Daring to Share

Treatment Number 12...NOT

2009-07-11T14:21:00.004-04:00

That's right NO treatment for me.

I went to the hospital yesterday for my appointment with my oncologist and to have treatment. (I thought) When I went into the appointment room I first met with my nurse practitioner who told me that they were trying to get my CT Scan results (I had the CT Scan that past Monday). So we started going over my last 3 weeks and then she told me that I was going to be meeting with a Nurse Practitioner that specialized in pain management. I have been increasing my Neurotin and got to a level that it started affecting my cognitive abilities. I wanted off the meds or to try something different because I don't want to be living my life like a zombie. So that appointment was about switching to Lyrica instead.

During that appointment my oncologist popped her head in the room and said, "I have your CT Scan results." And then she said, "Everything looks great. Everything is stable. There are NO new tumors. This is great news." Then I started to cry. Everything is stable. OMG. It really is working. Finally something is working and I am doing great. This is all that went through my head. It had been a long week waiting to get the results. I choose to wait it out and have the conversation in person with my doctor. I am so glad I did!!!! I finished up the appointment with the other nurse practitioner.

My oncologist came back into the room and then proceeded to say, "I think it might be best to start doing your treatments every 6 weeks instead." "OK", I said. She said, "I don't want the neuropathy to become permanent and you are doing so well let's give your body a break." I said, "OK". She said, "Let's not do this treatment." I said, "What". She said, "Go home". I said, "What". She said, "Skip this treatment". I said, "Oh My God". She said, "I know I know your schedule." I said, "Yes my schedule." We all started to laugh!!!! She said, "It will be OK just skip every other treatment in your schedule." I said, "OK but what about the next scan and what if it starts to grow again and and and????" I was really concerned and scarred at this point. But then I realized how supported I am, how loved I am and how everyone in my life is holding for me to be "A Miracle". Especially me. This means that I will need to stop treatment eventually and continue living a normal life. I know that it is not totally gone right now but it will be and this is the next step in the process. So I went home.

And here I am updating my blog, by myself. This is all great news and I am so happy to have a week back to be able to play, work and be with my family on these sunny days of summer. Of course with lots of sunscreen! Hahaha. OK not that funny but very true.

Thank You to everyone that was supporting me this treatment and who I had to cancel.

My dear friend Max from Boston who comes every treatment to support and love not just me but my family as well. I am so sorry you can't get your hair cut this time. :) Thank you for all that you do. I will miss seeing you.

Thank you to all the neighbors that were going to deliver food.

Thank you Susan for arranging it all each treatment and

to all the neighbors that continue to deliver food

month after month aftermonth, without any hesitation.

It makes a huge difference

in my recovery process, Thank You!

Thank you to my MSIA Family that comes to give me Prayer Communion each treatment cycle. Thank you Alice for being my

Guardian Angel and for arranging it

and supporting me the way that you do.

Thank you to my Village of Angels!!!

My treatment support, Jann for loving me

just the way that you do.

Rose Angel for your words of inspiration and that

lovely rose I get before each treatment.

House Cleaning Angels assisting me so that

my surroundings are clean and fresh.

Thank you to everyone loving, praying, supporting

and holding that I will be "A Miracle".

God Bless each and everyone of us today and always.

Until next time,

Light, love and laughter,

Shari

Bountiful Blessings

2009-06-21T15:07:00.002-04:00

I want to express my great gratitude and humble appreciation for those of you that have stepped forward to support me and my family over the past two and a half years. As much as possible, when my health and energy allow, I try to acknowledge your support with a note or a phonecall -- but whether I can do that or not, know that in my heart I am thankful for it all.

Most recently, I made a special request for financial support to cover house-cleaning, and I am so grateful to those of you who've sent checks, or are planning to. It means more than you can know for me to feel taken care of in this way. It will allow me to save my very limited energy for the times I really need it -- without feeling like my house isn't a clean, healthy environment during this challenging time.

One of the hardest things I've experienced in all of this is allowing myself to receive anonymous gifts. You know who you are -- and please know that I love you and am so thankful for the anonymous gifts that have shown up to support our family. My Rose Angel, the Giant gift cards, the anonymous checks earmarked for house-cleaning ... the list goes on. My gratitude is huge for all of these, and my frustration at not being able to thank you personally is part of my learning process.

Thank you for being part of my Village.
With all my love, Shari

You've been asking...

2009-06-21T15:03:00.002-04:00

... and here it is, me with hair. At least for now; it would seem that my hair is falling out again so I guess I should just enjoy it while it's here and show it off! However, Daria thinks that this amount of hair *still* counts as "bald."

Treatment 11 Update

2009-06-21T14:46:00.005-04:00

Treatment day was Tuesday, June 16. I haven't seen my doctor in a number of treatments (I generally see my nurse practitioner) so we planned my treatment for later in the day to accomodate the doctor's schedule. I won't be doing that again -- it made for a really looooong day. Generally, my pre-treatment steroids keep me up til 1:00 a.m. on treatment night, but because we shifted the schedule I was up half the night (and not very happy about it!)

My Rose Angel delivered a rose and inspiring messages on Monday, and my friend Max arrived on Wednesday afternoon, a little later than usual due to horrific traffic in Boston. I keep telling her if she'd move to Chester County she could avoid the city traffic, but so far she's not buying it.

This has been a mixed bag of a recovery week. Wednesday wasn't too bad but Thursday and Friday were really challenging, with a lot of body aches. I slept a lot; the gloomy weather didn't exactly inspire me to activity. I was able to rally for a Father's Day celebration with my parents on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were mostly a wash-out; I stayed in bed late and took it easy all day. I managed to supervise a closet-cleaning project (Max's professional organizing skills put to active use!) and finish a jigsaw puzzle, but that's about it.

I'm still increasing the dose of the latest addition to my prescription arsenal; Neurontin (generic name Gabapentin) is supposed to help with the pain and tingling in my feet but I have to build up slowly to a therapeutic dose. I'm grateful I found an online pharmacy that sells it for less than the local stores since I don't have prescription coverage.

Before the next treatment I'll have a CT scan to determine progress and future course of treatment. For now, my next treatment is scheduled *in the morning* of Friday, July 10.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T14:37:00.005-04:00

We celebrated Father's Day twice; once with my dad on Thursday and once with Daria's Dad on Sunday. Apparently great minds think alike, because my mom gave Tom scratch-off tickets and I gave the same thing to my Dad. It was hilarious to watch them scratching off to see if they won (but neither one hit the jackpot). Ususally Tom waits til the "real" holiday to open his gifts, but he couldn't resist the temptation of the elusive big win!

On Father's Day morning, Daria wanted to surpise Tom with a Happy Face breakfast. She needed a little help with the omelet smile, but she was responsible for the rest of the "face".

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2009-06-14T14:33:00.000-04:00

Daria's been showing more interest in sports, so we got her a T-ball set. She's been practicing but as you can see, there's still a little confusion about whether to hit the ball or the T!

True Love's Kiss

2009-06-13T14:22:00.000-04:00

Daria's ballet recital followed hot on the heels of the end of pre-school. It was a very busy week. Her class' piece was performed to music from "Enchanted", the song is entitled "True Love's Kiss." Daria was so excited that when she came on stage for the first time and crossed the floor in her purple ballet costume she felt like she was in the movie! Daria attended ballet class all year long, and learned about listening to the teacher. They started serious bar work this year, and overall I'm very happy with the quality of instruction and pleased with Daria's progress.

