Oncological Surpise

Great news, great news! During my most recent visit to the oncologist for my bi-yearly checkup, Dr. Naughton turned, looked at me, smiled and said, "Well, how about we see you in another year?"

Another year? I don't have to have another checkup or blood draw for a whole year? Whoo-hoo! He believes I'm doing that well! I'm totally excited, and humbled by my healing.

Wow! I left the building in tears after the staff of Siteman Cancer Center hugged me in congratulations. What a fantastic place!

Just wanted to share the great news!

Life, Unaware

I was told that it would happen some day.

I didn't believe it.

But it did.

On January 3, 2009, I forgot that it was the 4th anniversary of my cancer diagnosis.

Nothing happened on January 3, 2009. I spent the day on the couch trying to recover from a cold.

Funny how life sneaks up on us, unaware.

Thanks be to God for this loving gift.

Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me

I hate chemotherapy. Most of my counseling appointments last year focused on the suffering I endured during chemo. This might surprise a lot of people, but I would rather have another body part removed than do chemotherapy again. It stinks, big time. I'm glad it works so well.

One thing that a lot of people don't know is the lasting effects of chemo. It changes your skin, it ages you a lot, and the worst of all, it damages many patient's hearts. I met a Hodgkins-lymphoma patient yesterday that now has permanent heart damage because of adriamycin. Wow, that's serious.

I've recently found out about another side effect...tooth decay. In the last couple months I have received two root canals. I just found out that I will be needing 2 more. That is 4 root canals in less than six months! This crazy! My mouth is literally falling apart all at once. What is going on?!

Of the four dentist's I've seen in the last few months, ALL of them have said this, "So you did chemotherapy? When did you finish? O-h-h...that's the problem." All of them have told me that chemo highly increases tooth decay because chemo causes dry mouth. This encourages bacteria to go deep into the crevasses of the gumline.

Why is this fact not explained to chemo receipients? I knew to have good dental care before I started chemo, but no one told me that I had to be SUPER vigilant about cavities that might start growing in the years after. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have been in the dentist, like every month or two.

*Sigh* I'm seriously thinking about trying to start some sort of dental awareness program for chemo patients. I just need a doctor to back me up, and the financial means to get the word out. Maybe I'll give Crest a call. :) I don't want this to happen to other cancer survivors. They have enough to deal with, without their teeth falling out.

St. Louis Komen Race 2008

Here are some photos from the 2008 St. Louis Race for the Cure.

It was perfect day for the race weather wise. I had the honor of spending the morning with my best-est friend Kathy and her BC surviving mom, Pat. Kathy's brother and her nephew, Ryan also joined us for the race. Thanks for the support, guys!

The race is so fun, and it is amazing to see 65,000+ people together for one reason; to squash breast cancer!

Kathy, me and Pat

Every survivor and their caregiver gets to enjoy a yummy breakfast before the race.

As we were walking, I heard someone call my name. I turned around to find the most precious person ever! Katherine Jones is the smiling face at the Barnard Health and Cancer Information Center at the Siteman Cancer Center. She was a constant source of comfort and information for me and my family as I was going through treatment. Somehow she always remembers my name, even though I only see her, now, only once a year. It was so great to see her at the race since she spends most of her days ministering to cancer patients.

We did it! Thanks for the memories Cierpot family!

Thank You, Christina

Here is the interview Christina Applegate gave to GMA about her recent mastctomy.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5608888

Thank you, Christina Applegate for your interview. Thank you for being honest about your treatment. Thank you for explaining why you chose to have a double mastectomy, even though you only had cancer in one breast. Thank you for just being honest about how younger women are not getting the screenings they need, just because they are young. Thank you for being honest about the difficult emotional side of losing your breasts.

Thank you for putting yourself out there. There are way too many people out there that think, "Oh, I'm glad you only got breast cancer. At least they can cure that. You'll be okay. Shew!"

Shew, my ass. I'm glad to see Christina honest, because I have seen too many celebrity breast cancer survivors hiding their treatment, like it never happened. This is a HUGE disservice to other survivors. If you witness the treatment and recovery of a cancer survivor, you would know that it is not "okay," and that this disease needs to STOP!!! Hiding it only contributes to the ignorance.

FYI, did you know that the survival rate of a woman younger than 40 years old is 83%? Let me put it this way, 17 woman DIE out of every 100 diagnosed. SEVENTEEN! This needs to STOP NOW!!

