I've talked alot about my experiences with certain organizations, social services, my dogs- but I haven't even started to talk about my relationship with my boyfriend through cancer.Saturday, November 8, 2008
To the nitty gritty
I've talked alot about my experiences with certain organizations, social services, my dogs- but I haven't even started to talk about my relationship with my boyfriend through cancer.Friday, November 7, 2008
I found something WORSE THAN CHEMO!!!!!!
O M GI have two dogs. A beautiful golden retriever, Duke, who I have had since I was 10 years old, and a toy poodle, Charlie, that I bought with my boyfriend, Rob. He was an impulse buy. Ok ok actually before we get to the flea catastrophe- I'll let you know a quick story. Rob & I had only been together for about 5-6 months when we decided to spend a beautiful autumn day 'out east' on long island to go pumpkin picking. That day was the best. After taking hours and hours and tons of stands to find the best pumpkins, apple pies and candy apples- we decided to stop for lunch in Port Jefferson, NY. For those of you who aren't from long island- Its a cute little-old 'port' town. We had a great lunch and decided to walk the lines of shops they had. (bad idea) We entered this little puppy store just to look at the puppies. (just to look, eh?) My mom used to take my sister and I here to look at the dogs everytime we came to Port Jeff. Well Rob and I had found this little ity bity curly apricot fluff that fit into our hands and we fell in love. I got emotional bc I knew that there was NO WAY we could get him... He was over priced- and we both had only known each other for a couple of months.. where would he stay? Well, Rob got him for me- and I got kicked out of my house until my grammy petitioned for Charlie to stay. Ever since then- He's been my little baby.
Ok so back to FLEAS... yuck! We have had Charlie for about 3 years and I have never had a dog to get fleas. It has been disgusting. Grotesk. Disturbing. I have been just plain sceved out. I woke up around 8 am yesterday morning and Charlie was itching like crazy. Almost a little twitch. He was rubbing himself everywhere and I knew something was up. I checked him and at first didn't see anything. Then seeing him in obvious agony- I checked him again. I then started to see little black dots everywhere. All throughout his little curly coat. As I started to look deeper- I saw these little black brownish bugs crawling around his skin- and little bite marks on his tummy.
'My poor baby' is what I should have first thought- but unfortunately- that is not how I reacted. I quickly put charlie in the bathtub- and pulled the glass door closed so he was stuck in the tub. He started to cry- and then I started to cry. I did not know how to handle fleas.. I had never had a dog get them before. So as he was in the tub (I gave him a cookie for being a good sport and a towel to lay on so he wasn't cold) I started googling what-to-dos. I phoned my boyfriend to come home from his little morning gym routine and help me because I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Rob went out and bought flea shampoo, sprays and treatments for the dog. As soon as he came home with it- I started washing Charlie. I washed him about 6 times before I felt they were gone. I then kept him in the bathroom while I proceeded to check the apartment. I found a towel in my laundry that was full of them. The towel I had found outside the night before and brought inside to take to the laundrymat. So I had brought the fleas into the house and made my little Charlie vulnerable. I shoved all the laundry outside- and hosed it down before putting it into a plastic bag- and taking it to the cleaners to wash in very very hot water and bleach.
When I got home I proceeded to spray down the entire apt. with this 'zodiac' spray- and then gave the dog the topical treatment. Great news was- I have been watching my 13 year old golden retriever for my mom and I knew I had to wash him too. I scrubbed him down about 2 times which took another 2 hours. (he's a big boy with bad hips) It was horrible. We had to leave the apt when I sprayed- so it wouldnt be toxic to us- so I took them for a ride down the beach- and finally had my first bite to eat for the entire day. Yum.After 12 hours of cleaning.. sanitizing.. spraying.. vaccuming.. mopping.. and trips to the laundrymat- I felt like it was okay to re-inhabit. A couple of hours later I started to notice Charlie acting wierd. He was acting very lethargic and just not himself. He usually is always wanting to play and has tons of energy- he wasnt even moving. He was just laying in my arms and shaking. I started googling all of the products I had used on him and came across alot of threads about one of the products - BIO SPOT ON! It was the topical treatment I had put on his shoulder blades and his tailbone after all of the washing. The threads were talking about adverse side effects- and even some pet fatalities. I started to FREAK! I brought the fleas in- and now I poisoned my dog!!!