Finishing Fantastic Fives

2009-06-12T14:11:00.000-04:00

Daria will be going to kindergarten in the Fall, but first she got to celebrate her final year of pre-school with picnic and end-of-year celebration. Each class had thier picnic on a separate day, and of course, since we're all about to start building Arks, it rained on her picnic day so festivities were indoor. Luckily they use plastic eggs for the egg race! Their favorite "cake walk" (like musical chairs with cakes for prizes) still occurred and Daria was thrilled with her "cookie cake". We presented the teachers with gifts; I got to use some of my scrapbooking techniques to create unique cards for all of her teachers. Daria's sad to leave Miss Cynthia's class, but she's pretty excited about kindergarten.

Treatment Number Ten

2009-05-27T21:17:00.004-04:00

For this treatment, things returned to "normal", in that my husband and daughter were here, Max was here, and other Angels came and went throughout the week.

Treatment was on Friday, May 22nd and my Rose Angel made another visit the day before with inspirational words to support me. We've added a new drug to the regimen; this one is intended to reduce the neuropathy and hand and foot syndrome (constant throbbing) that's been driving me batty from the beginning. I'm only taking one pill a day at the moment and it's too soon to expect results... but I had some lethargy and sore throat that are potential side effects of the new drug. Or maybe I just caught a cold. Time will tell.

Jade came again the day afer treatment for a visit and another cranial-sacral session. My thoughts seemed clear after the session... although I don't generally have discomfort or other side effects until later in recovery week. And as the days passed, my pain level seems lower than in previous treatments (blessedly), with just the usual general tiredness and afternoon lethargy. I am raising afternoon naps to an art form.

For those who haven't seen me in a while, you might be surprised that my hair is growing back! They tell me it's unusual for this to happen during ongoing chemo, but that's no surprise to me, since I've had all the unusual side effects throughout my treatment history. *This* one I'm happy about. Pictures will be forthcoming!

All in all, a fairly low-key and uneventful week. Next treatment is scheduled for June 16.

Mother's Day Outing

2009-05-11T14:03:00.002-04:00

We celebrated Mother's day on Monday, May 11 with a trip to the Please Touch Museum. Daria enjoyed the Alice in Wonderland exhibit (complete with sliding down the rabbit hole and posing as the Queen of Hearts) and we all enjoyed a fiddling presentation.

Yay Team!

2009-05-04T21:06:00.002-04:00

My next treatment (scheduled for April 28) was shaping up to be interesting to say the least. For starters, Tom and Daria were going to be away the Friday before treatment for 10 days in North Carolina to take care of our grandkids. A needed vacation for both of them and a lot of work. This was the longest I had ever been away from Daria since she was born. I missed my little girl very much. They had a great time away and we all missed each other very much.

The next thing that would be different about this treatment was that Jann was unavailable to go with me to treatment, which meant that I needed a ride to treatment and possibly home as well. In enters my dear friend Candy. She said, "Oh, I will come over the night before, stay with you and take you for treatment." What a blessing. Thank you Candy for a great night and all of your continued support. Next change was that Max would not be available to be with me at all this recovery period. Uh oh, now what? Yes, you guessed it, a revolving door of support. I arranged for different Angels to care for me all week long while I recovered from treatment.

The only thing that was the same about this treatment as all the others is that a rose and words of encouragement appeared on my doorstep the day before treatment... I so appreciated that one constant in a week of change.

Jann was with me after treatment for Tuesday evening. I am usually high after treatment from the steroids and this treatment was no different. We spent the night scrapbooking which was a lot of fun and kept my mind off of what would be soon to come.

Jade came on Wednesday and stayed until Thursday late afternoon. Jade was my doula when Daria was born, a message therapist, herbalist and a whole lot more. Jade had just recently taken a course on Cranial Sacral work so before she left on Thursday she gave me a session. Prior to the cranial-sacral work, I was feeling pretty low. Not feeling like doing anything, resting on the couch, feeling sort of blah. By 5pm that evening, an hour after she left, I was up and about and feeling great.

Thursday until late Friday afternoon was Jann's shift. When she came in on Thursday I had just had my session with Jade and she found me lying on the couch resting. We spoke for a while then I sat up and said, "I am ready to play, let's scrapbook some more." Since Jann had left her stuff her we did just that. We "scrapped" until dinner and then a while after dinner until bedtime. I was truly amazed by my energy and clarity. I did continue to experience some pain and discomfort in my body but my head and my thoughts were clear and I had great energy the whole rest of the week. I truly beleive that the session I had with Jade made a difference. I felt so grateful.

Then Friday afternoon Mair came for the evening. She stayed with me until I was ready to go to bed and she took care of Summer (our dog) for me. Put me to bed and locked the door behind her. I had a great visit with Mair becasue I was feeling like I could do anything.

My last 2 caregivers were my parents. They came Satursday morning and stayed until Sunday after dinner time. While my parents were visiting, there was more scrapbooking, puzzle putting-together, and my dad kept busy doing little jobs around the house. Handy to have a handyman in the family. Tom and Daria returned late on Sunday night and I was feeling fabulous!

Thanks to everyone who made my recovery week such a success.

Details from Treatment April 7: Part II

2009-04-12T15:03:00.002-04:00

The most amazing thing about this week was that I felt up to participating in all these activities. I had to rest in between, and I'm very grateful that my parents and Tom and Max were available to help with all the preparations, but I made it! I even felt up to attending church on Easter morning.

By Saturday night, I had the energy to stay up late and make Ukrainian Easter eggs with Max -- she's been talking about it for years but this is the first time she's had the chance to share it with me. Not that I need any new hobbies, but I could seriously get hooked. Here's a photo of the process, and one of Max's favorite eggs.

Faces for a Friend

2009-04-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

My two friends who run a great kids' craft business called "Make a Mess" offered to produce a fundraiser for our family. They contacted Max (who happens to have an eclectic career history that includes face-painting at festivals) and arranged for a special Saturday morning event at their location. Max brought her facepaints, and there were crafts and activities for the kids, along with snacks... I can hardly express my gratitude to Jen and Susan for putting the event together; finances are very challenging at the moment and without prescription coverage it really helps to receive financial support like this. THANK YOU to everyone who attended and who donated (and you didn't even all want your faces painted!)

Details from Treatment April 7: Part I

2009-04-09T14:23:00.001-04:00

This was going to be a hectic treatment recovery because Daria was on Spring break, Passover began on Wednesday (treatment was on Tuesday), and the Faces for a Friend celebration was planned for Saturday and Sunday was Easter! Oh, and just to complicate matters, I was in class the weekend before. Max wasn't able to arrive until Thursday, so I made arrangements for Daria to spend a few days with her grandparents. They fed the ducks, they went to the library and picked out movies and books, and they had a fun trip to the beach. Daria was especially excited about the toy "Sugar Glider" she was given at the arcade.

The Rose Angel made another appearance the day before treatment. I'm grateful for the loving encouragement for my journey.

My parents arrived on Wednesday with Daria and Mom had prepared and lugged along an entire Passover seder for Wednesday and Thursday. For the first night of Passover, Daria read us her special Passover book from school and we all participated in the "Plague Puppetry" (don't ask). We had a guest for dinner that night, our friend David, who had never experienced a seder before. We enjoyed sharing our tradition with him, especially hiding the afikomen. Daria and David both received special gifts for finding their afikomen.

