me to cover it up!  I would, except that it is too painful to have anything touching it at all!

On a brighter note, this being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I am beading up a storm of bracelets and awareness items for a fund raising event at Walter Reed’s Breast Care Center on the 22nd. I will be trying to raise $1,800 for the next 7 months for my Avon Walk for breast cancer that I am going to do with Curtis’  girlfriend, Rachael.  I was just finishing up chemo therapy last May when Rachael walked in my name for two days in the pouring rain.  I will post my Avon support page soon!

Thanks for your continued prayers!

imgp50602On this day last year, OCTOBER 1st, 2008, I was sitting in a doctor’s office receiving the news that I had breast cancer. What a difference a year makes! This is <——-me one year ago on my 45th birthday in October.  It’s been one year and this is year #1 of my survival, and hopefully the first of many, many more! Most recurrences happen in the first 2 years following diagnosis than in any other time frame. After 5 years of no recurrence, a breast cancer patient has a very high chance of never having the disease again. That is my goal. My hope.

So what am I doing today to celebrate!? I bought myself a dozen pink roses and I went to a spin class! With high powered velocity I sat on that bike next to my friend, a 2 year survivor in her pink tutu skirt, and together we rode our butts off for a full hour!  Happy to breathe and breathe HARD and healthy!

I handed out more than a dozen pink ribbons to every stranger I saw and a guy at Panera and told him that real men wear pink!  He put it on immediately. Today I also signed up to do the Avon breast cancer walk here in Washington D.C. May 1 and 2nd, 2010 along with my son’s girlfriend who walked it this past year in my name.  I pledged to raise $1,800 towards my efforts along with Avon.  I have a much greater appreciation for fund raisers for this cause now because I feel like I am a direct recipient of those dollars. The chemo drug that I am currently on took ten years of development and hundreds of thousands of dollars in research. Because of it I have a very good prognosis. Support your friends who are doing the walks and the runs. It counts! AND I started a new web site called Reduce Your Risk in an effort to educate others with what I have learned in the past year. Please pass this site on to all the young women in your life!

Thank you to everybody who stood by me this year and supported me through what was a very difficult year. I love you! And thanks to God for giving me strength to get through treatment and showering me with His love through all of my friends and family. I am blessed!

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