My New Language

Kevin and I got a new Cannon Rebel DSLR camera. I'm still just getting used to it with the automatic settings, but I had fun getting some cute shots with my nephew Miles while I was babysitting him. He grabs his feel all the time.

This past morning I felt inspired to take a pic of part of the morning routine as the sun was shining in. Lemonade, coffee, fish oil, my many many supplements, liquid chlorophyll (yummy). Oh, and some Truvia (which is the sweetener made from Stevia which I told you all about. I don't use it, because I just use liquid Stevia. I got it to show all of you so.) Ahhh, good morning.
Miles is probably getting teeth soon because he puts everything in his mouth.

Miles has some incredibly big blue eyes. He's such a happy baby.

Quick update stuff first before I blog:

Hormone therapy is going fine. I have no side effects yet.

I now see a chiropractor that I really like and I already feel more flexible. Yeah!

Kevin and I have an every Monday night Yoga date now. Also helping with flexibility.

We are going to Arizona next Wednesday March 11th and I will be there until the 19th (Kevin flys back the 15th I think) We're staying at my grandmother's in Sun City and we will be taking a short trip to the Grand Canyon. I'm sure we'll have some good pictures to go up on the blog.

Okay, last picture. Chloe getting some water tonight. She's my new glamour shots kitty now that I have the new camera.

This post is about my new take on language and what changes I am making to mine:

First word I am eliminating from my language is should. Should is a bad word that people use all the time. What is wrong with should??? Well, when you say you should do something you are implying that you are automatically wrong if you don't do it. For example: "I should write a new blog post before I leave for Arizona" If I don't, what is implied here with the word should is that it would be bad. Okay, now insert the word could. "I could write a new blog post before I leave for Arizona." Now this sounds like great opportunity I could have instead of being bad for not doing something I SHOULD do. I got this from the book You Can Heal Your Life, and I agree with it. I do everything I can to replace the word should with could. I do 10 pushups if Kevin can catch me saying it. Honestly, try it out. Try a couple sentences. It almost feels like a weight off your shoulders when you use the word could instead.

Another word I am trying to eliminate from my language is fight. YES FIGHT. I will no longer FIGHT cancer. No more winning the fight, battle, or whatever else people say I am doing to cancer. When people tell me I will win this fight or how good I am fighting, I kind of ignore the comment and say to myself that this person is wishing me health. That way they are still helping me which is what they are trying to do. Here is the reasoning for eliminating the word fight. We attract into our lives what we focus on and give our attention to weather it is negative or positive attention. So if I constantly focus on FIGHTING cancer than I will most likely attract cancer into my life. I know if sounds weird that this can happen but I believe in it. It's really tough because fighting stuff we don't want has become so popular and commonplace in our society. It's our usual language. So instead of fighting cancer I will be focusing on health. So, if you start talking to me about fighting cancer and I look like I am zoning out, well, just know that I am translating that into a positive message about health in my head. 

To take this to another level it is wise to eliminate all negative language from your vocabulary. I'm going to stop focusing on what I don't want and start focusing (and talking) about what I do want. I am trying not to focus on not wanting MY CANCER to come back, and focus on being healthy in the future.

Another phrase I am eliminating is "my cancer" "my tumors" or I HAVE cancer. All together I will be trying to say the word cancer as least a possible (after this blog where I feel like I am saying this word a million times). The reason for not saying my cancer was given to me by a hypnotherapist I saw. He says that it is human nature to want to hold on to the things we own. If we have things,we tend to want to keep our things. He says the same thing goes for cancer and any other health condition. My cancer will make me in a subconscious way, hold on to my cancer. I don't want to do that. It's hard to re-word everything I say, but I believe it is worth it. I know it makes people sometimes get suspicious that I have issues, but so what. So, rather than say I HAVE cancer I say I was diagnosed with cancer. Other words I can use are dealing with, facing, challenged with etc..

Here are some other language changes I am making: If someone finds out I was diagnosed with the "c" word they always ask and assume "so you are in remission right?" or "you beat it right". The last thing I want to do is confirm to them and myself that no, I still have my cancer. Instead I will say something like "my treatment is going very well, or everything is going great." I'm not trying to be secretive about anything, but I don't want to cost myself any health by trying to explain to people what is going on inside my body. My hypnotherapist told me that at a subconscious level, our language impacts our health. The things we say can shape our lives. 

Anyway, just thought I would write about the language changes to explain to you all why I might seem secretive when I am trying to answer a question. I now it seems a little crazy to be so aware of the exact wording you use when you talk, but I'm trying to do EVERYTHING I can to give myself a longer happier and more fulfilling life.

Well, we're super excited to leave for Arizona so soon. I think we'll go to the Canyon, Sedona and at least one spring training game while we are out there. I might go bead shopping with my grandma so I can bring home some original beads for making jewelry. Anyway, we'll see where the trip takes us. It will be great for Kevin to be on vacation.

Peace love and lots of cool pics coming

Shannon

What am I doing for treatment?????

Are you wondering what I am doing for treatment?? Better yet, what am I doing myself that is going to bring me back to the health I had when I was a super cute, healthy kid?? Our bodies were created to be perfect and balanced. What can I do to get my body back to the perfect balance I used to have?

I have always loved dancing my whole life. Time to focus on what I truly love and use it to heal myself.
I was confident that I had a bright future when I was young. Why should anything change now?
Even as a kid I smothered kittys. Some things don't ever change. My true passion.
Okay, enough with the cute kid pics. Let's talk game plan.

Like I said a couple blogs ago, I am off the clinical trial at MD Anderson in Houston. No more trips out to Houston. I had A little bit of growth in one spot, but some shrinkage in the liver area (tumors shrunk not the liver). Back in Michigan, my oncologist and I decided to get me a PET scan because this shows how active any cancer cells are.