For the second night of Passover, Aunt Max arrived with kosher beef and sour salt, prepared to tackle yet another dish she'd never made! My grandmother, who passed away in February, always made a beef borscht (beet soup) for Passover. I wanted to recreate her recipe, and tried to keep it a secret as a surprise for my mom... but as we got into the preparation process it became clear we had to clue Mom in because my tastebuds have been heavily impacted by treatment, and Max didn't know what the dish was supposed to taste like! So Mom joined in and the borscht was a team effort. It was the same bright pink color it used to be and tasted just like Grandma's.

Email from April 1, 2009

2009-04-01T14:21:00.000-04:00

This is an email I already sent out -- hopefully most of you saw it:

I just wanted to give you all an update on what has been transpiring regarding my health. This past Monday, March 30th I had a CT Scan to review what affects the treatment has had on my Melanoma. This afternoon I received a phone call from the nurse practitioner. All is stable and one area has had some additional shrinkage. This is all great news. Everything is heading in the correct direction. I am grateful for the information. And I still have more work ahead of me. For those of you that have asked, I will stay on this treatment course for as long as I continue to respond to the treatment and that I can handle the side effects.

Thank you for your continued support you extend to me and my family in all the ways that you do. I know I have said this before but I would not have been able to do this without your love, support and friendship. Each one of you is apart of my village. Thank you for being apart of that village and for being my cheerleaders. Please continue to see me as "A Miracle". I love you all. God Bless us all.

Treatment and Activities in March 2009

2009-03-20T13:42:00.003-04:00

Had treatment on March 13th, treatment recovery was rough this time. Very very tired and lots of discomfort. Most of the pain was again in my upper back. Although I did have throbbing in my legs. I am calling it fatigue now, just don't know where to put myself. If I could chop them off and hang them up I would be happier. Lots more throbbing in my hands and feet this time also. I am holding that over the next couple of days that will lighten up and go back to the way it was right before my last treatment, sort of unnoticeable. I am also thinking that some of the soreness in my hands and feet are because of the increase in the Nexavar. I am now on 2 pills every day. I am also experiencing again more itching in both my hands and my feet. Also experiencing some bowel upset, not sure what is causing that.

Then after about a week I finally awake and most of it is all behind me. Sometimes it feels like it will take me forever to get there. Then I arrive.

Max was here to support us as always. She baked hamentashen with Daria (and she isn't even Jewish), cooked us the most delicious Corn Beef and Cabbage for St Patrick's Day (and we aren't even Irish), cooked, cleaned, did laundry and loved me just the way she knows how. Thank God for my Boston Angel, my friend.

Rose Angel strikes again. The quotes were posted on March 12 for those of you keeping track.

CT Scan for the end of this month and next treatment scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th.

Baking and Birthdays

2009-03-15T13:53:00.003-04:00

Thought you'd enjoy seeing the pix of Daria and Aunt Max making Hamentashen. Daria decided that she wanted to have bakers hats. She made a very small hat for herself. On the top of it was a picture of Daria baking. She made a hat for me as well, small with an image of Daria and myself together baking. Then she decided that Aunt Max should have a Chef's Hat. She made the shape of a bakers had and added a picture of a woman that looked like Aunt Max, curly blonde hair with glasses of course. But then she needed to put it on something so that Aunt Max could wear it. Within the last few weeks Daria made in school a crown with elephant ears for "Horton Hears a Who" and she decided to use that crown and attach Aunt Max's Chefs Hat to it. It was so cute and of course Crazy Aunt Max is the best sport and wore it.

The next 2 pictures are from Daria's Half Birthday, Sunday, March 15th. Every year since her first we have celebrated Daria's half birthday. We usually have a cupcake with a candle -- this year we had a hamentashen with a candle since they had just baked them earlier that day. Even last year Daria was away with Grandma and PopPop and they continued the tradition that I had started. Daria also receives 1 small gift for her birthday. This year Daria received a miniature Fairie Picnic Party Set. With 2 miniature Fairies, picnic blanket, cake, soda pop, cookies, bread, honey, tea towel, magic looking ball. It is so sweet and tiny and will provide many hours of imaginary play. What a big girl she is, 5 1/2 now. She is so excited to be older. But where did my baby go? She is growing into such a competent, young lady. I am so proud of her and to be her Mama.

Pre-Treatment Inspiration!

2009-03-12T22:24:00.003-04:00

Shari's "Rose Angel" delivered her much anticipated rose today along with these beautiful inspirational quotes to help her get through the next several recovery days! Shari told me today that the Rose Angel's timing is impeccable. She loves receiving her rose and quotes. It brightens up her day.

All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them but confront them. Touch a thistle timidly, and it will prick you; grasp it boldly, and it's spines crumble.

The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is the way a man uses them.

Be kind - for everyone you meet is fighting a battle.

Think happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow.

Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.

You can't prevent birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair.

Do not pray for a lighter pack; simply ask for a stronger back.

Thank you, Rose Angel!

By the way, please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow as she embarks on Treatment #7. We'll update more here after her treatment to let you all know how Shari is doing!

Best,
Shannon

She's got a new "HAT"-itude!

2009-03-01T16:51:00.001-05:00

So, for someone who needs to wear hats and scarves on their head daily, boredom can set in quickly! Shari has become somewhat bored with her daily selection of scarves and hats. That's where Auntie M, Uncle Nick and Cousin Frankie came in to help her out! Check out these awesome new hats that they sent to Shari so that she SURELY will not be bored and can smile wide every time she sees them!

Big Bird Hats! How fun!!!

And, here's a top view of these ADORABLE hats!

Isn't that fun?! Also in this special shipment were Elmo and Oscar hats so that Shari can have some real fun and variety!

"Mama Makes Me Smile"

2009-02-23T16:41:00.000-05:00

Today, Daria was working on "homework" and decided she wanted to work on this...."What makes me smile? _________ makes me smile". You draw a picture and fill in the blank with what makes you smile. So she first drew a picture of a friend from school and said Alyssa makes me smile.

Then Daria started to work on another one. Shari had made blank copies before she started so that she would have more then one blank sheet to use. She was in and out of the office and Daria kept hiding the picture she was working on. After awhile, Shari understood why she kept covering up her art work. After it was all done, Daria handed Shari the paper and there was a picture of Shari and at the bottom it said Mama makes me smile. Shari was so touched by the picture of herself and the way that Daria sees her. Check out Daria's drawing of Shari below. So cute!

In Honor of Hilda Reese

2009-02-21T16:30:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, February 21st, Shari's Grandma, Hilda Reese, may her Soul rest in peace, passed away at 97 years of age. Shari will miss her grandmother dearly, but she knows that she has finally made it home. Hilda had been waiting to be reunited with Shari's Grandpa, Morris, for close to 30 years. May she see Morris with his arms outstretched to greet her. God Bless them both.

Treatment #6 Update

2009-02-20T16:14:00.001-05:00

Shari had her 6th Treatment on Friday February 20th.

