Heather at hgfotography

Long time no post...

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Well I did it again, I said I wouldn't go so long without posting but I did. A quick update: my ct scan was good a couple weeks ago. They said the tumors shrunk about 17% from the first two cycles of the study. My pain is getting a little better, I've started using Fentanyl patches instead of so many pain pills. I still take a few but I've been able to cut back even more. I'm on my week off between cycles 3 and 4. Round 3 was better than 2 and 1 but I am hoping 4 will be better. Other than being tired and having some pain in my neck I am feeling pretty good this week. Like I said last time I had to get shots to boost my white count, now I am just getting two shots instead of 5, but my hemoglobin is down really low so I had to get a Procrit shot to raise that. That will also be a regular occurence unless I can get my counts up in that too.

On another subject, I'm sure most of you know I love clothes! When I'm having a really bad day with all this cancer garbage I head out shopping for some retail therapy, even if I just look. Well, my new favorite store has opened in Grand Island. You might have seen it in the paper when they did a feature on it. Stefani's Closet Boutique is my new favorite place to go. It's by Whiskey Creek and Meyers Jewelry right in the parking lot by the China Buffet and Kmart. She has a lot of really cool shirts, jeans ,purses, jewelry, coats and lots of other awesome stuff. It's stuff you don't see anywhere else, I love stopping in after chemo to see what's new. Apparently my Hope Angels even know I like to shop there. They must have flown by and picked up a gift certificate this week. Thank you so much, you guys keep my spirits up! This weekend on Friday and Saturday is the grand opening, and if you buy a purse/handbag you get a free wallet. Just had to share that, hope you can check it out!

Hope you all have a good weekend! It seems like I hardly see anybody anymore because I'm sleeping half my life. I don't start cycle 4 until next Friday so hopefully I have a good week until then. Thanks for checking in, Heather.

Feeling better and a green smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:02:00 +0000

I finished my second week of treatments and now I am on my week off. I did much better the second time around, my neck didn't swell quite as much and I didn't get hardly any chest pain. My white count was way down to 2 so I have to get 5 days of Neupogen shots to boost it back up. My last one is today, I'd start cheering but I think this is going to be a regular occurence. The Gemzar chemo drug is known for dropping white counts. I have also been able to cut back a little on pain pills. I'm still taking a lot but at least it's not as many. I do think the pain is getting better from the chemo, I think it's shrinking the tumors and easing up on those areas where I had such severe pain.

Okay, now for the fun news. I got a new recipe from the rawbodytwins.com for a Green Citrus Smoothie. It is really good and doesn't even taste green. You can just taste the citrus. As many of you know when all this pain got so intense in late July I dropped off the raw bandwagon and just started eating comfort food. I finally, after two months of eating junk, decided to get back on the whole food/raw eating way. I have only been back on for 5 days but I already feel so much better and clearer mentally. I can't really say about the energy because with my white count down so low I don't have any energy whatsoever. I pretty much sleep all night, then go back to bed after the kids leave and sleep for another 2-3 hours.

Anyway, here is the recipe. It makes a double batch so I just drink one and then I have tomorrows already done in the fridge, just grab it and go. It would be a great and filling breakfast for those of you going to work in the morning.

Green Citrus Smoothie (by the raw body twins)

1 banana
2 peeled oranges
3 handfuls of spinach leaves
1/2 cup of pineapple
about 1 1/2 cups of cold water.

Blend all of that until it is a smooth liquid. Then add 2 handfulls of ice cubes and blend it again to make it colder. I use quart jars and plastic lids (from Walmart). So of course I added a picture. Hope you try it and I'd love to hear comments if you like it. It works the best if you have a good blender so it gets really smooth.

Well, I better get ready to go get my shot again. Have a great day! Heather.

More pics with the new camera...

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:29:00 +0000

As if I weren't far enough behind in scrapbooking right now, I took some more pictures of the kids last night. Tanner was dove hunting with Matt so he didn't get any again. Anyway, someone called last night and wanted to buy a lens of mine so I had to go out to the studio to look for it. Also, Canon 20D still for sale with 28-80 lens, fits all Canon lenses film and digital.