When we went over the results, we agreed that I had taken this cancer from a super fast moving highly aggressive cancer to a slower moving disease. The uptake of glucose by the cells was lower than expected. My doctor decided that we could try hormone therapy instead of chemotherapy (I think I was going to do this anyway, but it is nice to have her blessing).
I still get this drug through IV called Zomeda for my bones (not a chemo) and then the hormone therapy is called Zoladex. I did not know that it is a little pebble that is injected into your stomach that slowly dissolves over the next 30 days until I was there for the infusion. I had to get my stomach numbed (which hurts itself, but not as bad as the HUGE needle that puts the pebble under your skin on your stomach. I didn't feel it go in which was good, but I could feel it after under my skin. I think they instaled a tracking device in me and are watching my every move. (Or, I've watched too many spy shows). 

In a week, I start aromataste inhibitors which also get the rest of the estrogen floating around in me. We'll see how this all goes.

Nevertheless, I will focus on what I want to, which is the fact that I think I am on the right path. I am slowing things down. Am I getting close to figuring out how to balance my body??? I think so. This is not time to relax, it is time to get crackin. You are in for a big treat. Below is my NEW AND IMPROVED HEALTH LIST!!!

Time to get resourceful and disciplined. Time to declare my plan to the world and stick to it.
The big thing is that I am constantly adding to the list. It is ever evolving. One day I will find the magical combination and I will be completely healthy. Until, then, this is where I start today.

My Morning Routine:
1. While still in bed with my eyes closed, I sit and repeat my affirmations. (about my health and well being) "I am so happy and grateful for my perfect health" Stuff like that.

2. Then go over all the things I am grateful for (things I already have and am grateful for)

3. When I get out of bed I drink some Kangen water (at least 10-15 gulps.)
(Kangen water is ionized water that is highly alkaline 9.5. Healthy cells thrive in alkaline environments. Disease cannot grow in an alkaline environment. It also has a lot of oxygen and antioxidants) I'll do a lesson on PH soon.

4. Meditate for 5 minutes focusing on my breath and body

5. Stretch for 5 minutes

6. Dance therapy - turn on the Ipod and rock out dancing to a song while I make my bed

7. Downstairs for fresh squeezed lemonade with Stevia (lemons are HIGHLY alkalizing when you eat them) Maybe add cayenne pepper once in a while to help cleanse the liver some more

8. Brew a pot of coffee (not to drink - more on this later)

9. Make my huge 32 ounce green juice (2 cucumbers, 3-4 celery stalks, sunflower sprouts, snow pea sprouts, and 3-4 kale leaves)

10. While juicing take my supplements (with Kangen water)

My supplements are.......
Liver Detox
Multivitamin
Vitamin D (in the winter)
Probiotic
Digestive enzymes
Systemic Enzymes
Tumeric
Garlic
Milk Thistle
Spirulina
B Complex
Liquid Chlorophyll (tastes good like spearmint)
Chlorella
Indol 3 Carbinol

Folic Acid
I have added to this list since I wrote this, but once I get the supplements down I will do a supplement entry. I won't be telling others what supplements they should take, but I will explain what I take and why. My cousin is hooking me up with some wicked awesome supplements that have some amazing combinations that are made for bringing down inflammation, detoxing, and all sorts of cool stuff. I'm giddy about getting them in the mail.

11. I also will be doing something called the Budwig protocol where you eat 3tbs of cottage cheese mixed with 3tbs of flax seed oil. (gross) A doctor found that the reaction of those two mixed, kills "c" cells. I did more research than that, but I don't feel like explaining that all in this entry. That's around lunch time.

12. Once my veggie juice is done, I juice wheatgrass and drink half of what I juiced (about 4 oz)

13. Upstairs for the coffee enema. I know. Coffee enema??? Really??? (if you don't know what it is, look it up. Or don't if you don't want to know) Not like I love doing this. (I do this because it cleanses the liver and makes it purge all the toxins. Really. Look it up. This is huge for people who are on some form of drug treatment and especially if you have liver tumors. I think this is what helped me get the liver tumors to shrink this past month because that is when I started it. I did enemas every day for a few weeks and the next test the tumors shrunk.)

14. After the coffee enema I do a wheatgrass implant because this also makes your liver purge toxins, cleans your colon, but it also lets your colon absorb all the nutrition from the wheatgrass just the same as if you were drinking it. (If I don't go running back to the toilet) One woman was on her breast cancer death bed and couldn't eat anything she was so sick, but started doing wheatgrass enemas on a drip where it stayed inside her and brought herself back to health. She is now cancer free.
We have to remember that this is cancer and not the common cold right?? Cancer calls for more drastic measures. You might think I am crazy, but what would you be willing to do if you were in my situation?? I'm past worrying about people's judgement on me. It doesn't matter anymore. My mind is focused on doing what needs to be done. Plus I feel great afterwards, and I think that has something to say for itself.

15. Yoga or running/walking outside or eliptical (45min - 1hr)

16. Rebound for 15 minutes (this gets the lymph flow in your body to move when you jump on a trampoline)

17. 1 hour of my infrared sauna

18. While in Sauna either watch the Secret or listen to one of my visualization/meditation CDs.

19. Shower (skin brush if I'm not all sweaty)
(Now you can understand how the day can fly by without me getting much else accomplished. This whole routine takes a LONG TIME.

My eating habits will be changing a decent amount and here is what I am doing
1. Every day until noon I will NOT eat any solid food and only do a liquid diet in the form of wheatgrass, green veggie juice, fresh squeezed lemonade, herbal tea, or Kangen water. No chewing until noon. This gives my body a mini liquid fast every night and morning. I will be asking a lot less out of my digestive system and the rest of my body, so it can spend it's precious energy on cleaning out excess toxins and maintaining a healthy immune system. (It's like a 1/2 day fast out of every day). You've read that your immune system works the most in your sleep I'm sure. That is because you are resting, not eating and not digesting food.