The treatment itself was actually a relatively easier day in that the appointment was quicker then normal. Shari was home in record time that afternoon. However, by the time she did arrive home, the pain in her legs had already started. They massaged her legs that evening and the neuropathy and the pain went away. When she woke up Saturday morning, she was not feeling good at all. Shari had a terrible headache, pain in her legs, and exhaustion. Shari was going to be alone with Daria because Tom had to go to work. Max was arriving in the late afternoon, and Shari figured it would just be a low key day and she and Daria would both just hang out until Max arrived. But, that could not be the case. Daria wanted to be out and about and Shari was not feeling well enough to care for her. Tom called a friend to take Daria to lunch and out for awhile because Aunt Max was not arriving until later that afternoon. They had a great time and Shari had time to pull myself together. Max arrived and Daria came back home and everything was fine with the world.

This afternoon while she was resting, Shari got the phone call that her grandmother had passed away. We'll share more about this in a separate post, but the beautiful part about that was that within a 1/2 hour of receiving that call, all of Shari's pain went away and her headache subsided. Shari's Grandma was in peace and she was sharing her peacefulness with Shari!

During this recovery period, Shari's pain has been different this time. It has been concentrated more in her neck, back and shoulder area then in her legs. There has been some discomfort in the legs but not like previous treatments. Her head is much clearer and she feels much more present then ever before. She is tired and she needs to rest but overall she is doing well.

Shari's next treatment will be on Friday, March 13th (7th Round). She will then have a follow up CT Scan (sometime during the month of March) and the 8th Round of treatment is scheduled for April 7th. Shari will know more about the future gameplan after that April 7th appointment.

As always, please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers and please keep seeing her as the "Miracle" that she is going to be!

The Rose Angel's Inspirational Quotes

2009-02-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday, February 19th and Shari will be going in for treatment again tomorrow. As Shari has come to expect, her "Rose Angel" anonymously delivered a beautiful rose and 7 wonderful quotes to her doorstep today! She wanted me to share these wonderful quotes with you:

Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. -Gibran

Why not go out on a limb? That's where all the fruit is.

We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in darkness.

Mountain dwellers have a longer day and a more wide ranging view that valley dwellers. Let us climb.

Sleep, riches and health to be truly enjoyed must be interrupted. -J.P. Richter

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. -Morrow

If faith can see every step of the way, it is not faith. -Barclay

Thank you so very much for your constant support and remembrance, dear "Rose Angel".

An Update after Treatment #5

2009-02-06T11:12:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone-

We just wanted to update you on Shari this week. Her recovery after treatment #5 has overall been decent, however, not quite as good as last time. The biggest challenge that Shari has had to face this treatment is battling a stubborn head cold that began the Monday right before her treatment, and she is still dealing with. At this point, the worst part of the cold are the coughing attacks that she is having at night and causing her to have very interrupted sleep and feel quite tired as a result. Please keep Shari in your prayers that this head cold goes away soon. 2 weeks is a long time even under the best of circumstances, let alone having to deal with the cold and her chemo side effects together.

Max was with the Olbrichs during this recovery period and, as always, Shari thanks you from the bottom of her heart Max!!!

Shari's "Rose Angel" did indeed come through once again for this treatment, bringing Shari her much anticipated rose and 7 individual quotes. How thoughtful!

Shari's next treatment will be on Friday, February 20th. We'll keep you updated!

Peace,
Shannon

A Blessing...

2009-02-06T10:59:00.004-05:00

This is a blessing that Shari's friend, her "Sister Angel", sent to her to celebrate her good news. She wanted me to pass it on to all of you!

Best,
Shannon

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Begin with a Moment to focus on our gratitude - - -

We are grateful for the constant and consistent presence of You, dear and beloved Lord, God. Thank you for Your radiant Light, Your embracing Loving and Your still and peaceful Sound that fill us and everything around us.

We gather here in Your name today in sharing our gratitude, and for a special celebration of our dear friend Shari in acknowledgement of YOUR will in altering the course of her disease toward wellness, and, if it is for the highest good, to disappearing and becoming extinct, complete, and just plain GONE, in and for Our Shari on all levels.

We give thanks for the courage, strength, loving, caring and sharing brought forward in each of us to participate in this process with Shari, as we all are learning and growing and expanding into the truth of Your purpose for us individually and together in this process. We are so pleased that we could answer Your call and we do our best as Your Loving and Your gifts are so present as we serve in any way.

We ask for a special blessing for Shari as she is anchoring this miracle and courageously, consistently and beautifully demonstrating her endearing partnership with God, and her truthful commitment to Living - joyfully and peacefully - in the process. May she always have Your angels, Guardians and Light beings present for support, guidance, comfort and healing.

And we are grateful that You will use each of us as Your Angels when needed as we are here and ready.

We ask for a blessing today on this celebration and communion together here in Shari’s home, and for her beloved Tom, Daria and Summer.

Dear Lord, may YOUR clear and radiant Light extend from the very center of Your Loving Heart and flow down to fill this house at 504 XXXXX Circle and secure the Light into the earth below. May it radiate and vibrate with your Loving, touching to all things here, and to everyone present such that all who enter here are touched, and as each one present goes into the world and to their homes, this Light remains with them and spreads to their homes and those they love are touched and so forth, as Your Loving, Light and Sound are in motion and service at all times.

We are so grateful. We Love You. We receive You and Your loving Dear Lord, and we celebrate. Amen

5th Treatment and GREAT NEWS!!!!

2009-01-27T21:28:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone!

Shari has some WONDERFUL NEWS to share with everyone. She had a CT scan last week and reviewed the results of that scan today with her oncologist while at the hospital for her regularly scheduled treatment. Here is what Shari has to report!

-------
I had my appointment today with Dr. Schuchter at 9am, Tuesday, January 27th. She reviewed my CT Scan from last Wednesday, and everything that they (the CT Scan radiologists) have been following has shrunk. The disease is stable, which is AMAZING in and of itself, but even better than that .... Dr. Schuchter said that "We have altered the course of the disease!" This is huge information. The treatment is working. The disease is shrinking and it is moving in the direction of being gone. I AM A MIRACLE!!!!! Celebrate with me, celebrate in the good news.

Thank you for all your good wishes, loving support and ongoing friendships. I know that this is my battle to win but I could not be on this path with out the love and support of all of the communities that love and support me and my family and for that I am so grateful.

Loving,
Shari
-----------

Isn't that fantastic.... there just aren't words for how exciting this is. Shari knows that there is still a road ahead of her, but some validation along the way that this is the right treatment for her and that it is working is just what the doctor ordered! At this point, the plan is to do one more treatment (in about 3 weeks) and then do another CT scan to decide on the future course of treatment.

Shari did complete her 5th treatment today, and as of tonight was still feeling her usual, "high" self as she normally does on Day 1. As always, please keep Shari in your prayers as she gets through this tough first week after treatment and that the Atavan works as well for her this time as it did last time.

Shari's friend Max will be arriving tomorrow and will stay with them until Monday to support the family during Shari's treatment recovery. Thanks again, Aunt Max!

Feel free to keep the blog comments and emails flowing. Shari really loves reading all of your messages to her! You can also feel free to call her, but keep in mind that it will be very difficult for Shari to return calls during this first week.

Everyone lift a glass for our dear friend, Shari. This is a moment to celebrate!

Peace,
Shannon

Treatment #4 Update

2009-01-16T21:34:00.007-05:00

Shari's last treatment occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The day before this treatment, Shari's "Rose Angel" struck again! Shari received her pre-treatment anonymous rose and 7 inspirational quotes, and she loved it! Thank you, "Rose Angel"!