While we were waiting, we took a bunch of pictures with the new 5D mark ii. I love it! It is super sharp. The kids were starting to do goofy stuff so we quit. Ellie wanted her picture taken with the number 5 that I haven't used since I first started. Cauy put on the cowboy hat and the girls put on the pettiskirts and we ended up with a lot of goofy pictures. I prefer black and white close ups but kids always like props.

I go back tomorrow for my second week of chemo. Tomorrow, (Friday) I will get Gemzar, Carboplatin and the study drug. I hope this time goes better and I don't get the chest pain. The boys have football bright and early Saturday morning so I hope I feel good. I don't know how long it will be before we do some sort of a scan to find out how it's working, I suppose at least a month or so to give it some time. I actually think the pain is getting better. I'm still taking the pain pills but the breakthrough pain is minimal.

Have a good weekend! Heather.

Hooked up and ready to go!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Well it's Friday and I am hooked up to my chemo pump yet once again. This time is going to be the one that makes a big difference! I am officially starting the BiPar trial today. The clincial trial nurse randomized me yesterday and I drew the inhibitor experimental drug. Only half the people on this trial get it and I got it! This clinical trial is going to be in 66 sites in the United States and Grand Island (Saint Francis Medical Center Cancer Treatment Center) is the only site in Nebraska to receive it. Dr. C and his team pushed hard to try and get it here because there are several of us who are case specific (triple negative metastatic stage 4 bc) and they believe it's going to do great things. The study in earlier testing showed that women with this specific case had longer overall and progression-free survival when treataed with the inhibitor plus the two chemotherapy drugs Gemzar and Carboplatin.
We are so lucky this has come along. I feel very confident that it is going to shrink the tumors I have and keep them at bay for a long time! I am starting this trial as I approach my year anniversary of my recurrence, which by coincidence in the article Dr. C brought me to read about the study says; approximately 15% of all breast cancers are triple negative, of those 30% will develop metastases and of those the survival rate is about 13 months after development of the metastases. However, they think it's more like 3 years here. But in other words, I am really hoping this works.

Also, on a completely different subject, I did get a new camera body. Even though I'm not really working, I still enjoy taking pictures of our kids and wildlife/nature ect..., and the occasional session for a niece/nephew or friends' senior, as I did in August. I just snapped a few pics of the kids as they were waiting for the bus the other day. I haven't gotten to use it much yet but am hoping to take some pictures of some flowers and nature this weekend to try it out. By the way, I am selling my Canon 20D body with 18-55mm lens if anyone is interested. It takes awesome pictures. It would be a great camera for someone who has a Canon film camera with interchangeable lenses as they will work with this digital body. Let me know if you're interested, asking 450.

Have a great weekend! Heather.

New news...

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:12:00 +0000

I had a neck Ct yesterday and it showed two main tumors in my neck that have doubled in size since my last scan. That's not such great news but I am starting chemo on Monday so hopefully we'll shrink them back down right away. I should know by the end of the week if I get the inhibitor experimental drug or not. The other bigger tumor is in my chest and it's 4cm by 2 cm. They are getting great results already from the other two women on the trial in GI. This could be it!

We had a great time in Colorado. I am going to put a couple pics on from the trip. It was so beautiful there, I'm ready to go back.

Hope everyone is doing well, have a great week! Heather.

Been a long time!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:16:00 +0000

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated on here. It's been a rough 6 weeks. I've since had two epidural steroid injections. I'm hoping this second one will start to help. The neck pain had started to get better but the pain in my wrist and thumb has gotten worse. I'm taking so much pain medication that the morphene pain pump is next on the agenda I believe. I was hoping to get by for a while without it but I don't think I can do it.

The run went great, we had about 59 people come and run/walk. Thanks so much to everyone who came and to the sponsors for helping out with the shirts and medals. I wish I could have run in it but it just wasn't going to happen this time. I've kind of let my exercise and nutrition go out the window since this pain got so bad. I'm going to turn it around though, I am starting back on eating healthy again (all whole plant foods) after labor day.

