Glad to hear your wife (I assume that's who you're referring to) is okay - scary stuff to go through, to be sure. And good for your mom - she sounds like a character. And if my friends had to pick some words to describe me, I'm pretty sure ornery would be top among them. ;-) I think the guys I play hockey against would agree - and you're right, in something like this, that seems like a good trait to have. Thanks for the vote of confidence. :-)

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http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com

"Seriously, about the Kona thing? Not that I would take that route, that's not my style, but it's just funny/ironic that I had the whimsical thought that I should change the name of my blog to thechemotherapyroutetokona. ;-) "

I'm not sure if it is or not, but a while back, I asked a question about lottery odds, and a couple people who responded seemed to think that a "compelling story" increased one's odds substantially: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1060080

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"Real winners aren't content with yesterday's victories"

How's Tasha?

I guess i should post an occasional update for anyone who's interested.......let's see, I found out I have a 2.9cm stage 2, grade 2 lump/tumor, and because of where it's located it looks like it'll need chemo first to shrink it before surgery. I'm meeting with an oncologist next wednesday to figure out the plan (the other doctor was just the surgeon who did the biopsy, so i didn't get tons of new info from him) - but i'm assuming that i'll start chemo soon after that. Not that I'm looking forward to it, but i'm kind of impatient to get going on this. And I have a triathlon this weekend, which might be the last one I do without puking by the side of the road during it. :-)

I've had my share of freakouts/meltdowns, but now that i have an appointment with a highly-recommended oncologist I feel somewhat better - the surgeon seemed a little too eager to give me a brand new chest, "better than what you had before!", which freaks me out. So, we'll see.

Thanks for checking in.... :-)

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http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com

Well now, a brand new chest could be quite nice ;-)

i have maintained that if I ever felt I had something malignant, I would go on 100% raw (living food) diet. There are so many testimonals. I would read up on it. I hope that you don't have something too serious, but if you do, this might be an alternative to kemo and/or surgery.

I wish you well

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leslie myers
http://www.foodsensenow.com

Does Tab count as raw food? teeheehee :D

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I know I'm promiscuous, but in a classy way

WTF. This is crap news. I'm sorry to hear it, too... especially after reading your blog (hiliarious, by the way, that's some good readin'!)... and learning that you live in Chicago... and you play hockey? (Johnny's Icehouse, by chance?)

Anyway, I think we all can see that your tough spirit and humor will help you get through this rough patch, but keep us all posted.

We'll be looking for updates.

Take care and keep those Doctors on their toes.

Yes, I play at Johnny's! On the Chiefs, i.e. C2 purgatory. But it's fun, a good bunch of guys (and me). Do you play there too?

and cuds, i think you're right - Tab *does* qualify as a raw food. After all, you drink it cold, so that's the same as uncooked i.e. raw, right?

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http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com

Ah ha, then you may play my husband's team from time to time... The Rockies (he plays on the House of Blues team too, but I think they may be a different division?). He's the biggest/tallest guy on the team, #35... I am occasionally sitting up in the bleachers, but that's only if the game is at a reasonable hour... which isn't often! I'll keep you in mind when I'm there! I've been thinking of learning how to play, just haven't made time for it.

Anyway, keep us all posted on your progress. Stay strong.

Hi girl! I am a member of your club. I would just like to recomend a book by Deanna Favre (Bretts wife) "Don't bet against me!" It really helped me and kept my mind off of things in between Drs. app.. She managed to deal with breast cancer in her busy life. Interesting book. Hang tight!

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XXXXOOOO

   
Sounds like you caught it early...I think in context that is very good news...

on to the next step.....fuck cancer!

Thanks for the book recommendation (I looove to read) - and, sorry to hear you're going through the same thing.....

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http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com

I probably do know him - ha, small world. He might know me as "the girl who bakes the brownies" - yes, I play hockey AND bake killer brownies. My hockey is not so good, so I think the brownies are why my team keeps me around. ;-) You should take up playing - it's a TON of fun, and the clinics at Johnny's are awesome. Maybe I'll see you at the rink sometime!