2. Lunch will be my biggest meal consisting of a salad, maybe some fruit and possibly a snack like hummus or something.

3. Dinner will be before 7pm for sure, but I will aim to finish dinner before 6pm. No food after 6pm. So, every day I will not eat for 18 hours out of the day. Just think about the resting time my body will accumulate with this new schedule. Liquid is fine, but no fiber. I'm still getting nutrients so DO NOT think I am on a starvation diet.

4. The last thing about my eating schedule is I will fast (juice and wheatgrass fast) one day out of every week. I will do a 36 hour fast where I will start at dinner the night before and have a complete day without food and will not eat solid food until lunch the following day. Every year I will have fasted for 52 days. That's a lot and it shouldn't be too hard. I started last week with a 28 hr fast and it went fine. This week will start the 36 hr fasts. This is not an attempt to "diet" at all. Actually my veggie juice contains a lot of calories. I drink 32 ounces of it as well, but all the calories are good ones that help my body function.

I think my next lesson will be on fasting so I'll stop explaining everything with the fasting for now. (PH lesson, Supplements lesson, fasting lesson get it straight Shannon!!)

As far as what I eat, I am almost completely organic. I kind of only eat non-organic food when I am not eating in my home. I think all my groceries are organic. That is a HUGE change that I have made over a 3 year period. I will also be eating 70-80% raw food. I have given up milk completely since Hippocrates. I have also given up all red meat and chicken. Special occasions only for fish. I also gave up cheese for the most part which I have struggled with the most. I have some raw cheeses once in a while. Ruining the cottage cheese with the flax oil for the Budwig protocol is hard to do because I love cottage cheese but not with flax oil. The one time it is okay for me to have dairy it tastes like crap. I sneak some a clean spoonful every once in a while.

Evening
1. I will try to have a big mug of herbal tea with Kevin. I have about a thousand types and flavors. I will be making this with my alkaline water as well.

At Night
1. Supplements again (all except the vitamin D & B, which is only 1 time a day)

2. I drink Cell Food with Kangen water (this puts oxygen and other good stuff in your cells as a liquid supplement)

3. I will also be doing the Netti Pot, where I wash out my sinuses every night

4. Read Greatest Salesman with kevin

5. Affirmations before bed ("so happy and grateful for my perfect health")

6. I will get to bed by 10pm every night that I can. My body needs lots of sleep because you heal and your immune system does its best work while you are sleeping. "Get to sleep Shannon. Get off the computer!!!" 

Coming soon
1. I will start going to the chiropractor again (3 days a week) I think I found one that is close and in network with insurance.

2. I will also look into getting accupuncture monthly as well

What I still have going on:
We still have the whole house air filter and water filter. The water filter makes it so I don't absorb any chlorine when I shower. That's huge. We have tons of plants now too so hopefully there is a lot of oxygen in the house.

Weekly
1. Soak with epsom salt, ginger, and essential oils (already do this)

Monthly
1. Massage (already do this)

2. Colonic (I just had my first one since Hippocrates and I would have to say it was very successful. Now I just have to keep going. Kevin told me to not give too much information so I will stop there)

Other new things I will try..
Vibe machine - ever heard of that? My friend Kristin told me about a lady who wanted me to do this while I was in Austin. Too much information was getting sent to me at the time and I couldn't keep up. (plus I was getting ready to stop working and move to Michigan so a lot was going on) I keep seeing it come up in my research, so I am willing to give it a try. It's a machine that creates an energy field that is vibrating at a certain high level. Sick cells vibrate slowly at a low energy level and healthy cells are just the opposite. You go and sit by this vibe machine for a while and it makes your cells vibrate at a high level which creates an environment suitable for healthy cells and not "c" cells

For now, that is my list, but like I said it is ever evolving. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. As you can see, I am open to trying anything. Now that I have declared my list to whoever reads this, I will hold myself accountable to it. I will print copies of this so I can cross of my accomplishments. So, if you see me repeating some affirmations to myself like "thank you for my perfect health", don't think I am crazy talking to myself, I am just in the process of healing myself.

Lots of love and healthy lists
Shannon

I LOVE Kevin and Boyne Mountain - Happy Valentines Day!!

Hey there Lovebirds!!

Kevin and I went from our planned, low key, low budget, Valentines Day to a spectacular weekend at a winter wonderland called Boyne Mountain.

Winter was showing signs of ending and we were running out of weekends when we would be able to trek it up north, so I seized the opportunity. We stayed at the Mountain Grand Lodge. Our room had a view of the pool and the mountain. It had a fireplace that was remote controlled and it had a hot tub.



Here I am after an exhilarating snowboarding session. Boyne is huge compared to the hills around me. The conditions were very good and fast. No wind and sun most of the time. Kevin didn't ski because he broke both ankles before and didn't want to risk anything. I snowboard alone all the time, so it was fine with me.

We got to hang out in the pool afterwards and the hot tub. It's fun swimming outside when there is snow on the ground.

This is the Mountain Grand Lodge. It's only 3 years old. It wasn't here last time I was at Boyne.

We had a wonderful Valentines Day dinner at the hotel and they had fireworks on the hill afterwards.

We also got to go tubing down the hill. This was fun. Watch the video of Kevin tubing below.

We were also able to go to Avalanche Bay which was an indoor water park. Yes, we were the oldest non-parents in there, but we had fun. There was a cool slide to race on. We spent most of our time there and watching kids wipe out on the surfing simulator.

Here is a kid trying to surf. The water goes so fast and strong it will lift anyone up and shoot them back to the top. People sit there all day and watch kids wipe out. It's a blast.

