MK Update 1/1/2009

Happy New Year!! I hope this e-mail finds each of you having a wonderful start to the new year. I was certainly more than eager to end 2008 and look forward to a very healthy 2009!! Tomorrow will be one year since I first received the breast cancer diagnosis--and what a year it WAS!! It seems so long ago that on the first Friday in January 2008 I walked into White River Medical Center with no worries or fears and walked out of there paralyzed by fear and negativity. Wow--that is certainly a feeling I care not to experience again!!

When I started this journey in January, I made a list of several goals for myself to help me maintain a positive focus. The number one goal was to finish all surgeries and treatments in one year. I DID IT!!! I managed to complete 5 surgeries and 6 chemo treatments in just under one year. My last surgery went well and was by far the easiest of the five. I still have a few cosmetic procedures left--but those are elective and outpatient and nothing major.

Along with goals, I decided to find one verse to help me as well. I picked the following verse and have recited it over and over during good days and yucky days. My Mom even found a t-shirt with this verse!!

Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

I finally feel back to "normal"! I have energy and feel so very good. I have enough hair that I can create crazy spiked up styles and new boobs that are just awesome!!!

I have used these updates as a way to purge all of my feelings and I thank each of you for "listening" to me throughout this journey. I thank you for your prayers, for your support, and for your love. For the first few weeks of this journey, I seemed to only be able to focus on the negative aspects of cancer. But, with your continuous prayers I quickly was able to focus on the positive aspects and with the exception of a few days that were really yucky (I think the steroids played a major role on those days) I have maintained that positive focus. I feel very, very blessed to have had the opportunity to experience such a life-changing experience at such a young age. For those of you that know me well, you know how very competitive I am. I have been a part of some wonderful victories, but let me just say there is no feeling like the feeling of victory over cancer!! I am thankful that each of you have been a part of my team and hope that you will share with me in this glorious feeling. I have posted a picture slideshow on my blog. The slideshow basically chronicles this past year. It is kind of long--but I hope you can all take the time to see how your prayers were able to sustain me throughout this past year.

I will have repeat scans in January and every six months for the next two years and then annually for three years. I still have to take an oral form of chemo (tamoxifen) for five years. It doesn't have major side effects--the only one I am experiencing is difficulty maintaining a comfortable body temperature. I go from really hot to really cold. I hate the term "hot flash" so I have starting referring to those episodes as my own personal summer. If I could only figure out how to induce a personal summer during a period when I am freezing--that would be great!!

I can't begin to express in words how much each of you mean to me. I continue to thank God for each of you. I am eternally blessed to be loved by such a wonderful "Army of Angels"!! From doctors and nurses, friends and family, co-workers and perfect strangers--I have been blessed!! I ask that you continue to pray that the cancer will not return and that I will always remember the many lessons I have learned from this experience. Remember to check out my blog: http://mkupdates.blogspot.com and that you forward this to everyone you know that has been a part of my "Army"!! I would also love to get your mailing address. I have something I would like to send each of you via snail-mail--so please send me your mailing address.

I will continue to keep you posted after scans and appointments. Thanks for everything!!

Big hugs, Big tears, Big smiles--lots of love!!!!! MK

MK Update 10/27/2008

Just wanted to update you on my "infection status". Again, your prayers have carried me through another close call. My infection has responded very well to the two antibiotics! Last week, Dr. Bauer thought the infection was much better but wanted to keep me on the antibiotics for one more week. The big test will be tomorrow! I am scheduled to get another injection tomorrow afternoon. Please continue to pray for NO INFECTIONS!!! I just have to get to December 11th with no infections. My FINAL surgery is scheduled for December 11th as long as I have no infections between now and then. Again, thank you so very much for the continued prayer support. I called Shelly before I left the doctor's office when I found out about the infection and asked her to e-mail my Army of Angels immediately to start the specific prayers for the infection. You will never know how comforting it is to know that I have each of you to carry me through the scary times. That fear monster never really visits me anymore. I think I scared him a little, but when he realized the size and strength of the Army he was messing with--he ran far away. You guys are better than the Verizon Network!

I do feel like I am coming to the end of this roller coaster ride. I really can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Each day that light grows brighter and brighter. I almost feel back to normal--I still just don't have the energy I had before--but I know that will take a while to build back up. But I do feel so very good! And, my hair is slowly growing back. Maybe by Thanksgiving I can have enough hair to spike up!

