Mixed Feelings

Hi Everyone,
I just got home from 6 days in Florida with my Mom and my Auntie Sherrie. We visited my cousin CJ for two days in Miami, then headed to Tampa and Ocala to hang out with my Grandma and Grandpa Teuber.

It was a fun trip but not really vacation like. We spent most of our time in the car shuttling between the different cities with a lot of luggage. Wherever my Mom and Aunt went, TJ Maxx bags seemed to follow them!

I slept at my Grandparents house, and that was nice to spend time with them. They are very spry, 84 and 89, and they work around their house as though they are 40!

I feel so well, and I look healthy. It is just so hard to think that a year ago, the doctors were telling me that my cancer had spread, and I wasn't harvesting stem cells. It was not that long ago, but it seems like my world has changed, and I never had cancer.

My friend, that I met over the Internet, Alese Coco, is a Hodgkin's champion, and has been working at eradicating her disease since 2001. She just found out that she is to have her second stem cell transplant. She is so spunky, and pretty and full of life. I can't believe that she is going through this some more. Please say a prayer for her at alesecoco.org. There you will find links of cancer surviviors and a memorial page. She has been sweet enough to put my blog on her page. The disturbing thing was to see how many memorial tributes there are with people who had the same crippling disease that I had.

It just makes me put everything into perspecitve. After I started feeling better, I started to do things like before I was diagnosed such as drinking alcohol, and eating food that wasn't so great for you. And now that I am better, I feel like I am back up to my old tricks.

Seeing people who lost their fight, or are still fighting Hodgkin's, brings back a sea of emotions for me from my illness, and a reality check. I fought so hard to be here, and now that I am here, I am not fully appreciating my life as much as I should be. It is almost like I have forgotten everything I have been through. Sounds crazy doesn't it?

I just need to always keep my experience close to my heart, and never forget. The scariest thing with cancer is that even though it is gone for a while, it doesn't mean it is going to stay away forever.

I see Dr. Winter early on Thursday, and we will do full labs, full hormone testing and a panel to see if my measels, mumps and rubella immunizations have been compeltely wiped out, or if I have some immunity left. This will be great because with the fertility tests we can gain a sense of if I really am menopausal or not. I will let you guys know when I find something out.

Love,
Sherrie

Good News, I think?

I talked to Dr. Streicher, the new Ob-Gyn I saw, and she had the results of my hormone levels which would determine if I have beginning ovarian functioning or not. The levels are extremely surprising!

In July, when I had the levels tested, my doc said that they showed I was in the latent stages of menopause and would never recover. He then put me on an estogen/progesterone patch to make my bones stronger and curb menopausal symptoms.

After being on the patch for 5 months, I had the levels tested again. In November, the levels were even worse, and showed that I was in menopause.

But then I got my period, and my PET scan showed my left ovary glowing a bit. The radiologist at the time, said that my ovary was lighting up because I could be re-gaining ovarian function!

Well now the levels are showing wacky things! My Estrodiol level (three different estrogens mixed) in November was less than 10 which is majorly menopausal. Now, a little less than two months later, my estrogen level is at 146! My LH level still says I am menopausal, and my FSH level shows that I am in the later stages of menstruation before menopause! I don't know what to think!

I am going to stay off the hormones for a few more weeks, and have my levels tested again when I see Dr. Winter on February 1.

Some not so great news....A wonderful man, named Frank Fromm who worked with my Dad for 15 years passed away yesterday. He was a driver for the business, and would make deliveries. He was well over 80 years old when he stopped working at RT, but he was so strong. I loved him so much! He was such a talker! I remember when I was teaching in Buffalo Grove and I would run to Deerfield's Bakery for lunch. I would see an RT car sitting in the parking lot. I would walk in, and Frank would be socializing with all of the ladies and having coffee and doughnuts. I used to tease him that he was on a perpetual coffee break. He was such a nice man, and I am so upset that he has passed away.

Have a fun weekend! Rainy, sleety, icy, snowy and cold if you are in Chicago!

Happy New Year!

Hey!
Happy Belated Holidays! I hope you all had fun with your family and friends. I cannot believe how time flies. A year ago, this week, I was preparing for my second week of ICE chemotherapy, and now I feel so great! Let's just pray that it stays that way.

Please help me in saying a little prayer for a friend of mine. He had Stage IV Hodgkin's, and as of late, Dr. Winter thinks he may have relapsed, and is due for a stem cell transplant. I talked with him today, and he has such a great attitude!

I just arrived home after two weeks in California and Hawaii with Chris. We had a blast! I will post some pics as well.

Tomorrow, I meet with Dr. Streicher at NMH. She is going to run many fertility tests on me so we will see how that goes.

Love,
Sherrie