All in all, we did so much and had so much fun in a short weekend. I felt so great snowboarding. Kevin and I had a blast and it was like a vacation packed in 2 days. Really felt like a get away. I would love to do that more often, but we might run out of money. We did Valentines Day right though.

Before we got that little bit of snow here in lower Michigan I was able to go outside and get a picture of what was left of our cute snowman after all that warm weather and rain. The black buttons, carrot and sticks for his arms were all still out there.

I just wanted everyone to know how great of a weekend we had. So far I am doing great at living life like everything is wonderful. Who is to say life isn't wonderful if you don't believe it yourself? Right?? Doctors, nurses, everyone can act like I should be sad, but I'm not. Ha Ha. I am having the time of my life.

I however am not being reckless. I have a treat for you for my next blog. I will be posting the new list I compiled of all the things I am doing to be super uber healthy (kind of like the old list, but much longer and way improved). Some of you might think I am crazy with some of the things I do, spending a ton of money on all of this and devoting a majority of my time to it. What is most important is that I believe in it. It will work. I will be healthy and happy.

Your snowboarding fool

Shannon

Fun Winter Stuff anf My 25 Random Things List

My brother-in-law, Kevin, and I went to Mt Brighton on Friday for a snowboarding lesson for him. It was about 35 and sunny the entire day with no wind at all. Absolutely perfect snowboarding day. I had so much energy, I could have gone all day long.

At the top of the hill with my snowboard. It's 10 years old, but I still love it.

Then, on Saturday it must have gotten up to 45 to 50 degrees. Kevin and I made the perfect snowman in our back yard.

Look at this guy. Isn't he so cute?

The snow was so heavy because it was melting so fast. It was hard building him, but we managed to make him perfect. He's completely symmetrical.

So, we went to Bordines nursery to return my lemon tree that didn't make it. We bought a few plants with my store credit and came back home a couple hours later. This is what our snowman looked like when we came back. Even Chloe came out to see him and take a walk in the snow.

He was melting fast. and leaning a lot.

About 2 hours after he was born, he collapsed on the lawn. : (

I Love winter!

Change the subject:

Here is something everyone is doing on Facebook, which I am a part of. A few friends sent me this list of 25 random things about themselves and asked that I complete one. Well, we all know about my love affair with lists, so of course I started mine. I was about to post it to Facebook, when I learned that I could post my last 25 blog entries there instead and I could have Facebook automatically pull my latest blog entry there. So, I figured I would write my 25 random things about me list in my blog and then my blog entry would be on my Facebook page. Anyway, now all of you get to see my 25 things list too.

Here we go:
1. I was the messiest kid with a very disorganized room when I was younger and now my house is clean all the time and I have everything organized.

2. I’m a BIG sucker for 2 for 1 sales.

3. I love sitting with my really soft blanket with my kitty, Chloe by the fireplace. I also love winter unlike so many people.

4. I grew my first garden this year with cucumber, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, zucchini and so much more. The garden could not have turned out better. I amazed myself.

5. I play chase with my cat and she sometimes scares me to the point where I scream (Okay a lot of the time). It's a daily thing.

6. I have a lime tree in my house and I pick limes from it but I never end up using them. I killed my lemon tree, but I’ll try again this summer.

7. My first job was working at Mesquite Creek in Clarkston MI. Then I worked at Rams Horn and then Joe Balognas. Up at Michigan State I worked at the Roadhouse. I waited tables for all my jobs until I was done with college.

8. When I was a kid I always wanted to be a hair stylist and a cheerleader. By the time the opportunities came up I had changed my mind.

9. I broke my right wrist snowboarding at Pine Knob, when I was going to hit a 20ft tabletop jump and I swerved not to hit a patch of ice. My friend Kara was with me.

10. I went to Central Michigan wanting to become a doctor. I did great and got a 3.8, but decided to go into business and I transferred to Michigan State after 2 years.

11. I do have a problem and it’s that I am a shopaholic.

12. I proudly drive a 1996 Honda Accord with 150k plus miles. The power locks don’t work anymore, the passenger window doesn’t work, and it rattles all the time, but still drives very well. It would run perfect if I didn’t get hit a while ago.

13. I actually really enjoy shoveling snow

14. I have three sisters and two brothers. My oldest sister is 31, then I’m 28, my brother is 16 and is adopted from Romania, my other brother is 15, my other sister is 14 and is adopted from Russia, and then I have a little sister who is 3 years old. Yes, I am 25 years older than my sister.

15. I’m planning a huge fundraiser show for breast cancer and Gilda’s Club this September and I am actually the event chair (leader)

16. I have a hard time finishing movies. I’ll watch 90% of the movie and then start picking up around the house or I’ll go on my computer and stop paying attention.

17. I love dancing. Not club dancing, but ballet, tap and jazz dancing.

18. Kevin and I met working at the Roadhouse up at Michigan State together. He was the busboy and I was the waitress. He was the best busboy there and I always tipped him extra. We were friends first and then realized there was an attraction.

19. If I could change ANYTHING about my house I would build a walk in closet for myself.

20. I honestly believe my life is a million times better after I was diagnosed with cancer. It’s more meaningful and I am just way more happy. Not because the diagnosis made me happy, but because it pushed me to work on myself in so many ways. It also made me stop worrying about what other people think so much. Just live your life and do what makes you happy you know??

21. In the past 6 months I have flown back and forth to Houston, for the clinical trial I am on, 11 times.

22. I have 20 total plants in the house (26 when I am growing wheatgrass and sprouts). I try to keep lots of oxygen and life in my house.

23. Of the plants I have in the house, 7 of them I can eat. Lime, 2 rosemary, dill, 2 aloe, and mint. Not that I actually eat them, but I could. Of course I juice the sprouts and wheatgrass too.