Since my last post my tumor markers have kind of gone wild. They were in the 70's back in May, then jumped to 141 in June, down to 136 in July, now in August they are a whopping 327. You can't put a ton of stock in the tumor markers for most people but for me they have been pretty true to what's going on with my case since my recurrence last September. Speaking of which it's almost a year since that happened.

We did two weeks of radiation to try and shrink the tumor on my c6 nerve. However, my throat got so sore and I developed thrush in that time, I could hardly even drink water, we decided to quit. I will be starting on the BS101 Triple Negative Metastatic BC trial next week. Depending on whether I get the inhibitor or not, I may have chemo twice a week for two weeks and then a week off. I am hoping this will be the ticket because I am really getting tired of feeling crappy all the time and having so much pain. It's not me!

I haven't been working except I did get to take three close friends daughters' senior pictures. It made me feel so good to be able to do what I love and create some special images for them. I did have to split up the sessions and just do little sessions at a time because I get so tired and my arm and wrist get so sore, but it was worth it.

I'm in Estes Park right now with my parents and Sage and Ellie. They invited us out here for the weekend to relax and get away for a while. It is beautiful out here. I hope everyone is having a good labor day. I'll update when I find out what I'm getting on the trial.

Heather.

Rehost of Run/Walk Form

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't written in so long I have been miserable with neck and arm pain. You know the neck pain I have been complaining about since May? Well Monday we did a neck MRI and lo and behold there is a small tumor mass that is wrapped around my C6 nerve coming out of my neck that is pressing on the nerve causing the neck, arm, shoulder pain and the numb right hand. It had gotten so bad in the last three weeks that all I have done is lay around on ice and heat and take pain pills. I went to see a pain management doctor on Tuesday and he gave me a steroid injection in the epidural space in my neck. It's supposed to help the pain and reduce the inflammation and hopefully I can regain a normal life again. It hasn't helped yet much but he said it could be 2-14 days before it starts to help.

I guess I will also be starting radiation to that area to try and shrink that tumor. It's in a bad spot around the nerve and it's sitting on an artery so it's not possible to biopsy or remove it.

I tried to go out and exercise once in the last two weeks so you know I must not be feeling good. I'm going to try and go walk right now, I'm so stiff from laying around.

The WR fun run/walk is coming soon!! I've gotten a lot of response for walkers and runners and I'm so excited. The shirts have been ordered but I did order just a few extra. But remember you can come and walk or run without having to sign up. Just show up a little before 7:30 on August 22nd and join us. I only needed pre registration if you wanted a shirt. I hope to get at least 50 people there if not many more. I already have around 40 signed up so I'm hoping lots more get up and come out, you can even bring little ones in strollers if you want! Just be there!

There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals in each gender age category, 19 and under, 20-29,
30-39, 40-49, and 50+. By the way, the shirts are white with the design just in the corner left side. I did it that way so it wasn't so large on the front and you can wear it again and have it not be so big. Hope you like them.

Have a great day! Heather.

http://www.yousendit.com/download/Y1Rva0ZkNEhQb0pFQlE9PQ

Wood River Run/Walk Form

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:52:00 +0000

here is the download for the run/walk form. if you want to print it out from here i hope it's easier. it will only work for one week and then i can rehost it. it was in the sunbeam last week and i will have copies in Wood River this week at several places. By the way, I emailed it in to have the copies made and somehow the font got switched in cyberspace and when I picked up the forms they have hearts all over the font. Just for clarification, I did not use some goofy font. I don't know what happened. Have a good week, Heather.

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=Y1RyZGVTSWU3bUIzZUE9PQ

Cairo 5K

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:17:00 +0000

Well Saturday morning was the Cairo 5K run for their Cornstalk Days. Some of us Wood Riverites went up and ran it. It was very early to get up as I've been sleeping til 10 or 11 everyday. My goal was to finish the whole 3 miles without stopping and finish under 30 minutes. I was happy with how I did, I finished with a time of 29.29 and made it the whole way. I really enjoy running and it makes me feel better. I plan on being the healthiest cancer patient I can be. Thanks to Jodi I have pictures to put on here, I'm a bad photographer to be caught not taking a camera! Anyway, have a great week!! Heather.