The really FUCKED UP part.. is that when we called the 24 hour vet here- They wouldn't tell us anything over the phone except 'Bring him in!' If you have pets too- you will know a vets visit is at least 100 bucks if its an emergency room visit- and hey- Times are rough. So we tried to get them to just let us know if the symptoms were normal. But- NADA. They just kept repeating- 'You need to bring him in!'
FUCK YOU VET NAZI!
The proceeded to give us the number for animal posion control. And guess what? They wanted 60 dollars on a credit card before they would even come to the phone- It is absolutely ridiculous. So.. more googling. Im not doctor- but I figured that if he was just tired- it was probably a reaction to the medications so I washed him a couple times in reg oatmeal puppy shampoo- and force fed him some water. About a half of an hour later- He was acting more like himself. SO WARNING::::: BIO SPOT ON CAUSES BAD REACTIONS IN SMALL BREEDS!!!! READ ONLINE THREADS ABOUT PRODUCT- THERE IS ALOT MORE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK THEN POSTIVE SO GET FRONTLINE!!!
I just cannot believe everything that happened yesterday. It was literally the day from hell.

Also here are just some tips I learned a bit too late - on how you can handle fleas cheaper.. and healthier for you and your dog.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Elect she on!!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Halloween on cancer


1 cup water
1/4 tsp. red food coloring
2. Grease cookie sheet that you're going to place dipped apples on
3. Mix sugar, syrup and water in pot and heat to 300F (150C) on candy thermometer. (You can find candy thermometers at your local arts and crafts store or without using your candy thermometer you can tell by taking a drop of syrup and putting it in a cup of cold water. If the boil is at the right temperature- the drop will separate into brittle strands.)
4. Mix in cinnamon and food coloring.
5. Dip apples and set on cookie sheet. Wait until fully dry and ENJOY! mmm!

2. Mix together milk, syrup and sugar in pot and heat. Stir together until fully dissolved.
3. Bring to a BOIL- Soft Ball Stage 240F (150C) (soft ball stage is when a drop in cold water forms a soft ball) remove from heat.
4. Add butter and vanilla and DIP!
Let cool before eating and YUMMM!
She taught me how to make it- nd Im going to share it with you!!
I don't know measuring or how many apples- I kind of just go with looks and taste, so I will try!
*the kind of apples are very important for the taste of the pie
1. Wash and peel all apples and cut into tiny cubes
then place in large bowl.
2. then take about 2 handfuls of brown sugar
and mix together into apples.
3. Then you want to take about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon,
maybe more you have to taste test- if theres too much cinnamon
you have to peel another apple or two and put in more brown sugar
4. Put a good 3 teaspoons of lemon juice into the mix and let sit for about a half hour
*this gives apples time to excrete their own juices into lemon sugar juice.
5. At this time you want to remove frozen pie shells from freezer
and let sit out for the half hour you are waiting for apples.
(I get frozen pillsbury shells.. It doesnt matter about the crust-
its all about the apples-
thats why just get them frozen it saves you money and time)
6. Heat oven to 350F
7. fill shells with apple goodness
8. One pie shell will have to cover apple goodness and
then take one beaten egg and slater top of pie with it
(it will make crust extra crunchy and yummy)
9. Bake for about 20 minutes
10. Check crust- if it isn't brown enough for you-
leave for another 10 minutes
11. take out of oven and immediately throw into fridge.
(If you take pie out and leave out- it will continue to cook apples
leaving them mushy, if thats how you like it more power to you-
but I like my apples a little undercooke- it gives the pie a better taste)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Please stop sending money to AMERICAN CANCER SOCEITY!!!