During her treatment, Shari met with her oncologist, Dr. Schuchter. During their meeting, Dr. Schuchter did an exam on Shari. And, she felt no lumps or bumps anywhere in her groin and upper thigh area!!! Dr. Schuchter was VERY EXCITED by this and feels that this treatment is really working!

Shari and Dr. Schuchter on treatment day!

Shari was able to have a conversation with Dr. Schuchter about the next steps in her treatment plan during their meeting. Shari will be getting a cat scan and WHEN it comes back clear and the mass in her lung is gone, then they have decided that there will be 2 more rounds of the current treatment plan. This will then be followed by an undetermined period of continuing the oral targeted therapy drugs and the possibility of some type of maintenance chemotherapy program. Please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers, and keep seeing her as "The Miracle" who has eradicated all of the cancer in her body!

Shari tried a new pain management drug during her recovery week this treatment. She had taken Percocet for pain management during the first and second treatments, however, after the second treatment, the Percocet made her quite ill and she experienced extreme nausea and constipation. Because of this, Shari chose to take no pain management drugs after the third treatment, and wound up in a great deal of pain, for an extra day longer than usual. This fourth treatment, they recommended that Shari try Atavan. The Atavan worked really well for Shari. She was in less pain during her recovery week, and didn't suffer from any of the unpleasant Percocet side effects.

For previous treatments, Shari's friend Max has come to stay with them during Shari's recovery week. Aunt Max had a retreat scheduled over the recovery week this time and wasn't able to come. Aunt Max was dearly missed as she is a enormous source of support for the whole family. However, Aunt Max will be back for next treatment cycle. Thank you so much, Max!

Shari also wanted to mention the amazing support she is getting from her neighborhood! Her neighbors in her development are sending them meals regularly. This has been such a gift for Shari and Tom and it makes their lives so much easier. So, a big huge thank you to the wonderful neighbors in Windsor Ridge!

Shari's next treatment is scheduled for January 27th. We'll have more updates for you soon!

Best, Shannon

Christmas Day 2008!

2008-12-25T17:04:00.000-05:00

On Christmas morning, Daria was full of excitement and being so cute! She couldn't wait to get downstairs. When she finally came down, she went right to the Christmas stockings (which definitely surprised Shari ). The problem was that, of course, Shari was waiting with the video camera by the Christmas Tree (in the living room) and when Daria hit the bottom of the stairs she went to the fireplace which is in the family room. So much for planning!

Daria enjoyed all her presents. This year, since she was 5 now Santa brings all of her presents unwrapped so that she can see them all right away and not have to take the time to unwrap everything! Thank you Santa for this amazing present for Mommy, not having to wrap each and every gift!

Another thing that occurred this year was that Daria realized that Mama and Summer's stockings were empty. She told everyone for weeks that "Mama and Summer were bad and Santa didn't bring them anything." Shari wanted me to send a special "Thank You" to a person who shall remain nameless for not filling her stocking :-)

A dollhouse! Just what Daria asked Santa for! She must have been a good girl this year!

Posing with her Hello Kitty backpack

The gift-opening excitement

Daddy and Daria. This is what the holidays are all about!

Daria with her beautiful wooden bird from Nordstroms! Nordstroms decorates for the holidays each year with these birds and the first time Daria saw them, she fell absolutely in love with them. Tom arranged to get a bird for Daria and she LOVED opening this gift, as you can tell from her precious expression on her face!

Christmas Eve 2008!

2008-12-24T16:06:00.000-05:00

The Olbrich family tradition is to decorate the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. This year, the tree got decorated on Christmas Eve morning instead of at night because Tom had to work that afternoon and evening. Shari's parents had come the night before so that they could be a part of the decorating which they have done each year.

The morning of Christmas Eve, around 7:30am, Shari heard little voices coming from downstairs. Shari knew that Daria was very excited about decorating the tree and that she had conversation with Tom the night before about what time they would start. Now, this is supposed to be a "family" tradition and there they were decorating the tree without anyone. So Shari asked them to slow down, get dressed and allow her to get some pictures :-) The tree did indeed get decorated and everyone enjoyed a special breakfast that Shari had prepared since they weren't going to be having their traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

The eager tree decorators!

Daria placing her ornament very carefully

Look at this ornament, Mama.

Daria and Pop Pop together on Christmas Eve.

First Night of Hanukkah!

2008-12-21T15:35:00.000-05:00

Following are some pictures from the first night of Hanukkah 2008! This year, since Shari was still recovering from her treatment, Aunt Max was with the Olbrich's to celebrate too! Aunt Max made a yummy Hanukkah dinner that included Potato Latkes.

For the last 2 years, Daria has said the prayers over the candles repeating them after Shari. This year, right from the 1st night she started to recite them all by herself. Shari also decided that Daria was ready to be able to light her own Menorah by herself. Daria was so excited about this and told everyone that "she was saying the prayers by herself and lighting her own Menorah with real fire on the top." (which means that her candle was really lit with a flame). This was a very big to do in the Olbrich household this year!

Their Hanukkah tradition is to have Daria open 1 present each night of Hanukkah. And of course their crazy dog Summer gets in the act every year! She loves to open presents and rip up the wrapping paper. This year was no different.

What a big girl lighting the candle herself on her own menorah!

Daria helping Mommy light a candle too.

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Daria and Mommy on the first night of Hanukkah.

Daria and Aunt Max

Summer enjoying her gift (and the wrapping paper!).

Chemo Round 3 update

2008-12-18T08:40:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

On Tuesday, December 16th, Shari completed her 3rd round of chemotherapy treatment. Tuesday was a very long day for Shari. She left the house at 7am and didn't get home until close to 6:30pm. Despite being tired and drained, Shari did experience her usual Day 1 side effect of feeling "high" from the meds. Yesterday, Shari felt decent. There was some more significant bone and joint pain than she usually feels this early in her chemo cycle, but it wasn't too unbearable. Shari did also experience some nausea yesterday. Anticipating how she would feel in the next couple of days, and despite her side effects, Shari actually mustered the strength to complete all of her gift wrapping for the upcoming holidays. She is so inspirational!

Shari's friend Max (or Crazy Aunt Max) returned from Boston yesterday and will stay with Shari through Sunday. Max is such a wonderful support for Shari, Daria, and Tom.... making sure that they all have what they need to make it through these tough days of Shari's chemo cycle.

Please keep Shari in your prayers over the next several days. These are the days that are the toughest for her in her chemo cycle and she will experience the worst and most significant side effects over the next few days.

During her treatment on Tuesday, Shari and the oncology team revisited Shari's targeted therapy regimen. You will recall that Shari was having significant reaction to the targeted therapy drugs (severe body rashes). She had been taking the drug 2 times per day, but when the reactions started, they discontinued the drug altogether until her body healed. Shari then started taking the targeted therapy once per day. She has not had any of the severe rashing during this time, although she does still have itching and peeling of her hands and feet. Because she has reacted fairly well to the once per day plan, they decided on Tuesday that Shari would start taking the targeted therapy drugs 2 times per day, every other day. On the days in between, Shari will just take it once per day. Please pray for Shari that this gradual ramp up will work for her body and not cause her any severe reactions as it had before!

Shari's next chemotherapy is now scheduled for January 5th, but may be pushed back to January 12th. We will update the exact date in a post soon.

Best,
Shannon

A Rose is More Than Just a Rose...