Also a reminder to everyone about the Wood River Fun Fest Run/Walk, it is on August 22nd at 7:30, there is a form this week in the Sunbeam to fill out and send to me. I will also have forms several places around town. I would like to get a shirt count by August 1st.

Few new pictures of the kids

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:55:00 +0000

We went down to the cabin on Sunday night and I just shot some pictures of the kids. Only 3 of them wanted to take pictures so I'll post a baseball picture of Tanner so he doesn't feel left out. I've been really tired this week probably since I've been trying to make it across Hawaii. Maybe I need a kick in the butt and should slow down a bit. I might take a couple days rest since I am running in the Cairo Fun Run on Saturday morning. Have a great week and hope you enjoy the new pictures. Heather.

Good results from PET.

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:11:00 +0000

I went in for the PET scan this morning and they already called with results. They said there was a considerable decrease in metabolic activity. Dr. C said that the chemo I am on right now is still working and we will stay on it until I form a resistance to it. We will save the study for then. So that's good news. I will continue the two oral chemos and the every other week Avastin IV. Will keep you updated... Heather.

by the way, I made it across Rhode Island today. I am two miles into Hawaii...

Pet Scan Monday.

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:48:00 +0000

Happy Saturday! I have some new info about the study. I will be having a PET scan Monday morning to see what's going on in my neck. Depending on what they find I may stop all my chemo treatment for 30 days and start up on the study. The study requires that you are off all chemo for 30 days prior to starting. Grand Island was accepted into the study and I will be able to do all of my treatment and appointments here. The next step will be to find out if I get the PARP inhibitor with the chemo or not. 50% will get chemo and the inhibitor and the other 50% just get the chemo.

I started a new exercise this week. I got a trikke for my birthday and I've already put 16 miles on it in the last 3 days. I am going to exercise (run, walk, trikke, and rollerblade) across the states. I started with two small states; I'm done with Delaware 36 miles and am working on Rhode Island 27 miles. If anyone wants to join me I'll keep posting the mileage to go across each state. After those I am going to do Hawaii 75 miles. I know I'm a nutcase, it's okay go ahead and think it. :) I didn't start with Nebraska because it's 400 miles across.

Anyway, have a good day and I'll post with results late Monday. Heather.

If you want to know what a trikke is go to www.trikke.com
It's amazing what you can do with a blackberry... my videographer is 8... (Cauy).

Markers down a little...

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Just got a call from the treatment center and my marker test they drew on Monday is down from 141 to 136. Not a drastic drop but at least it's going in the right direction this week. :) I did just finish the book, "The Race is Run One Step at a Time" by Nancy Brinker. It was all about Susan Komen and her breast cancer story. It was written by her sister who also had breast cancer after Susan died and how she created the Susan G. Komen Foundation. I had known about the foundation but really didn't know about Susan's story. It was very good.

I also read "How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine". It is a very good book dealing with diet/nutrition and exercise in the prevention of cancer and also using them to weather the effects of treatment. I did find something I wanted to share.

' "When time runs out is really up to God, but we urge our patients to remember the old saying "God helps those who help themselves". We stress that the more changes they make in their way of living to keep themselves strong and healthy, the better their chances that they'll be one of the lucky ones who migrate to the right end of the bell curve for long-term survival." '
"How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine" by Dr.s Murray, Birdsall, Pizzorno, and Reilly.

Have a good Wednesday, I'm headed out for a run. Heather.

Still waiting to hear on the study...

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:20:00 +0000

I went in Monday for another Avastin treatment and it went pretty well. Dr. C decided to do a PET scan next Monday since my markers keep going up, I have so many new little bumps and I have so much neck pain. Maybe we'll see what's going on in there if anything. We're still waiting to hear from the study. Hopefully it will start soon, but the last we heard it could be the end of the month. I don't really know much I just wanted to share a picture of Angie and I from the Relay for Life. I am putting on the picture of us from 2007 too. Have a good week! Heather.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Hi and Happy 4th! I hope everyone is out doing something fun today. We're going to canoe down the platte river, should be fun hoping for no rain. Just went out and rollerbladed 7 miles! It's so nice out, not too hot just comfortable. I know I probably look dorky out there rollerblading but I don't care cuz it's fun and good exercise. Sage and I went out and cleaned the studio the other day, funny how it gets so dirty when nobody is in it. Anyway, she wanted to earn some firework money. I'm really anxious for this firecracker lighting to be over, it makes me a nervous basketcase. I took a few pictures of Sage when we were cleaning so I'll post them.
Heather.