Again, I love each of you more than you will ever know! You are all so very dear to me! I'll keep you updated on this injection. Love to you all! MK

Please Pray For MK (e-mail from Shelly 10/13/2008)

Hello everyone. MK had to go to the doctor today for another round of injections and when she got there, it was discovered that she has acquired another infection. She was prescribed 2 different antibiotics and she has to go back on Wednesday for a check-up. If the infection hasn’t improved by then, it is likely that she’ll have to have another surgery to clean out the infection. She will probably email you guys with more/better details, but she asked that I send a quick email to everyone to ask you to please start praying for her. I was with her on Friday and someone that she hadn’t seen in a few weeks told her that she has the sparkle back in her eyes. He was right, and I sure don’t want her to have to lose that sparkle again, so please, please say a prayer for her. Thank you so much!!Shelly (MK’s friend)

MK Update 9/24/2008 "I Need Your Support"

Hello Dear Friends! I hope this e-mail finds you all doing well. I am doing great. Your prayers continue to sustain me--still INFECTION FREE!! I have had two saline injections since my surgery. Dr. Bauer said he thought I would need 6 to 8 total to expand my tissues to the "desired size". My FINAL surgery is scheduled for December 11th. At that time, Dr. Bauer will remove my port (I can't wait) and will replace these tissue expanders with the actual breast implants. I had a check up with my oncologist Monday. That went well too. I will have all of my scans repeated in January to make sure the cancer has not returned. Everything is going really well! I just can't thank each of you enough for carrying me through the past 8 months! It has been some kind of ride--that is for sure! Below you will find a forwarded e-mail from one of my very best friends, Shelly Jarvis. Apparently, the past several weeks she has been secretly working to put together a Race For The Cure team in my name. She (and the team) have raised almost $1600 to date and are currently in second place in our division! Long story short, it was supposed to be a surprise for me--I was not supposed to find out about this until the race day. But, as we all know--God had a different plan! He revealed this little surprise to me in the sweetest way today via my younger brother, Jay. So, I asked Shelly if it would be okay to pass along this information to all of you. I have spent the past 8 months trying to run away from breast cancer. I told Chris last week that I didn't want to go to the race because I just want to put this behind me and pretend it never happened. His response was, "Don't you want to be an inspiration to others?" And my response was, "I just want to forget about this and never be reminded of it again." Well, once again God has revealed to me that running away is no way to handle any situation. I know that I should embrace this experience and use my experience to help others. I can think of no better way to do that than to humbly ask each of you to make a donation to this team that Shelly has worked so hard to build. Your dollar may be the dollar that finds a cure to this horrible disease. I will proudly attend this race, and every other race as long as I live because I am a survivor and my hope is that some day that race will be a celebration of a cure for breast cancer! I continue to be amazed at the avenues God uses to help me continue on this journey. Thank you for listening to Him as He has used each of you to guide me along this journey. As for the race and the team, anyone can make a donation and if any of you are interested in joining the team you can e-mail Shelly at shelly.jarvis@ascentchs.com or shellyandjamie.jarvis@yahoo.com for more information. You can also do that using the links below. The race is Saturday, October 11th in Little Rock. I would love to see all of you there. The women can actually participate in the race and the men can cheer us on! I have made it through the past 8 months because of each of you. I love each of you and am so thankful to have such an awesome Army of Angels on my side! I love you more than you will ever know! I thank God for each of you daily! I continue to need your support and prayers! Thank you for loving me! Thank you for loving my family! Thank you for loving God and listening to him lead you my way! You are all awesome! Much love!!! MK


If you are unable to view the message below, please go to http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/MessageViewer/.

Dear Friends and Family,
I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Arkansas Race for the Cure on October 11, 2008 in the fight against breast cancer.

It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a tax deductible donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress. Save a Life! Help me raise $150 to pay for a mammogram.

Click here to visit my personal page.

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1320021&pg=personal&fr_id=1030&et=AHCFj31NSsLkXq4mT-20yQ..&s_tafId=3782

Click here to view the team page for 80278 Run for MK

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://race.komenarkansas.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=12090&pg=team&fr_id=1030&et=l1wT0K8CQYK7Grq53iEjmw..&s_tafId=3782

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Arkansas Affiliate904 Autumn Road Ste. 500 Little Rock, AR 72211
Arkansas Affiliate Home Page Unsubscribe

MK Update 9/4/2008

Hello Army of Angels!! Just wanted to check in and let you all know that my surgery went well. I feel great--just pretty sore. No signs of infection thus far--knock on wood! I go back Monday morning for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Bauer. He thinks he will be able to take out the drain tubes at that time. That would be awesome!! I continue to appreciate your prayer support! Please continue to pray for no infections!!!! You guys rock!! Much love and God bless! MK

MK Update 9/1/2008

Hello all!! I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that I am doing great!!! I am finally feeling like my old self again. My energy level seems to be back to normal and I haven't felt sick in about three weeks. I think the chemo has finally left my system!! I still have no hair and I am starting to wonder if it is going to grow back!! Tomorrow morning, I have my first surgery to start the reconstruction process. It is an outpatient procedure. I have to be there (Baptist) at 6:00 and the surgery is scheduled to start around 7:30. I am considered to be "high risk" for infection since I had the infection from the lumpectomy. So, I have to stay in the house and away from people for 2 to 4 weeks. I ask that each of you pray specifically for NO INFECTIONS!!!! I am not worried about the surgery, but I am a little concerned with infection. If all goes well and I have no infections, this reconstruction process should only take around 2 to 4 months and should involve only two surgeries--the one tomorrow and the final one in 2 to 4 months. However, if I have problems with infections this process will take much longer and will involve more than 2 surgeries. I will keep you posted on this process. Thanks again for carrying me through this journey! You are all wonderful and I love you dearly!! God bless! MK