2008-12-17T16:59:00.005-05:00

Shari just completed Round 3 of chemotherapy yesterday (an update on that is coming next). Before we get to that, though, we want to tell all of her friends and family about Shari's "Rose Angel". The day before each of the 3 chemotherapy treatments that Shari has completed, Shari has found a rose on her front doorstep. The rose is always accompanied by 7 different inspirational quotes written on index cards and paper clipped to the rose.

The rose is given to Shari anonymously. She genuinely has no idea who keeps leaving her pre-treatment rose and inspirational quotes for her. While one part of Shari is very curious about who the mystery gifter is, another part of her happy to have it remain a mystery. She is very thankful and appreciative of this anonymous "Rose Angel" who is so thoughtful and provides her with this wonderful pick-me-up right before each of her treatments.

So, to Shari's "Rose Angel" whomever you are, Shari wants you to know this.... She appreciates you and your generosity more than you can know. Your gesture really puts a smile on her face and helps her get through her tough days. You are very much loved and appreciated!

The Nutcracker Tradition

2008-12-15T17:16:00.003-05:00

With Daria being the ballerina that she is, Shari has started a tradition with her to go see the Nutcracker Ballet each year during the holiday season. They've been doing this together for the past 3 years. Their yearly tradition looked slightly different this time because Shari and Daria went to see a different production of The Nutcracker and they went with several of their playgroup friends! My daughter Madison and I were part of the group that went to The Nutcracker, and Madison and Daria both had a great night! And, truth be told, Shari and I had a great evening out as well! We got the girls dressed up and took them out to dinner before the show. They were so excited. Here are some pictures:

Shari and Daria at dinner.

Daria showing us her best ballerina moves.

So graceful.

Best friends.

Shannon, Daria, Madison, and Shari enjoying our night out together!

More updates soon,

Shannon

Birthday Blessings

2008-12-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

On December 10th, Shari celebrated her 29th Birthday (Again!) :-) To celebrate this very special occasion, Shari had a Birthday Tea with Tom, Daria, and her dear friend Jann. This was a perfect opportunity to celebrate all that is wonderful in Shari's life. Here are some pictures from that fabulous day:

Aren't they a beautiful family?

Mother and Daughter

Aunt Jann, Daria, and Shari

Precious angel

Happy Birthday, Shari. We all wish you a year ahead full of health, blessings, and happiness!

Shari is so stylish!

2008-12-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

On 11/22, Shari's friend Mair came over for the "final buzz" and they took off the remainder of Shari's hair. After this session, Shari was mostly bald, although there were still a few small patches of hair remaining. Daria got to help this time around and as you will see from all of the smiles in the picture, they had a great day together!

Shari is ready to become bald!

You can see Daria's hand in the picture "helping" Aunt Mair!

Daria got a turn with the clippers too!

Saying goodbye to Mommy's hair.

And embracing it all with ..... SMILES!

And after this buzz session, here is how Shari is working her new Bald look. Doesn't she have the best head shape?

To top it all off, here are some of the FABULOUS hat and scarf looks that Shari has been wearing lately. She looks so very chic!!!

Stay tuned for more fashionable updates soon :-)

Round 2 of Chemo

2008-11-22T14:52:00.001-05:00

I (Shannon) was away just as Shari was completing Round 2 of her Chemotherapy treatment, so here is a recap of her experience in her own words. This is a post of an email that Shari sent to update friends and family on her status.
---------------------------------------
Dearest Friends and Family,

I hope this email finds you all well. I appreciate all the emails, blog responses and phone calls that I have been receiving. The love and support that has rallied around me and my family has been unbelievable and the word of Thank You sometimes just doesn't seem like enough. So without knowing what else to say, Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We are so grateful.

I decided to write to everyone now that I have completed Round 2 of my Chemotherapy Treatment. Shannon is away for a couple of days and I thought that I would like to send out an email update myself. I will ask her to add this to my blog as well just in case I miss anyone. Also a special Thank You to Shannon for updating my blog and keeping everyone informed. Just in case you need the blog address again it is www.daringtoshare.blogspot.com

Update on the port that was implanted two weeks ago, it seems to be adapting to my body very nicely. There is still a little discomfort but on the most part it is healing very well.

Light to the targeted therapy (oral meds), Nexavar, and the ongoing rash reaction that I have been having. The reaction was so bad that we held the meds for 7 days and restarted this past Wednesday evening dose only and I had another reaction, so we decided to hold it again. We reevaluate the situation at my appointment on Friday and decided to restart at a much lower dose so that my body can adapt to it more gracefully. I had been taking 2 pills 2 times a day and now I will be taking 1 pill a day. Wait for my body to adjust and try to add more. I started last night and it seems that I have not had any reaction. So far so good.

So yesterdays treatment was unbelievable. Since I now have a port there was no accessing my veins for an IV, it would be my first experience accessing the port instead. I was a little nervous of the unknown but was very excited as well for not having to use my veins. My dear friend Jann, lovely Alice and a surprise visitor Leah, the best buddy anyone could have from my DSS class were all present with me. The nurse got all her stuff ready, draped me, cleaned me all up and said "OK, take in a deep breath and exhale and I will insert the needle." I said OK please wait one minute and I took in a cleansing breath and said "OK now I am ready". She said again, "Take in a breathe, blow it out, here we go, OK all done." I said, "All done, that's it." She said "Yep that's it." And then I screeched, "That's it, all done, yea!!!!" I was so happy. It was so easy, and I feel so blessed. The whole time that the infusion was going in I felt nothing. It was terrific.

The whole day takes a really long time but for some reason yesterday didn't seem as long. I still got high as a kite and felt a little woozy and high leaving the hospital but I felt great. I eat lunch, rested and had great conversation with friends. What more could anyone ask for.

Today, I feel a little under the weather. A little nauseous, a little tired, and a little weak. But all in all I am fine. The next couple of days will be more challenging for me and then I will start to feel a little better. By week 3 I will have my energy back and feel like me again, just in time to start again.

This week my dear friend (my wife) Max or Crazy Aunt Max, that some kids call her, is here with us from Boston to take care of me, support Tom and care for Daria as well. We are so grateful to her for being here with us and loving us just the way that she does. Thank you Max for making it possible to be her with me this week and for just being you.

Lastly, if you would please continue to hold my vision with me that I am "The Miracle". I am holding for the disease to shrink and be gone from my body completely. Please continue to see me strong, healthy and vibrant as I continue on my journey of complete health.

Thank you for being apart of my life. I feel so grateful and blessed.
God Bless us all.
Loving,
Shari

Rash, Rash, Go Away!

2008-11-20T20:23:00.006-05:00

By the end of last week, Shari had started to experience some pretty unpleasant side effects from the targeted therapy drug that she is taking. As of Friday, the body rash that Shari was experiencing had spread and soon covered 95% of her body. Shari has described the body rash as being very similar to having a bad sun burn (And, as a melanoma patient, the strange irony of this has not been lost on Shari at all!). At first, her skin was red and raw and blistering in places. She was having significant difficulty in walking because even the bottoms of her feet were effected. Her skin then started to look purple, just as a bad sun burn would look. And, then her skin started to peel.