24. I have been to so many concerts in my life growing up. Page and Plant (twice), The Eagles, Billy Joel and Elton John, Coldplay (twice), Jack Johnson (at least 4 times), Metallica (7 times), Red Hot Chili Peppers (twice), Kid Rock (twice), Oasis, Snoop Dog (twice), Eminen (twice), Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Pantera, Jason Mraz, Cypress Hill, Dave Matthews, Woodstock 1998, Steve Miller Band (every summer), Tom Petty (twice), Ludacris, Counting Crowes, Pearl Jam, Black Crowes, ….the list goes on and on and on and on but I can't think of them all (Benefit of living close to Pine Knob)

25. I freaking love my husband, Kevin, and I think he is such a hottie. He’s also what I call my life coach. I go to him for all my advice.

26. I own at least 40 different colored bandanas and 6 wigs.

27. I always go over my commitment on a list. If I say I’ll write 100, I’ll do 101. Same thing goes with push-ups.

28. My heart would break if I ever see an animal mistreated.

So, it was really my 28 things list.

Lastly, a special treat for all of you. Here is the video I took of Kevin snowboarding after I gave him my lesson. He started off only going on his back edge of the board the whole way down, but a couple hours later we was carving all the way down the hill. I was snowboarding behind him video taping. Press play to watch.

I LOVE winter and am sad that it is getting closer to being over. Spring is super sweet too and then I can start getting ready for my garden.

I hope to get up to Boyne Mountain before the end of winter so I can snowboard on a nice big hill for a couple days.

Lots of love and 35 degree sunny, snowy days.

Have fun! Shannon

My Last Houston Trip

Here I am enjoying my last Jamba Juice drink. Don't worry I wasn't driving while I took this picture.

I need to lobby to get a Jamba Juice down the road from my house. This place is one of the things I love about Houston, especially where Paul lives.

My friends Jessica, Paul and I out to dinner on this beautiful night. Notice, no jackets in February.

I was missing the first half of the Superbowl, however I did get to see one of the most incredible sunsets I have seen in my life. It looks so awesome to be above the clouds and watch the sun go under them.

This is one of Paul's neighbors' houses. This is the SIDE of the house. The front is just as wide. There is a ton of oil money in Houston. I go running on this path on this street every time I go to Paul's and I just drool over all of these houses.

This is a plant store I drive by on the way home from MD Anderson to Paul's. They have these IV statues everywhere. It's so cool to go there on a sunny day. They have orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime trees there too. One lemon tree had 22 lemons on it.

Hey everybody,

I am no longer on the clinical trial. I showed progression and once you have progression you are off the trial. Here's the details. My blood test went up (CA2729 went from 256 to 321) That's pretty significant. So, when the doctor came in and told me the scans didn't look good I wasn't surprised. There is this area in the Omentum that had growth. Tumors are not measured there (I don't know why), but they are growing. This area is spread out and I think more fluid than say the liver, so growth there I think really impacts the blood test more since it is spread out in tissue more rather than a compact tumor. The bone scans are exactly the same. The liver "polka dots" have actually shrunk in size. They have not budged for over a year and now all of a sudden they shrink?? It is possible for a drug to work on one area but not in another which is what I think is happening. I have also been doing some liver detoxing all the past month and I think that helped. I am super excited about the liver spot shrinkage. Hopefully it was the detoxing and not the drug since I will continue the detoxing and not the drug.

Now, lets not get sad and feel sorry for me because I am fine. I don't take this as bad news just different news which means it is time to try something different.

The nurses who were completely normal to me before I got the results came back in the room with an attitude like I was dying. They were sad, gave me pity faces, talked slow to me and kept asking if I was okay or if I needed anything. I kept saying I was fine, but they didn't let up. They acted like I was at a funeral for myself. I kept saying, "I am okay, I'll figure something out. It's just time to try something else." Then they said "Are you suuuure???" Then I started to get pissed off at them. Here I am coping with the news just fine and I feel like they are almost trying to get me sad. Or they are so sad for me that I have to cheer them up. WTF?? I have enough to process and concern myself with right now, and I'm supposed to worry about cheering them up too??? I know it is their way of showing they care a lot about me, but come on. Still I kept assuring them that everything was okay and I left on those terms without telling them that the only thing really bothering me was how they were acting towards me.

Here is the new mantra I have adopted for this situation. It's from The Greatest Salesman which Kevin and I read parts from every day. It is fitting that we are on the chapter of persisting until you succeed. It is written for a salesman, but you can apply it to life so much. Here are some of the life parts I have taken from this chapter:

I will persist until I succeed.

The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal (perfect health). Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner (like this corner I will have to turn right now).

Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult.

I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.

I will never consider defeat and I will remove from my vocabulary such words and phrases as quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the question, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless and retreat; for they are the words of fools. I will avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should infect me I will work on in despair. I will toil and I will endure. I will ignore the obstacles at my feet and keep my eyes on the goals above my head, for I know that where dry desert ends, green grass grows.

So long as there is a breath in me, that long will I persist.

When I called Kevin and cried to him about my results but more so my frustration on how the nurses treated me like I was dying, he reminded me of some of these phrases from the Greatest Salesman they we use to apply to me and my quest for perfect health. I got my shit together, wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and walked into Whole Foods on a mission. They have a Jamba Juice (which serves wheatgrass shots and green tea shots) and there are also two other Jamba juices on the way from MD Anderson to Paul's house. So, I decided I will persist until I succeed. I walked into Jamba juice and ordered doubles of wheatgrass and green tea shots in every one of them on my way home(6 healthy double shots). Ahhhh. Back on track.