One comment Christina made about laughing after the surgery, made me smile! I know what she is talking about! Laughing uses a lot of chest muscles, which after a mastectomy, is cut up. I remember using this weird, "Huh, huh, huh" laugh after my surgery. I remember telling Greg, "Stop making me laugh!" which would them make me laugh even more. Thank you for that bittersweet memory!

Thank you, Christina! I hope you will like your new boobies! (I like mine! :)

Looking Back

Like I said in the sidebard, this blog is a duplicate of the website that was created by husband back in 2005. We closed it in January of 2006, mainly because of money and lack of visits. Times have changed in two years and so many of us have blogs now (that are hosted for free.) Many people have asked, "Do you still have your old website? I have a friend who was just diagnosed and it would be great for her to read it." So, back by popular demand, aliciabradley.com!!

It was actually was really tough to read my journal entries. I have spent much time copying and pasting through my tears. Even Greg commented that the emotions just come roaring back as he read through it. It has been highly beneficial for the both of us to re-live our experience. But it is even better that I get to share it with you.

Since 2005, my journey has continued. 2006 was what I called the year of celebration. I celebrated everything, the sounds of birds in the morning, the smell of coffee and the taste of my favorite food (during chemo everything tasted like well, nothing.) I even invented a "yummy, yummy food dance", a spontanious little jig when I ate something that was super yummy. I couldn't get enough of life. I watched my hair get curlier and curlier, and likened my self to a brunette Shirley Temple. Greg and I shared our vision of moving onto a boat with our parents and friends (which went over mostly well.) We treasured each other everyday.

Well, 2007 crashing down like the slip roof onto our first boat, Almost There. I found myself crying a lot when I was alone and I couldn't figure out why. I would get overly upset at simple mistakes or inconvienences. After I totally freaked out when the washer ate my dollar without washing anything, I knew I needed help. I sought help at my church's counseling center, New Hope Counseling Services. Over the past few months, the Lord has showed me how to grieve my losses (breasts and loss of intimacy with my own body, being the big one, but also the loss of being who I was before cancer. I have suffered greatly and that changes you. Any one who has journied through cancer knows that you are not the person you were before cancer. While I celebrated the joy I experience in 2005, I hadn't yet grieved the losses.

I have now learned that it's good for me to be upset with my losses. The anger that I thought I couldn't control or show over various issues has now come under the light of Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of all of me, even the angry part. Some might say, "See you should have cried more during treatment. You like to hide things." The truth is, the Lord carried me through that year. I remember thinking to myself, "Cry more, darn it! You should be more sad over this." But nothing would come out. I now realized He protected me. Ya know that, "He leads me beside cool waters, He restores my soul," thing. It's true! I was in that Valley of the Shadow of Death and believe me, He comforted me. I am dealing with that now, and I am no longer ashamed of my weakness because He carries me.

Oh, I am still my perky, child-like self. That's just who I am. But I now understand the other parts of my heart. I feel more whole now (and that I can celebrate!) I pray for and look forward to the rest of the journey. I just keep my eyes on Him.

Under the Mercy, Alicia

P.S. I'm losing my curls :( But I still like having hair :)

November 15, 2005

We are back from our "I-kicked-the-crap-out-of-cancer" cruise! What an amazing trip! I think it should be an American law that every citizen must take a trip through the Panama Canal. Kidding aside, it was incredibly interesting. I wish I could show you all of the photos, but I have almost 400 of them. So, I paired them down to a photo from each port of call. Enjoy!

Getting our fun on at Disneyland with my Uncle Howard and Aunt Colleen who live in the San Diego area.

The gorgeous gateway into Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

After a self-guided tour of Puerto Vallerta, a super fun stop at Carlos-n-Charlie's

Having the BEST meal ever (include the most amazing Chicken Mole) at the Santa Margarita Coffee Plantation in the Sierra Madre's of Oaxaca, Mexico

Alicia suspended in the treetops of the Costa Rican rainforest.

"Oh look, Honey! A nice river with logs on the little island."

Yikes!! Those are no logs! Try 11ft crocodiles! We're not in Missouri anymore!

Ready or not, here we come! Heading into the Miraflores Lock, the first of three we went through.

Our sister Celebrity ship (the same size as Radiance,) leaving only 1 ft on each side to slide through the canal system.

Enjoying the sights and sounds of the Panama Canal from our own deck.

A personal tour of the Eastern coast of Aruba by our Aruban friends, the Lemminga's