Shari and the oncologist's office decided late last week that Shari would stop taking the targeted therapy drug temporarily until the body rash started to calm down. Shari discontinued use of the drug over the weekend and touched base with the office on Monday. They decided that her skin had not healed enough to begin the drug yet and decided to wait until Wednesday. Shari did take her first dose of the meds on Wednesday, and overnight last night was greeted by the full body rash having returned :-(

She is not taking the meds today, but is suffering quite a bit both from the rash as well as from a night of fitful, poor sleep. Around 3am last night, Shari was in significant pain and quite itchy. She took some Benadryl and also tried to put ice packs on her feet to numb them because they hurt so badly. Remember that tomorrow Shari has her second round of chemotherapy and needs all of the energy reserves she can have, so this episode is poorly timed. Shari will be speaking with the oncologist tomorrow regarding how they are going to proceed with the targeted therapy given her reactions to the drug. One choice would be to take a smaller dose of the drug and hope that as her body got used to it, she could ramp up to the higher dose over time.

Also, this weekend, Shari decided it was time to try out a new hair cut :-) Shari had started to experience some hair loss, so she made the decision to "buzz" her hair to make the hair loss process a little more manageable. Shari's friend Mair came to the house on Sunday to complete the next step in her hair transformation. Shari said that she shed some tears but mostly had laughter. She was listening to Indigo Girls - Right of Passage ("Galileo") as Mair started to buzz it all away. That song is really important to Shari because of a personal meaning from a class that she took a long time ago.

Here is Shari before:

And, here she is after with her "buzz" cut:

How awesome does she look?!?!?! So beautiful!

Shari told me today that her hair is starting to fall out more regularly now, and so she may choose to buzz her hair even shorter. I'm sure we'll have more pics to share when that happens. Shari has chemotherapy scheduled for tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers! We will keep you posted.

Peace,

Shannon

Update on Shari

2008-11-14T10:57:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone-

Shari is doing fairly well this week. She has experienced some fatigue, bone pain, and some rashes on her body in the last 10 days since her treatment started. However, all of this has mostly been manageable for her and are all expected side effects.

On Wednesday, Shari went to the hospital to have a port put in her chest. From here forward, her medicines will be administered through the port, instead of having to give her IV's every time she goes for treatment. She has had some discomfort and soreness at the incision sites, but is overall doing well from that procedure.

Shari's next chemo treatment will be next Friday, November 21st.

Please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers and keep holding her vision that she will be a "miracle" and eradicate this cancer from her body!

Best,
Shannon

Touched By An Angel...

2008-11-14T10:39:00.003-05:00

For anyone who may be doubting, there are still alot of really great people in this world...People who will go out of their way to assist a stranger for no other reason than to be nice and to help someone out. Shari met one of these selfless people two weeks ago.

The weekend before the historic presidential election, Shari was at home, preparing to cut her hair before her chemo treatment started a few days later. Out of the blue, her front door bell rang. Shari answered to door to find a friendly campaign worker canvassing her neighborhood reminding people to get the vote out! As he talked to Shari, she mentioned that it was going to be hard for her to make voting work in her schedule (she needed to leave for the hospital that morning by 7:30am for her first chemo treatment!), but she was going to try her absolute hardest to make sure she voted. She was especially concerned by the prediction that lines would be long at her polling place, and she wouldn't have the time to wait.

After hearing her story, this kind man told her that he wanted to help her out. So, he told her that he would go to the polls early on Tuesday morning and wait in line for her so that she could pull right up to the polls when they opened at 7am and take his place in line and vote. The man gave Shari is cell phone number and told her that whether she came, or not, he was going to be there waiting in line for her.

The night before, the man called Shari and reiterated his commitment to waiting in line for her so she could vote quickly and get on her way to the hospital. Shari still wasn't sure how her morning would go and if all of the timing was even going to make any of this possible, but she surely appreciated the man doing this for her.

Tuesday morning, Shari was on her way and called her new friend to let him know she was coming. As promised, this man had been waiting in a long line and when Shari arrived, he gave her his space in line. He then proceeded to go all the way to the back of the line to wait his turn to vote.

This seemingly small gesture made a huge difference in Shari's life! You never know how impactful your kindness can be and Shari was so appreciative that this "voting angel" was sent to her!

Shannon

Empowerment!

2008-11-06T21:10:00.010-05:00

Once Shari chose to do the chemotherapy and targeted therapy treatment that began this week, she knew that losing her hair would become a reality at some point in this process. Shari has embraced this reality and decided to be proactive about it!

Shari wanted to cut her hair short in anticipation of the chemo side effects, before she started treatment and started to possibly feel ill. On Sunday, her dear friend Mair cut her hair into a fabulous new short style! Shari looks beautiful.

Shari, before

Shari, after

Doesn't she look fabulous?!?! In other "hair" news, Shari and her friend Jan started the process of wig shopping last week. They went to a boutique in West Chester and were introduced to a HUGE variety of options she has for head coverings, including wigs, partial hair pieces, hats, scarves, and headbands. Shari found a few things she really liked there including a wonderful wig that she hopes she may be able to get in the coming weeks! Check out her pictures.

I love this shot of Jan and Shari together! Don't they look adorable?!?!

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I'll update you on Shari's wonderful voting story. There are some really wonderful people in this world!

Shannon

We Interrupt this Regularly Scheduled Programming....

2008-11-05T20:01:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!This is Shari's friend Shannon. As many of you know, Shari has been diagnosed with melanoma and has recently found out that the melanoma has spread to her lung. Shari began a chemotherapy and targeted therapy treatment program as of yesterday to fight the melanoma. We know that Shari will be successful in her fight, but she can use all of the support that she can get along the way.

Shari has asked that I act as a communicator with all of you, her loving supporters, as she goes through this process. This is a job I will happily accept. In light of this, I have "hijacked" Shari's blog and will occasionally update you here with her progress.

Shari provided an update yesterday after her first chemotherapy treatment and here is what she had to say:

----------
Today, Tuesday, November 4th I started my first chemo and targeted therapy treatment. And after 1 small issue in the morning (I was never scheduled for an appointment in the calendar for today's treatment) and 1 small issue once I started the chemo (I had a small rash reaction that made them stop the meds and check with my Dr. that took about 45 minutes before receiving clearance to continue) I think the day went smooth and easy. I was very tired and floating around from the Benadryl that they gave me and then got very high from the steroids. The combination was overall good.

It has been almost a 12 hour day since I left my house and got back home but (I DID VOTE, YEA!!!!! can't wait to share that story, another time) I am tired and ready to relax, get out of my clothes and retire for the night.

Thank you for all your support and love. I will update often and keep you up to date on my progress. If there is anyone that I have missed please let me know. And you are welcome to share my "Miracle" progress with anyone that would like to know. My oncologists vision is to maintain and stabilize the disease and I would like to take it a step further I want to be "The Miracle" to shrink the melanoma and it be gone from my body completely.

God Bless us all,
Light, love and laughter,
Shari
------------

Please keep Shari in your thoughts and prayers. I will update here regularly so please check back!

Shannon

Conversations With Daria

2008-09-01T12:15:00.001-04:00

So once again I had an another amazing conversation with my daughter. Today's subject was about age. Some how we spoke about life and after life. Yes she is only 5 years old but we talk about everything. Today was no different. So as we spoke she mentioned that Daddy was old. I said why do you say that Daddy is old Daria? She said because he wears glasses. I really wanted to laugh. Instead I asked her, but Mama wears glasses also. She said not all the time. Only old people where glasses all the time like Daddy. I said, oh OK. I had to bite my tong. And there we have another wonderful conversation with a 5 year old.