"The Unhealthy Truth"

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:35:00 +0000

I know by now most of you know that I have dove into reading about nutrition and have made many changes in our diet at home. I just finished reading "The Unhealthy Truth" by Robyn O'Brien. She is a mother of four in Boulder, Colorado who has changed her families' nutrition and uncovered vast information about allergies linked to food. I was very impressed with her book and suggestions for busy moms how to incorporate better food choices into our kids diet. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the chemicals and toxins we are eating and how to transfer over to a healthier diet. She also suggests you start with small changes such as not buying anything with yellow#5 or getting rid of rBGH milk. Just a suggestion, hope you read it. Heather.

Not so great results and other exciting news!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Hi, just wanted to let everyone know I the CT scan on Wednesday of last week but my results weren't optimal by any means. All of the tumors that showed up on the PET scan in April are apparently still there. Then all of the new little bumps that I have been complaining about in my neck are showing up on the CT now. At least I'm not crazy and imagining things. Also, my CA 27.29 blood marker tests came back and they made another small jump from 119 to 141. It's not out of control by any means but I'd prefer it went in the other direction. The amount of disease I have is still fairly mininal but it doesn't seem to be going away. We are still waiting on any news about the new trial. It is supposed to be enrolling in July so that's right around the corner.
I just went out and rollerbladed 6 miles. It is such a beautiful day! It's a little warm but that's why we're headed to the pool after lunch.

Ok here's the other news! I'm so excited! I had read the information for the Wood River Fun Fest and I noticed there was no news about a fun run like last year. I called someone from the committee and she said they didn't have enough volunteers so they weren't planning on a run for this year. So now I am the new "Fun Run Chairlady"! I am going to start organizing a run/walk for the morning of the parade on August 22nd. I can't wait! This is right up my alley with my new found love for nutrition and exercise. If anyone has any ideas for me let me know. We are going to use the same route as last year but last year we only had like 13 people. This year we are going to have many more than that! I will keep people informed on here and I will also put something in the paper. I also want to do t shirts so I may need to find some sponsors and I have no idea of how to do any of that so I guess I wll learn.

Have a great day! Heather.

Post Relay for Life and isn't my niece cute!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:02:00 +0000

Sorry it's been a long time again! It's so busy now that school's out and baseball is in! Tanner has been playing about 6+ games a week between Wood River league and the GI Riverdogs. Cauy, Sage and Ellie combined have 3 games a week so it keeps us pretty busy, but I love going to baseball so I wouldn't have it any other way. Unless of course I could take chemo out of my schedule, that would make it easier. I can't complain a whole lot other than the fatigue and headaches. O yeah and the new allergies I developed, so if you've talked to me in the last week I've sounded stuffed up except for when I actually remember to take the Clarinex D that the doctor gave me. It seems to help more when I remember to take it.
The Relay was fun on Friday night. There were so many people out for it. Thanks to all those people who come and a special thanks to all those that do so much work getting ready for it, like Cindy S. for example! You go over and beyond girl, thanks! I'll share a picture of my niece Emersyn from Friday night, of course it's already on my website homepage I couldn't resist she's so cute. Notice her shirt says "Fight like a girl"!
Dr. C emailed me today about the study I am hoping to get in. They are telling him they will try and have it open in July sometime. I will keep you posted on that. I am having a CT scan on Wednesday that will be of the chest and neck because I have some new bumps on the right side of my neck and it has been really sore. Also, they drew my blood to check my tumor markers today so those results should be back hopefully by Friday if I'm lucky. Hope those are down with these new 3 drugs.
O by the way, yesterday was my 35th birthday, thanks to all those who sent me texts and wrote on my facebook wall. It was a nice day spent at baseball with family. Matt and my mother/father in law got me a Blackberry Curve. I've been playing with it ever since. I love it. Technology is amazing! It kept me entertained at chemo this morning trying to learn what it does. I can remember when I was about 20 and thinking 30 was so old, it's amazing how much your thinking changes as you get older and especially now with the cancer. I don't look at 35 as a bit old now and knowing how blessed I will be when I make it to 40 and on!! I know I can beat this and I will continue to do everything I can to make it happen! Thanks again for the birthday wishes and watch for the CT update, pray for good results! Thanks, Heather.

