Merry CHRISTmas!

I did not manage to get Christmas cards out this year. I am ashamed...there are many others that are much busier than I am that pulled it together. :-/ I have the cards. I have the photos. I just never got them coupled up, signed, sealed or delivered.

Please accept this as our warmest holiday wishes and prayers for good health, happiness and joy to all of you and your family! God bless each of you!

xoxo

Please tell me.....!

We received some boxes from someone. But we don't know who. Kinda reminiscent of years past, especially Christmas 2008. I wish I knew who sent these gifts.

Okay, I have to respect that whoever sent this wants to remain anonymous. Unless I missed a tag somewhere...? I called the UPS Store it was shipped from (Little Rock) but got nowhere.

I have this stongly intense, primal need to write a thank you note...to express my gratitude...to acknowledge the generosity of the person who sent these gifts for my children.

Whoever you are, if you are reading, please accept my most heartfelt thanks for the gifts you sent Oscar and Angelica!

Look for a video next week of the kids in action with their secret Santa gifts.

xoxo

Go Tell It On The Mountain

Love this version of one of my favorites. Jewel sings like an angel.




xoxo

San Antoinio Breast Cancer Symposium

Every year there is a conference in San Antonio (http://www.sabcs.org/) that is dedicated solely to breast cancer. The best oncology minds in the world gather for 5 days. It wrapped up yesterday. I am always facinated to read about the incredible advancements being made.


MOST exciting for me is the report on the trial I was in!!!!! Long read so I will summarize: I had some of the best medicine available!!! My Herceptin and Taxol were adjuvent but still a wonderful regime!!


Drug Combo Tames HER2-Positive Breast Cancer
BY MELISSA WEBER

Treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer turned a corner more than a decade ago with the approval of Herceptin (trastuzumab). More recently, another successful drug called Tykerb (lapatinib) hit the market. The question then became whether Herceptin, Tykerb or a combination of the two would be most effective in stifling the aggressive disease. Two studies presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium offer some clues.
Print this Article

HER2-Targeted Drugs Excel Before Surgery
In the first study, nicknamed NeoALTTO, a combination of Tykerb, Herceptin and the chemotherapy drug Taxol (paclitaxel) outdid either targeted agent alone. Among 455 patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, giving the three-drug combo before surgery—known as neoadjuvant therapy—resulted in half of patients seeing cancer cells disappear completely in the breast at the time of surgery. The same pathological complete response was seen in only 30 percent of women receiving Herceptin alone, and 25 percent for Tykerb alone. Serious side effects were more common in the Tykerb-alone arm and included diarrhea, liver function problems, low white blood cell counts and rash. Although heart damage has been associated with HER2-targeted drugs, no patients experienced toxic effects to the heart at the time of surgery, researchers reported.
Similarly, investigators in the GeparQuinto study wanted to know which of the HER2-targeted drugs was more effective when given before surgery. In a head-to-head comparison, 620 women with HER2-positive disease received chemotherapy (epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by Taxotere [docetaxel]) plus either Herceptin or Tykerb. Like the NeoALTTO results, Herceptin edged out Tykerb when added to chemotherapy. No cancer cells were detected in the breast or lymph nodes at the time of surgery in 31 percent of patients on Herceptin compared with 22 percent receiving Tykerb. Serious cases of diarrhea and low white blood cell counts were seen in the Tykerb arm of the study.
Investigators of both studies will follow patients to see whether the absence of cancer cells at the time of surgery results in longer survival.
The HER2-targeted drug combo also works in combating advanced breast cancer. Last year in San Antonio, researchers reported that combining Herceptin and Tykerb helped women with heavily pretreated metastatic disease live approximately 4.5 months longer than Tykerb alone.
Excessive amounts of the HER2 protein cause cancer cells to grow more rapidly—a scenario associated with 20 to 25 percent of all breast cancers. Herceptin, approved for both early-stage and advanced cancers, targets the HER2 protein on the outside of cancer cells. Tykerb, currently approved only for advanced HER2-positive breast cancer, enters the cancer cell and blocks HER2—as well as growth signals from another protein called HER1—from inside the cell. Combining the two drugs could essentially knock out the cancer cell with a double blow.
While the studies were very encouraging, they’re not ready for use outside a clinical trial, said Eric Winer, MD, chief of the division of women’s cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “We’ve been misled too often with early results. And while on the one hand we want to bring the best treatments to people as soon as possible, on the other hand, we have to have some greater assurance that they’re really having a meaningful effect.”

So fast...thank God

When I wrote about Elizabeth Edwards this morning she was still here...now she is gone. What a blessing. Not that she is gone but that it happened so fast. If you have ever watched someone you love die of cancer, you understand. And I seriously doubt that there is anyone reading who hasn't had the wretched experience.

It is a horrible death but she was such a powerful, beautiful woman that she managed to even handle the process of her death with dignity. I love this quote from her:

"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that I am grateful."

Amen.

xoxo

Elizabeth Edwards

The news of Elizabeth Edwards imminent death has kicked me in the gut. Every time someone loses their battle with cancer it is devastating. For me, the loses to breast cancer just plain scare me…obviously.

Elizabeth has been my beacon. I have always marveled at how much she has endured and her grace through it all. Losing a child, the public betrayal by her husband, and so much more.

I remember thinking about her when I was diagnosed in 2008...and specifically thinking that she will be fine and so will I.

Dear God, please give her peace.

xoxo

So much to tell...

I am sorry to have been away so long. My life has been very busy, as I am sure yours have also. We had a very special visitor from Guatemala. A member of Oscar’s foster family was here with us. Her visit was incredible. We will forever cherish the memories we made while she was here. I have oodles of photos to post and will do that soon. Jandy, thank you for being with us. We love you!

xoxo