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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Free Association for the Masses

Well, in between looking for a job, helping out at my various volunteer places and trying to stay warm (will the temp ever rise above 50 degrees again?), I have been reading some fairly interesting books. I used to read mainly (only?) fiction - Harry Potter, Stephen King, Anne Rice, C.S. Lewis - wanted to escape and relax the mind. Lately, however, I have found myself reading non-fiction. I guess it all started with my study and search for effective B.C. treatments but now has moved on to the brain. I want to do as much as possible to recover the capabilities of memory and mental function that were lost due to the chemo and anesthesia my brain suffered through over the last couple of years.

The latest book I am reading is called Making a Good Brain Great by Dr. Daniel Amen, a clinical neuroscientist and brain imaging expert. He has done imaging of the brain and how its over or under function in specific areas affect our personalities, lifestyles, actions, activities. It is fascinating - to me at least - and even more so as I find that the imaging and treatment techniques tie into the Quantum Physics from What The Bleep? and the philosophy behind energy healing and retraining the mind. There may be hope for man/womankind after all. And for me. HaHa.

Really didn't mean for this entry to get so heavy.......

On another topic, there is now a blog for our Dragon Boat Racing Team - Paddle Past Cancer. I will try to put a link on this page. If you go to the blog, you can see the video of our race in San Francisco last September. Our boat is the one with the "caterpillar effect" of the oars. Hopefully, by our next race, we will do better at paddling together. Anyway, it was lots of fun and I am looking forward to future races.

In the meantime, I am supposed to find a new sport to try out as part of the Brain building. Don't have to take it up. Just try it out. Any suggestions?

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Survivor

Yes. As most or all of you know, I am a survivor (2 years on March 15). Now, I am trying to become a Survivor. The kind that wins a million dollars. I went down to Monterey today to go to the casting call for the show. Wasn't a total zoo as I expected. Got right in and sat relaxed at a table until I was called about 1 hr. later. Pretty exciting.

On other news (guys, you might want to stop reading here), I had my own little miracle last week. After having my hormones tested last year and being told that my Estrogen, Progesterone and Cortisol didn't even show up as a blip on the scale and that my FSH (Follicular Stimulation Hormone) was a 60 which is the equivalent of a 70 year old, very post-menopausal woman, I was told to more or less give up on my body recovering from the chemo induced menopause that it was in. This caused me major concern since the bones and mind do much better the longer your body is hormone producing and following its natural path to old age. My bones were tested and did indeed show a 14% deterioration from my pre-chemo density which was already not that great. A woman of 45 has an 80% of going post-menopausal with chemotherapy. I fell into the 80% category and was told to give up hope of reversing the effect.

As you probably know, I am not one to give up. I read up on alternatives for balancing the hormones and re-establishing normal body functions. I was all set to try to find a doctor who did saliva testing and hormone balancing when I was introduced to the woman with the SCIOS machine. I understood the concept of working with the body's energy since I had been doing Reiki and Pranic Healing since my diagnosis with miraculous results. I spoke with my Reiki Master and asked her to do focused energy work on my ovaries. I also worked with the SCIOS machine on the same thing. 5 months and 3 SCIOS treatments and 2 treatments from my Reiki Master later, I got my period - a true miracle and attributable to these alternative therapies. I went to my gynecologist and she ultra-sounded and measured my uterus - declaring it normal. She ran a test of my FSH and it came back 18.8! Anything below 20 is considered pre-menopausal. She told me that I was not yet in menopause. So I went from post-menopausal with no hope to being pre-menopausal. Truly amazing. I am so thankful. This means that my bones and mind have a better chance to remain strong than they would have otherwise and that my body is taking one more step back towards normal after the ravages of the last 2 years.

And now, I am looking for the SURVIVOR miracle. Please get me on the program and let me win the million dollars!

Monday, January 08, 2007

Sears - Going Out of Business or Hiring?

Driving by Sears on San Antonio road and saw a big sign saying Store Closing and Going Out of Business Sale. Well I didn't know that that Sears was going out of business.

Even more strange was the sign right next to it that said, "Sears - now hiring".

Monday, January 01, 2007

Happy New Year!

2007. Coming in beautiful, sunny and bright. Very different from the rainy, stormy 2006. Just an observation. Is it good or bad? Who knows?

Good for the Rose Bowl players. Fight On Trojans!

Happy New Year everyone. May it be happy, healthy, prosperous and full of love for everyone.