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http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com

This weekend a few of us went up to Dodgeville, WI to tackle the Dairyland Dare, a 100-200-300k ride through the big hills west of Madison. About 70 miles into the 200k ride, Tasha (Gazelle) hit a bad patch of road and crashed. She hit her head, cracked her helmet and was unconscious when another rider saw her and pulled her out of the road. She was taken by ambulance to the Dodgeville hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken collarbone and severe concussion. They transported her via ambulance to the trauma center at UW-Madison. She was admitted into the neuro ward late Saturday night. Today she seems much better, but still has some short-term memory loss. The ortho team will consult on her shoulder sometime on Monday and we’ll know more then.
If you’d like to know more detail about what’s going on, please PM me. If you’d like to send well wishes, you can post here and we’ll make sure they get to her.

As you know, Tasha was diagnosed with breast cancer a month ago. Now, more than ever she needs our support. Some of her friends in the Chicago Tri Club are putting together a couple of events to help Tasha raise money to defray her ever-increasing medical bills. If you want to know more about our plans, you can join our facebook group called “Team in Bacon” at http://www.facebook.com/...553100004&ref=nf

Hi,

I found your post by chance because i usually dont post here :). My wife was recently diagnosed on july 22 after a success of events when most doctors thought it was just a cyst or infection. Anyways, breast cancer is totally different in young women (under 50). My wife is just 30 and for us besides faith and family, information and knowing the more we can about this disease has been key. You will and need to know the most you can about breast cancer because a lot of decisions will be yours, not the doctors, they will just give you the options and you have to make the decision that better fits your prospects, lifestyle and many other life circumstances.

Your tumor size seems small compared to my wife's and they are not prescribing chemo yet for her based on the ER/PR status of the tumor so you might want to ask why they are telling you chemo right now and if they are doing a node biopsy or sentinel node biopsy. Also i pressume they did a CAT scan and CT scan to check for metastasis but did that show any?

If you can go to a comprehensive cancer center, thats your best bet. It will depend on where are you located or if you are willing to travel. A lot of different things to consider before agreeing to chemo. I assume you have the biopsy results but mainly:

IDC or DCIS
ER/PR positive
HE2R status
Cell differentiation???
lymph node involvement
BRAC 1 and 2 genes (try to get genetic testing) to see if you carry the gene, if you do your chances of another primary go from like 10% to 50%
Oncotype DX test (it will help tell you if chemo will help based on the type of tumor)

Your team should include the breast surgeon, plastic surgeon (specializing in breast reconstruction) and the oncologist, plus radiation onco if you need it.

Sorry for the long post, you probably are already on top of this things but i just felt like writing :)

If you feel like researching, a couple of good sites:

http://www.breastcancer.org
http://www.youngsurvival.org (just like slowtwitch very, very good info if you search)

Peace

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"Bros b4 Hos, man" House MD

Team Aquaphor 06-08

Good lord what a summer she's had.

I just have to ask; how did Salome fair in the crash?

Best wishes to Tasha!

A little scratched but otherwise unharmed!

Please, let Tasha know that she is in our prayers and thoughts. I hope the severe concussion is the worst of her head injuries/neuro considerations.

Keep us updated. If there is a fundraising event, just FYI the forum and I will go to the facebook link.

My jaw dropped when I read about her crash. Thank you for letting us know.

Please let her know that she has much support around the country. Many prayers and positive thoughts are on the way to her right now. Even all the way from the deep south! (Charleston, SC that is).

Rest up and put your energy toward healing girlie!

I have just spoken to Tasha and she is back in the state of Illinois. She was released from the hospital yesterday evening and should be in the comforts of her own home by this afternoon. She stayed last night with her mom. She still has a massive headache and will be seeing an ortho surgeon about her clavicle this week but we are happy to have her home.

Wishing her a very speedy recovery!

I love her blog!! Wishing her a speedy recovery!

Damn! Tasha

This was not the update I was expecting! I hope your recovery is as painless as possible. Wishing you good luck from the West!!!!!!!

Zev

wow... speechless. I wish her well on both fronts.

At the very least, if you're going to be laid up from undergoing Chemo then might as well recover from a collarbone at the same time and she can get it all out of the way at once.