I still have a lot to figure out. If you have been with me a while you will remember the "Am I doing enough?" post I wrote. Well, I am going to write a new one and kick it up a couple hundred notches. I will have to go to my doctor in Michigan and discuss medical options too. It's basically low dose chemotherapy or hormone therapy. I am not into the chemotherapy. I will be keeping my hair thank you very much. It might seem vain, but looking healthy makes you feel healthy and feeling healthy is key to actually getting healthy. It is not fun being treated like a sick person by every single person you encounter throughout the day. I DO NOT LIKE PITY. That is why hair loss doesn't work for me.

Now that I am off the clinical trial I am going to focus on the good things about being off the trial like...

No more monthly trips to Houston. I did like going but it gets a little old not having a say of when I have to go.

Less scans I need to go through because they over-scan you on trials.

Less sickness from travel and fatigue from travel.

Eventually one day we will get my travel money back so we will get about $6000. One day.

I will FINALLY go out to Chicago and hang out with Jessica and Joe like I have been promising forever, but have not gone in a while because I always felt like I was either about to leave for Texas or just getting back from Texas.

Kevin will be happy because I always go shopping in Rice Village or the Gallaria and I usually come home with a new article of clothing on every trip.

Here are some great things about Houston I will miss:

Jamba Juices everywhere - I mean everywhere

Jason's Deli - HUGE ALL ORGANIC salad bar with everything you could think of for your salads

70 degree perfect days and not a single cloud in the sky (in the winter) I did not see a single cloud the entire time I was here. (3 strait days. That doesn't happen in Michigan in the winter)

I will miss running on Tanglewood DR. and drooling over all the multimillion dollar homes right by Paul's

The Gallaria - HUGE mall with all my favorite stores

Rice Village - College town that is so cute with wonderful shops. I love shopping in Houston

Paul - Yeah, just some guy that let me stay at his place every time I come to Houston. Okay, also a dear friend who I will miss hanging with monthly. Guess I'll have to see him in Michigan now.

So remember, we will not be having any pity parties for me. (Kevin is like "What??? we have those all the time at home") Once I am done venting to Kevin it is on to happy and healthy thoughts. I will let you all know what I decide to do.

First thing on my therapy list is snowboarding. I heard that was killer for shrinking tumors.

My brother in law, Kevin, and I are going in an hour, so I have to go and get ready.

Lots of love and Jamba Juices

Shannon

Recipes and update on my life (off to Houston again)

Drew says; DRINK YOUR VEGGIE (with beets) JUICE.
Hey everyone,

I have some recipes to share with all of you, but first you have to read about me first.

What’s new….hmmmm..

I found some aluminum water bottles that are a good price at Old Navy. They are cute and they have the tops I like. Anyway, the Sigg water bottles are expensive, but Old Navy has some that are like the Siggs that are about $7 or $8. Go check them out. Yoga pants are on sale there too right now. And, I just saw a couple cute aluminum bottles at Pottery Barn for $10. I’m glad I found ones everyone can get without spending too much.

Kevin and I booked our flights out to Arizona (March) and we will be going to the Grand Canyon from there. Time to start checking off some stuff from my bucket list. We'll see the Canyon, hike the Canyon, I’m not sure if we can camp or make it all the way down to the bottom of the canyon so we can white water raft or kayak the canyon. Either way, we plan to do some cool stuff there. I'm hitting up Sedona too because they are all crazy hippy spiritual healers there. Right up my alley.

I have been attending my Toastmasters meetings (2 so far) and the second meeting I was voted best table topic speech (2 minute impromptu speech) Go Shannon! I was a little surprised to get the votes, but so far so good. Not checking off being a good public speaker off my bucket list yet. I still need some training.

I fly to Houston on Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, the sports fanatic will be on a plane in the air while the Superbowl is starting. Think of me. Hopefully I will be able to get to Paul’s in time to watch it DVRed on his TV. Oh, and I’ll get all the scans, blood work and have a doctor’s appointment so I’ll let you all know what comes of that. We’re looking for lower blood counts and stable or shrinking scans. I’ll keep you posted. My magic 8 ball says "Chances of success are high"

I've been watching my nephew, Miles, every Wednesday. We have a lot of fun. He’s 4 months. He laughs, smiles, talks baby gibberish, and he loves to be held by me.

We went to our niece Lauren's, 3 year old birthday party. We got her a dress up wedding dress, because her favorite thing to do by far is dress up and make believe. If there was a prize for best present brought to the party, I think I would win (or come in tied for second or something because she did get some really cool stuff.)

She's sad about something else (not the dress).

Kevin got this icicle off our roof. We have some very dangerous ones dangling off the sides of our house. I keep knocking them down. For one reason; it's hella fun. The other reason; I think it's bad chi to have them hanging over you when you enter the house. SCARY

Last bit of news: Kevin and I went bowling tonight. We needed something to do on these freezing winter days. Anyway, Kevin started with two strikes in a row and ended the game with three strikes in a row, which is a Turkey I just learned. His score was 150. Go Kevin. I broke 100 on a game and that was enough to make me proud. Kevin is thinking about joining the bowling league and soon we will be watching him after SportsCenter ends before Football on Sundays. JK

Want some new recipes I've tried so far as part of my New Years Resolution????? I was going to include pictures, but I forgot to with the avocado rolls and Kevin said my soup looked like throw up. He said he liked how it tasted, but I was discouraged from taking a picture.

Avocado Rolls:
Here are the ingredients:
Spring roll wraps (the tapioca rice ones)
cabbage or some lettuce leaf wrap
shredded carrot (I used my spiralizer)
cucumber (I slice it into long thin strips)
Avocado (about 1/2 of one per roll)
Peanut sauce to dip the rolls in them

Then, you dip the spring roll wrap in luke warm water (they are hard before) for 2 seconds. Then you put them on the plate.
Put the lettuce wrap over the spring roll wrap
put the carrot and cucumber in there.
Then put avocado slices over that (The way I saw them when I decided to try them myself the avocado was on the outside of the lettuce inside the spring roll and the slices were all aligned perfectly and it made them look really nice. I'm no sushi roller, so I just put everything on the inside and it still tastes the same)
Then, you roll it like a sushi roll. Or like a burrito. Or like a doobie. You get the point.