Blessings,

Shari

African Safari Adventure

2008-08-31T14:53:00.005-04:00

Today turned out to be such a beautiful day even though to weather people again called for a day of rain. We had none. It was overcast in the am but absolutely warm and sunny all day long. So off we went to the African Safari. We decided not to tell Daria where we were going for the day because we knew she would be so excited to see all the animals live and up close, we decided that surprising her was the way to go and to see her little face was worth the wait. And I could capture it all on film. But no, Mama forgot her camera. Again! That's another story. Someday, I will get better at remembering.

Anyway, on with our day. We decided to invite Grandma and Pop Pop because they live so close to Africa, so we met them along the way and they joined us for the rest of the adventure. Daria was very excited to share the day with them too.

So when we finally arrived and was waiting in line to drive in there were animal pattern flags flying in the wind and Daria saw them and said , "Are we at a Safari?" I had no idea how she knew, but she was right. So there was no turning back now, the excitement was there and now we just needed to get into the park. As we were waiting in line, there was a whole herd of buffalo crossing the road just inside the gate. Daria was so excited to see the buffalo. And once we got in, there they were free, roaming around, and getting close to our car. Boy are they huge animals. I forgot how big they are. Daria's excitement was contagious. She just couldn't sit still. She was screaming and cackling. I was so excited about her excitement. And as we continued to drive through the 4 1/2 mile route, which took over 2 hours, each animal that we saw Daria just squealed with excitement. Towards the end of the 2 hours we came to animals that were very lazy, sleeping, hot and not interested in letting us see them. So next time we decide to do this we need to go earlier in the day. But that was OK by us, we all had a great time.

So the highlight of the day was when we saw the Giraffes. At fist they were far away from the road but then they started towards the cars and there they were standing right above us looking down at us. I felt sooooo small and vulnerable. It was a very interesting feeling. So anyway, the car next to us got the giraffes attention by holding apples out of the windows and the sunroof. This is an absolute no no. The rules all say no windows open, no feeding the animals, No No No!!!! There they were feeding the giraffes. I explained to Daria that they were breaking the rules and that could make the animals sick. Then the people in the car fed the giraffes pretzels and Daria totally understood that couldn't be good for them. She was correct. Even though they weren't doing right, we stayed there and watched those gorgeous animals close up and personal. It was definitely the best part of the day.

After our African Adventure we had a late lunch together and came home. I was a long day, an exciting day, a day that we will remember for a long time.

Blessings,

Shari

Coversations With Daria

2008-08-29T17:02:00.004-04:00

So the other day we received a letter from Daria's Fantastic Fives teacher Miss Cynthia. Miss Cynthia introduced herself in the letter, told her how excited she was to have her in her class and explained that she had enclosed her first assignment. Daria then asked, "Mama, what is an assignment?" I explained that it is work that you need to so, homework. I continued reading the letter and it said to place 2 or 3 of your favorite items inside the bag. Daria again asked "What is an item?" I again explained that it is an object or a thing, something that you like. And I then said do you understand? This is a homework assignment that you need to do before school starts. And with that out of my dear sweet 5 year old daughter's mouth comes "I DON"T WANT TO DO ANY HOOOOMEWWWWORRRRK!!!" With all the whining to back up the statement. I just couldn't believe my ears. I felt like I was talking to a teenage. Not my 5 year old. If this is happening now then what will happen when she is a teenager. Inside I was just laughing and also crying. I was laughing because this was just too funny and crying because this was my future. Look out world here she comes!!!!

Blessings,

Shari

A Day Of Rest

2008-08-24T19:51:00.006-04:00

So today started out to be a day of much needed rest. Tom decided this morning that he wanted to go to the beach for the day. After much debate inside myself, I decided that he and D Rose should go without me. And that I should spend the day at home catching up on all the needed rest that I manage to not get. Besides, the side affects from my treatment (I will explain later) are now kicking in. This of course is a good thing but it does take it's toll. So driving 2 hours to the shore and 2 hours home from the shore, spending time on the beach in the sun and walking on the boardwalk, although to most of you sounds like a wonderful day, to me would have been exhausting. So I made my chose and opted to stay home and I sent the two of them off by themselves.

At the beginning of the day I was sooooo happy. Alone in the quiet with my class work, my new blog, my book that I want to finish reading and of course the Olympics. I was set. I had to run to the store for a short errand and was back by lunch time. I made myself a nice lunch and then it hit me. "They must be on the beach having a great time." "What have I done, why did I decide to stay home?" And lets just say that it went on and on and on from there. Most of the time I was trying very hard to be content in my quiet and then the one in my head would start and not let up.

All in all, I had the day of quiet I needed so much. I completed a lot that I wanted to get accomplished and had rest, quiet rest. On the most part I am grateful for days like this and I also wish that I had the energy all the time to just pick up and go like I used too. That day again will come.

Blessings,

Shari

Do You Want to Win $100????

2008-08-24T09:59:00.002-04:00

Lands' End is one of those companies that really value moms' opinions. Here's a way to have your voice heard and really make a difference when it comes to preparing for the upcoming winter months. Please take a few minutes to complete the 2008 Lands' End Outerwear Survey.

The survey consists of 19 multiple-choice questions. Upon completing the survey, your name will be entered to win one of five $100 Lands' End Gift Cards. To be eligible to win, you must complete the survey by midnight (CST) on Thursday, August 28th.

Take the Survey Now!

And being the blogger that you are... we'd love for you to share this survey opportunity with your readers. If you put up a post with a link to this survey on your blog before August 28th, please send Natalie Zupo, nzupo@bsmmedia.com, an e-mail with the link to that post and we will enter your name a second time for your chance to win one of five $100 gift cards from Lands' End!

How easy is that? Hope to see you on the winners list.

Blessings,

Shari

A Visit from my Sister

2008-08-21T22:17:00.003-04:00

Celeste and D Rose laughing together

Celeste, Nicole and D Rose enjoying being togehter

D Rose had a very busy Thursday. First we had a visit from her best friend Madison. They got to play and play and even have lunch together. Which is always a highlight of the day. Then after lunch we were supposed to have rest time but we were just too excited because we knew who would be coming soon.

Then finally around 4pm D Rose's older sister arrived with her daughter Nicole. Everyone was so excited and the toys went a flyin'. Everyone got into the act. Celeste and Nicole spent the night and the next day we went to the park for some fun and water play. Everyone had a great time. It's always great to have a visit from them. It is a shame they don't live closer so we can see them more often.

Thanks for the visit. Can't wait til next time.

Blessings,

Shari

Testing 1, 2, 3 Testing

2008-08-20T19:43:00.002-04:00

Here I am learning about how to blog. Yes Girls I said Blog. Can you believe it? I can't. But so far so good. Thanks Shannon for all your assistance and your friendship.
Blessings,

Shari

No Grandma and Pop Pop You Can't Go!!!

2008-07-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

D Rose keeping Grandma and Pop Pop hostage

So Grandma and Pop Pop came for a visit. Right before they went home my mom shared a story about me and my siblings when my grandparents came to visit us when we were kids and how we never wanted them to leave. My brother, sister and I would barracade ourselves infront of the door so that they couldn't leave. As my parents were getting ready to leave D Rose disappeared. My parents said their goodbyes and headed for the door and what did they find, little Miss D Rose sitting infront of the door blocking it and saying "You can't leave you can't leave". How cute was she?

Blessings,

Shari