Post Cattlemen's Ball and Post Avastin 2

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Wow, talk about a post with a lot of pictures! I couldn't help sharing all the good pics I got at the Craig Morgan concert at the Cattlemen's Ball on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. The style show was very fun but I don't have any pictures of it, maybe if I can find someone who took pictures I can get some to post. I did get to wear a really cool shirt made by Tiffany Olson of www.stateteez.com . She has some cool t shirts she makes you'll have to check it out. I did post the picture of Angie and I from the Craig Morgan concert two years ago when we saw him in Kearney during our summer of chemo in 07. I thought it was funny that we were standing the same way this time. Course this time we have real hair! I am almost recuperated from Saturday, it was a long day but really fun and so glad I was able to help and participate.

Yesterday I had Avastin infusion number 2. I feel pretty good today other than being tired. I'm starting to get a bit achy in the arms but other than that can't complain too much. Dr. C did tell me about a new study he learned about at a big conference of Oncologists last week. It is specifically for Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer and Triple Negative. You can't get any closer to what I have than that. It isn't open yet but will be this summer sometime. He is going to try and get me into it. It has what they call a PARP inhibitor pill half of the people take in addition to taking two chemo drugs. It's supposed to prevent the DNA of the cancer cells from replicating itself. Sounds promising!

Have a good week and I'll keep you informed on what I hear about it. Heather.

Week One of New Chemo

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:22:00 +0000

Yep, that's right new chemo again, for those of you who don't know yet. After the first three weeks of the Xeloda my markers remained unchanged from 118 to 119. Dr. C decided to step it up a bit and added Cytoxan oral chemo and Avastin IV chemo to the Xeloda. He decreased the Xeloda to 3 pills a day instead of the 8. This first week was kind of rough with headaches and fatigue. I should be used to the fatigue by now but it's different with each type of chemo. I'm tired of getting headaches, those are getting old. Today my headache got worse because I took the kids to the Cairo pool for a couple of hours and the sun got to me. I want to keep it as normal as possible around here but I'm afraid this regimen may be harder than the last.

I just started a new book today, "This Time's a Charm" by Donald Wilhelm. It's about a guy who has had cancer 5 times. He has lymphoma that keeps coming back. He has a great attitude and positive outlook. I'm anxious to finish it. Even though he has a different kind of cancer, there are so many similarities, I feel like I'm going right along with him through so much of it. I had kind of sidelined the thought of writing my book after this 3rd bout began but he has convinced me to start it back up.

I want to share a quote I read in a book the other night. It's from Living Beyond Breast Cancer by Marcia Weiss and Ellen Weiss. She says, "You can wake up each morning and worry about dying, or you can wake up each morning and celebrate living. Before you know it, several years may have passed. Do you want to waste that time with mourning or use your time to celebrate?" This is something her oncologist said to her. It really hits home after hearing that the medical side opinion of my situation is 1-4 years with what they have to treat me with right now. I plan on blowing that out of the water with whatever I have to do. The days I don't feel good are harder to be positive but the good days I feel like I can do anything!

Hope everyone has a good week! Heather.

Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:31:00 +0000

Just checking in, wish I felt better but i'm draggin today. I went up to the high school and walked 3 miles but i feel like i could just go back to bed. I hope everyone doing the cleanse is doing good. i am not doing a good job as a "faux leader" because i've been so tired. Try reading Kris' blog everyday. She had a great post about gluten yesterday. She has some great suggestions today if you feel like you're hitting a wall! http://crazysexylife.com . I am going in tomorrow for blood draw and to see if they can look at my neck/throat area that is really sore. Hope it's nothing but since that's where some of the tumors are it's hard to think that. Anyway, have a great day it's beautiful outside! Heather.