Dip it in the peanut sauce and enjoy!!!

Clean your fridge out veggie soup (This will be enough for leftovers)
Make this soup when you need to use up those veggies that could go bad soon. Keep a couple things of veggie broth on hand all the time and you can make this soup anytime. I don’t really measure so you’ll have to bear with me.
Cut up about 4 carrots
Cut 1 large stalk of celery
Cut one large yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
In a pan simmer these with olive oil and some water for 10 minutes or so
In a large pot add two things of veggie broth and start that on low
Add the veggies cooked so far
Add some garlic salt
Add some pepper
Add some thyme
Cut up some potatoes
Cut up some mushrooms
Simmer theses with olive oil and water for 10 minutes and add them to the pot of veggies
Cut up a bunch of green cabbage and add that to the pot
I then added some quinoa noodles from some pasta I made the night before
Then I just let the pot cook on low for 20-30 minutes
Tasted great

Insulin Reducing - Gluten Free - yummy sweet cereal (do this with whole grain oatmeal too)
So the cereal is Bon’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. It’s wheat free, gluten free and dairy free. The ingredients are whole grain brown rice, corn, white sorghum and buckwheat.
I boil water and then simmer the cereal for 10 minutes.
Add some cinnamon
Add a little vanilla flavor
Add some Stevia
The cereal is sweet and tasty. I love it. It’s nice to have something this sweet that would actually over your insulin levels. Why does it do this? Both cinnamon and Stevia reduce insulin levels so they act opposite of what sugar would do. Yeah!


Grandmas Hummus
Mix one can of chickpeas in blender
Add 6 medium garlic cloves
2 tbsp of tahini
juice 1 lemon and add juice
Veggie Oil
blend in second can of chickpeas and blend very well
Tada. Your own homemade hummus

Well, I have to go pack for Houston. Yeah!!!

Your traveling to Texas friend

Shannon

Health Lesson #9 Where you should eat

Hello Everybody!!! I Have A New FAVORITE Restaurant!!!

Mind Body & Spirits (yep, that's the name)

I was just going to make the blog about how great this place is, but I think I am also calling it a health lesson because if you are serious about your health and the environment, you will seek out places like this to eat at. So, this is Health Lesson #9 on Where You Should Eat. 

How lucky am I? This restaurant just opened up about 2 miles from my house in Downtown Rochester on main street (Rochester Rd) and 2nd Street. Why am I so stoked?? This place is 100% organic. That’s right 100%. I can’t even shop 100% organic at Whole Foods because the don't always carry everything organic. But that’s not all. It is also almost completely local food. The water is reverse osmosis filtered. The soda is homemade with Agave Nectar. There are gluten free pastas on the menu that are to die for.

You think I am done? Well guess again. It is also a green restaurant. Right now it had Green lights as part of the Downtown Rochester light display, but I’m talking environmentally green. The floors are sustainable bamboo, cork, and recycled tires. The tables are made of compressed sunflower seeds or compressed saw dust. Of course they used paint with no VOCs. The cement floors are made with crushed up bottles that were left over from the Owner’s other bars. It looks really pretty too. There is a greenhouse in the back where some veggies and fresh herbs are grown. They compost all the leftover food, so nothing goes to waste and then they get this awesome completely natural fertilizer from that. They recycle everything. They catch rain water to water the plants in the green house. The list goes on and on.

This is the cozy lounge upstairs. Kevin and I ate up here sitting at a couch and we looked at books from the collection they have on their bookshelves. It was so nice and relaxing.

So far I have tried the veggie burger and I was just taken away. I am so used to a “veggie” burger being smashed black beans and this was a delightful surprise. The burger was veggies, but I am telling you it was the best burger I have ever had. Non-veggie people would love it. Kevin loved it. My uncle had the fish sandwich and he loved it as well. My mom and cousin had a pasta dish with chicken and I was doing a juice fast that day so I had to sit there and torture myself and smell it. It looked so good and smelled so good, I was close to breaking the fast. I had the red pepper hummus as the dip of the day and I wish it were the dip of the day every day. The potato pancakes are so incredibly good. I also heard that the half chicken was wonderful. Everything I seem to try there is incredible. They put a lot of effort and care into making these foods. 

The owner of this place is Mike Plez and he is a class act. He also owns the Rochester Beer Mill and he sold the Royal Oak Brewery to open Mind Body Spirits. He is an incredible individual and did not miss a beat when designing this place. Honestly, you will not find one area that he didn’t put thought into. He has always wanted to make a restaurant like this and this was a life long passion. When my Uncle David and my sister Stacie went there to eat, he gave my uncle and me about an hour long tour of the place telling us every little detail he used in making this restaurant. It was incredible. The ambiance is extraordinary too. They have free WiFi upstairs in a lounge with couches and coffee tables. You can eat dinner up there too. They have book shelves with products for sale and they have a ton of books that you can pick up and read or even borrow and bring back later. It is decorated beautifully with bamboo plants throughout the place and flat panel TVs displaying some of the prettiest pictures of Michigan. 

They also use geo thermal heating and cooling (using the earth’s core temperature), solar panels, solar hot water, energy recovery ventilators (using the old air temperature to either heat or cool the new air coming in). You get the point, this place is incredible. 