NCI and ACS failed to develop meaningful strategies on a wide range of causes of cancers -- such as childhood, ovarian and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- from avoidable exposures to industrial carcinogens, prescription drugs and diagnostic radiation.
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the nation's leading charity watchdog, has charged that the ACS is "more interested in accumulating wealth than in saving lives."
"The decades-long silence of the cancer establishment on a wide range of avoidable causes of cancer, other than personal lifestyle, has tacitly encouraged powerful corporate polluters and industries to continue manufacturing carcinogenic products," warns Cancer Prevention Coalition Chairman, Dr. Samuel Epstein
"This silence also reflects an effective denial of citizens' fundamental Right-to-Know, compromises their empowerment, and results in serious environmental injustice by unnecessarily sacrificing their health and welfare," warns Dr. Nicholas Ashford, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology policy expert.
Friday, October 17, 2008
PUERTOOO RICOOOOO
I haven't written in awhile. I found myself in a funky place a few weeks back. Just the stress of bills piling up, doctors, medicaid.. even friends and family starting to tick timers on my return to the workforce. Which I have been anticipating, but anxious about as well. I just started to well, freak out. I would have figured being cancer free for about two months now, I would have started to feel better- But I just started to have mini panic attacks, insomnia, and my energy level sucks ass. Im always tired- or wear out easily.
My mother knew I needed a vacation. I didn't really leave my apartment from Nov 2007 and most of 2008. I couldn't really 'get color' or tan during the summer for obvious chemo reasons- So I was super excited when she told me about her little trip planned for both of us for PUERTO RICO. When we went I couldn't believe I was on vacation. My mom and I have rarely been on a real vacation.
We've usually gone to Virginia Beach, North Carolina beaches.. Really places that were cheap and easy for a single mom of two. And for that same reason neither of us had a passport!! I am so glad we didn't though. Because where we stayed was AMAZING. The Intercontinental Resort of San Juan. Ugh- It was unbelievable.
When we first arrived we upgraded our room to oceanview and waited for it to be ready outside in the poolbar. We had gotten such a great deal from priceline for airfare and hotel at 480 a person!!! for 5 days!!! I know... I know.. FABULOUS!!!
and had pina coladas all day on the boat. We took a all day tour out of the hotel with 'Eco-Island' and they took us to La Culebra Island. We went snorkeling for about an hour and a half but mom and I were in the water for 45 minutes flat. There were jellyfish everywhere and this bod doesn't have energy like it used to. But after the snorkeling we went around the island to Flamenco Beach. It was out of a dream. If I were to imagine a heaven, this beach would be it. The water was teal, the beach was white. It was a partly cloudy day- and the clouds were bright white and shaped like swirls of whipped cream. A perfec
t day. We ended up floating in the water for about an hour before being provided more coladas and a picnic lunch. Ah. That day was great. My mom spent the night lathering in aloe as I complained about not getting enough color thanks to my SPF 80!!! I didn't burn- But my skin felt like it was burnt. I assumed it was sensitive from the radiation therapy I finished about a month and a half ago. I probably shouldnt have been out at all- But I don't know where my mind would be if I didnt go on this trip. Sometimes- You really just need breather. And boy did I.
We spent most of our vacation on the beach, at the hotel's pool, hottub, eating puerto rican dishes in old san juan & we reserved one dress up night for the infamous Ruth's Chris Steakhouse- which was delissshhh. We also visited the Bacardi Rum Distillery- which was fun- But I would skip it. Its a free tour but we had to take a bus from the hotel to Old San Juan. Which was an experience in itself. We learned NOT to take the A5 which was a 45 minute ride through really crummy parts of San Juan. After making that mistake once we learned to
wait for the C53 which was 20 minutes and a brand new air conditioned bus- downside: crazy woman driver with very long nails who talks on her cellphone while chucking the bus almost sideways on turns. A ride, to say the least. After the bus we had to walk to the pier- take a ferry across the bay- then a taxi from the pier to the factory. A total back and forth of 24 dollars - which isnt much- But next time Im opting to stay at the hotel pool bar and get a couple drinks there. =)I'll be writing again very soon. I have my oncologist apt tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Breast Cancer 'Awareness' Month
Well its that time of year again. Breast Cancer Awareness Month!First of all- I don't think we need to be 'aware' anymore. Almost everyone in the entire country has had a friend or family member taken or touched by this horrible monster. Forget awareness. I can't stand that term. It should be all about PREVENTION!!!
As many fellow women lymphomers- Im sure you all have sat down with your doctors like I have- and had the 'breast cancer' talk. Something they didn't talk about with you before treatment. Why worry you anymore? right? The fact that having radiation on your chest, or having any lymphs cancerous in your chest already has given us a higher risk for potentially 'contracting' breast cancer in the future. Fabulous news after having felt undefeated by this bastard. (I have my nicknames for cancer.. Monster, Bastard, Fucking Bully! All keeping cancer true to form) =)
So I, after having had already battled the bully- have a chance of dealing with this in the future?
Hah. No. I dont think so. Not ever again.
Awareness. Breast Cancer gets 1 in every 8 women. There.. You are AWARE. But do you know of all the things that cause it? I didnt think so. I didn't either.
Most people will say that we dont know what causes cancer- and that that is what research is for. Except the truth is that the research you are donating all of your hard earned dollars for is going to genetic research. Now this is great however, on breast cancer statistics on the American Cancer Soceity website- they say only 5-10% of all breast cancer patients got their disease genetically. THAT MEANS 90-95% OF WOMEN GET BREAST CANCER FROM OTHER FACTORS!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know what those factors are?
Did you know that eating milk and cheese puts you at risk?
Or that if you have taken 'The Pill' THAT has put you at a higher risk?
I will go on when I am finished reading this AMAZING book I HAD to mention.
Being that it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month-
Lets make ourselves AWARE OF RISK FACTORS!!!!
Go out and buy: 'The Breast Cancer Prevention Program'
by: Samuel S. Epstein M.D. and David Steinman with Suzanne LeVert
