"Memorop": Salvation for the Chemo Impaired?

Recently, I went to my first professional networking event since my latest bout with cancer. Sad to say, my legendary memory became exactly that...a legend!



Gone are the days of meeting a person once and putting together a name AND face, kids' names, professional background and funny trivia. I do well to keep from saying, "Are you sure we met?!" I've read studies that say that chemo can affect the brain for 10 years or longer. Discouraging news if you're in business for yourself or in sales. Thank God that software developers are honest and create programs for real people. My new fave app on my smartphone is Memorop, a cool tool that let's you input info on people that helps you remember who they are & how you met them. Touted as a "relationship manager" app, it's perfect for folks like me plagued by chemo brain ChB means I may not remember where I put my keys 2 minutes earlier--and that's no exaggeration!



Visit http://memorop.com and take Memorop on a tour. The best feature? It's free!



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Relay for Life 2010

I have always felt the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" event was a transformative opportunity for myself and my family. This year, I had the unique honor--blessing, really--to bring several friends to experience Relay with me. I was astounded at what I learned from them and what we took away in our hearts after spending over 24 hours together.

Mid-day Saturday, we loaded up tents, sleeping bags, a cooler full of snacks (some healthy, others less so), a change of clothes and cooler weather gear and got underway. My teenage companions came to my house and my girlfriend drove over so we could leave together. All of us were excited because we weren't quite sure what would happen. Of course, I had reviewed the itinerary with them, but one just has no idea who'll be at the event, the impact of the survivor stories shared or just how it will affect you knowing and hearing that many families will be remembering loved ones who lost their battles with cancer. Relay is a powerful celebration, not a memorial. Yet, it gets into your heart!

So, we set out together, excited and jittery. Once we arrived at Osprey Park in Hunters Creek, FL, it was obvious that the crows had doubled--perhaps event tripled--from the previous year. The parking lots were packed and folks were busy setting up tents, tables, outdoor grills and so on in preparation of an incredible weekend. Tired from just loading up, I slumped into the first lawn chair I could reach and my friends jumped right into pitching our tent. After some sweaty moments of frustration, several gentlemen from a nearby campsite helped us out and raised our 10-person tent. God bless you, dudes!

That was a great start to hours of comraderie, serving, comforting and many acts of precipitated kindness and sense-"full" acts of caring. While thousands of dollars were raised in the hopes of eradicating cancer in this generation, the multitudes of families with cancer survivors or remembrances of loved ones gone on showed up to celebrate life. People came to remind the community that cancer survivors, like our men and women in uniform, are fighting an unseen enemy openly and bravely. I have many memories, mostly watching the young people who were with me make choices to get involved in the battle against cancer. As the event motto stated and I'm paraphrasing, Thanks for helping me to enjoy some unexpected birthdays and many more to come!

Real Power to Heal...ME!

“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,…” (Luke 9:1)

Many of you know of my 10 year battle with cancer and how I’ve come close to going to eternity many times. We don’t always know God’s plans, but we who believe put our hope & trust in Him. Recently, I’ve asked many of you to pray more earnestly for me. My recent round of PET scans revealed a spot on my lung that appeared to be growing—rapidly. My doctors were very concerned and feared my current chemo treatment had stopped working. The options before me weren’t positive: 1) I could continue taking the chemo I’m currently on and add another chemo (IV or pills); 2) my doctor would put me on 1 or 2 completely different, stronger chemotherapies; or 3) I could choose to end all treatment and prepare my family and myself for the possibility of death.

Let’s just say, I have spent the last 3 months thoroughly praying about ALL of these options. None of them were appealing to me, so I prayed for a 4th option: that God would take ALL of the cancer away. And why not?! Hasn’t He shown us His power time and time again! My life has been FULL of miracles and I am not about to lose faith now!!

So, I want to tell you that God has EXCEEDED all of my prayers! A week ago, my doctor and her staff couldn’t wait to tell me that the results of my most recent scans showed the cancer to be stable. Yet, when I saw her last Thursday, she went into greater detail. Not only did the scans show that the curious spot that worried us so much in December is not even cancer, further investigation revealed that there are NO signs of cancer in my body at this time!

What does all of this mean?! It means that they cannot find ANY cancer in my chest at this time! We prayed for a miracle and God has delivered me once again!! I keep praying for the impossible and He keeps showing me His power! If you have tried to reach me and couldn’t within the last week or so, it’s because I’ve been out celebrating!

We’re overjoyed and just wanted to share the good news with you. Please continue to pray for me as I endeavor to make the five-year mark. Hopefully, if I continue at this rate, I can come off of at least half of my current chemo dosage within the next 12 – 18 months. And then, who knows! J

Thanks for your prayers, encouragement, love and support! I could not have made it through any of this without my beloved family and friends. We are a testament to God’s glory!

Love,
 
Janet

Excerpts from a letter to a friend

It’s great to hear from you! Please give my love to your family. Let them know that because of their prayers and those of many others literally around the world, I am a walking miracle! I wanted to write to you and let you know exactly what has been going on with me since we last saw one another.

In 2006 I was diagnosed for the second time with breast cancer, I was told I was now in Stage IV, a sharp contrast to having been in Stage 0 five years earlier. This recurrence was more complex and very agressive. The cancer was growing at an alarming rate. Since that first doctor's visit, I’ve had more surgery to the left (and cancerous) breast, several rounds of chemo, and radiation. Eventually, I had to have over half my sternum removed.

Late 2007 the cancer started to spread again, causing my lungs to collapse (again) and for my organs to fail. I was nearly comatose and my husband and family were told I would not survive. Yet, I DID survived! I can only credit this as a miracle due to God’s incredible mercy, grace, and the prayers of hundreds of brothers and sisters in Christ, family members and friends around the country and overseas. My damaged lungs healed themselves even though doctors thought I would need further surgery to remove the blood and other protein clogging them.

Today, I am still feeling stronger, although I’m still on a very strong chemo medication. I am grateful to God just to be here with my family. When my daughters asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I responded that I wanted our family to go and encourage other cancer patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the facility where I have received treatment for nearly 4 years. It was a tough time for all of us seeing other families hurting and going through the pain of disease and treatment. Yet, giving to them filled our hearts with gratitude and we received many hugs and teary-eyed thanks from the patients and their loved ones. I feel compelled to share the story of my miraculous healing whenever I hear someone feeling overwhelmed or in despair. I believe it is my purpose and God's desire for me to fulfill His plans for me.

I feel blessed to be able to do what I have always wanted to do: to be a missionary. At one time, I thought it was in the plans for Joaquin and me to go off to a third-world country and preach the Gospel. Little did I know that cancer would provide for me a mission and people eagerly seeking God--right here at home! “Yet not my will but your will be done,” Jesus said. And I try to have that same heart every day.