Day One

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:05:00 +0000

I hope everyone that is doing the cleanse of some sort had a good first day. I have a bad bad virus on my laptop so I am posting on the other computer. I will post more after I get rid of it. I've been burning backup cds all day. I have to get my laptop wiped clean so I need to get all important pictures and stuff off of it tonight.

I feel okay today. The last few days have been rough, lots of headaches and dizziness with the Xeloda. Have a good day two and have a good week. Heather.

Adventure starts next Monday!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Thu, 07 May 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Just wanted to share a couple of things about the Adventure cleanse next week. There are 4 levels you can choose from if you want to do this with us. It sounds like there are a lot of people who want to try it!

Adventure Level one - 50/50 - raw to cooked ratio

Adventure Level two - 70/30 - raw to cooked ratio

Adventure Level three - raw till dinner, then 80/20

Adventure Level four - 100% raw with a mini juice fast

Level one is pretty much half of the food and juce you eat in a day is raw fruits and vegetables. You could have fresh fruit until afternoon, then a salad for lunch, maybe some nuts and dried fruit for a snack and then for supper chicken and steamed veges and more salad. Kris wants everyone to eliminate all meat and dairy for this month but she also said if giving up meat is too difficult limit it to two days a week.

Level two is a little more raw foods than level one. You can have cooked veges or grains during the day as long as it's not more than 1/3 of what you're eating total for the day.

Level three is what I do and will do during the challenge also. Raw til dinner means that everything you eat or juice during the whole day is raw; fruit, veges, nuts, dried fruit (just make sure it doesn't have added sugar or sulphurs) you have to read labels on that. Then have a big salad or dish of veges for supper and you still have 20% cooked to use after you eat some raw supper. Always eat your cooked food after your raw food, it will digest better.

Level four is 100% raw with a mini juice feast on Wednesdays of each week during the cleanse. I wouldn't recommend this level to anyone just yet...

An example of what I eat as a level 3;

Upon rising until about 4pm

Fresh fruit (a lot!)

Fresh vege and fruit juice from the juicer (bottled juice is heat processed with added sugar)

Lots of water with lemon

about 4

dish of cold veges like cauliflower, carrots and broccoli with salad dressing from previous blog

about 6 or 7

gigantic salad; lettuce, spinach, mixed greens from Sams, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini,

red onion, red bell pepper, with salad dressing from before.

about 9 or so
Raw Revolution Bar ( like a raw brownie) they have them at Hyvee in the Health Market and once you try them you can get them on amazon.com

Exercise is important to make time for too! I feel great even on this new chemo and I have been lifting weights and running and it's helping! Have a good weekend and see you Monday! Heather.

Good morning Monday!

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:17:00 +0000

Wow what a busy weekend! Tanner played in the Kennel Klassic baseball tournament in Gi this weekend. They won their first three games and got second place in the Championship game. It was fun! Wish it could have been a little warmer. The girls went to prom on Saturday night. They were crown and flower bearers with Cade Huxtable. I haven't gotten to all the pictures yet but I'll post a couple. They had pretty turquoise dresses and I fixed their hair and nails. They felt like princesses. We had a wonderful surprise when we came out of prom. There was limo waiting for us, (courtesy of our great friend) thank you again!, to take us for a ride. It was very special!

Also, cleanse (detox) starts next week. Here's Kris's blog to share a little more about what is allowed to eat. http://my.crazysexylife.com/forum/topics/adventure-cleanse-tuneup-act-1

I will also post a more simple list later this week. Even if you can switch your diet to 50% raw foods/50% other it would be super! Hope everyone has a great day! Heather.

Quick update

noreply@blogger.com (hgfotography/Heather Gideon) — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:48:00 +0000

Brain MRI was clear! Some good news for the week! Have a good weekend! Heather.