The website is http://www.mindbodyspirits.com/ 

Go to the site and click on "In The News" and click on the "Fox 2 News Clip". They had the news there when I went there to eat with my uncle and my sister. Of course they only wanted to interview my uncle, but if you pay attention to the background, you will see me talking to my sister and laughing at my nephew who decided to spill water and hit some other things over when the camera started rolling. 

MICHIGAN PEOPLE, you have to go there and check it out. You could go downtown Rochester, go see the lights and then get dinner there afterwards. The fire and ice festival is this weekend. Ice sculptures and fireworks. Feel good about the food you eat and go there and have dinner. This is the start of some major change and I am so happy. I cannot wait to see how much things have changed in another 5 years. People are waking up. People understand that it DOES matter what we do and what we put into our bodies. Although the FDA and even some doctors do not look out for our overall health, we can be sure that we are all smart individuals who care about our earth and care about our bodies. Sooner or later “big money” like Coke and Pepsi did with Stevia, will have to come around and make healthy food for everyone because that is what we as consumers will show them that we want. Remember we vote with every purchase we make.

The big day is today. Obama is our president. He is an inspiration to me and he shows me that a person can achieve what others call "imossible".

Happy Birthday to my sister Stacie. Her birthday is the 20th so this year she gets a very special event on her birthday as well.

Okay, just wanted to ell everyone about this incredible place to eat.

Peace, Love, CHANGE and organic food

Shannon : )

Donate to Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit

We had a girls night out with some Rack Pack members and Young Adults members to go see Uncle David do his stand up show at the Comedy Castle in Royal Oak. We al had a great time.

Here is a picture of the Gilda's Club house on Rochester Rd between 14 and 13 mile.

Hi all,

BURRRRR!! It's COLD out there!!!

I just wanted everyone to be aware of the need Gilda’s Club currently has for donation money. Gilda’s Club is funded SOLELY through donations from individuals and corporate sponsors. Now that we are in the middle of one of the biggest financial downturns our country has seen, these individuals and corporations are all strapped for cash. I’m sure some of the first cut backs made were the donation funds. Gilda’s is hurting because the donated funds are now no longer covering the operating cost of the club. They have already cut back on staff and our meeting times. The monthly newsletter I used to look forward to getting will no longer be sent out. The clubhouse is closing on Fridays and some Saturdays. I hope that is the end of the program cuts.

As members we are all a little sad and concerned. We love Gilda’s Club and would like it to stay the way it is. This place is the biggest area of support we have being cancer survivors. I honestly don’t know how I would be coping without a place like Gilda’s.

They have a full kitchen, tons of rooms with fireplaces and cozy couches, all sorts of topic discussions and classes with some experts, spa days, support and networking groups with licenced social worker facilitators. The house is a truly comfortable place to walk into for the first time. 

A lot of companies have a program where you can have a charitable donation automatically deducted from your paycheck. The cool thing about these programs is that the money is pre-taxed and usually the company matches what you donate. Way more bang for your buck. I used to donate my money to The Boys and Girl’s Club until I was diagnosed and then all my donations went to the Breast Cancer Resource Center. A lot of people would donate to Komen on my behalf. I appreciate all these wonderful gestures, however, places like Gilda’s Club and The Breast Cancer Resource Center in Austin have made much more positive impact on my life. Plus, Komen gets SO much money and is so well recognized nationwide. They also get a ton of money from pharmaceutical companies. (trust me, I could break out the numbers and you would be amazed) Cancer drug research is more than covered. What is most important to someone diagnosed is support and mental health. A lot of time when treatment ends everyone expects you to go back to normal and that is when the realization sets in that cancer will always be a part of your life. That's when places like Gilda's Club can come to the rescue.

The other important thing is meeting other survivors. I cannot stress how much I have learned about treatment options, doctors etc etc… from all the other members. This information is very important to have and unless you have a cancer network like Gilda’s it’s hard work to find all this information. You become a smarter and more empowered patient joining a network like Gilda's Club.

So, if you would like to support an organization that supports all people affected by cancer, Gilda’s Club is the place to be. If it were not for Gilda’s Club, I would be all alone as a survivor here in Michigan. I would be depressed and have no one who understands how your life completely changes when you are diagnosed with cancer. I have made so many friends, learned so much, been helped though many issues and I have been able to help so many others as well (that is therapy in itself). My life would be a lot different if I didn’t have a place like Gilda’s. I'm there all the time because it helps me so much.

Here are some things you can do to help….
1. Charitable donation from your paycheck at work
2. Go to any of the Gilda’s Club events and spend some money
3. Be an individual donator and send money to Gildas (one time thing)
4. Become a corporate sponsor of Gilda’s or for an event that Gilda’s has
5. ***Go to the ART BRA SHOW I am having for Gilda’s at the Fillmore Detroit*** (Or be a corporate sponsor) I will tell you all much much more about the event soon
6. Tell cancer survivors and family members about Gilda’s Club and have them go
Go to http://www.gildasclubdetroit.org/ to donate online

You can mail to Gilda's Club, 3517 Rochester Road, Royal Oak, 48073 Attention: Kristen Bernat

I know a lot of people made a new years resolution to spend less money. Charity towards something that means a lot to you shouldn’t be something you cut back on. Spend less on clothes (ouch that hurt to say) Spend less on gas. Bring your lunch to work. Turn your thermostat down a degree. Don’t cut back on charity. These are the times charitable organizations need help the most.

Here are some good New Years ideas from my friends and I:
Kevin and I did a 2008 year wrap up video. We talked to the camera and told stories about our year in 2008. It’s like a video scrapbook. We also do yearly regular scrapbooks.
My friend did a 2009 vision board and went through magazines and made a collage of all the things she wants to do in 2009.
My other friend started a gratitude journal (Oprah style). So far she’s been really good at writing in it every day.
So far I like my idea of a new recipe every week. I made avocado rolls yesterday and they were so good. Maybe monthly I’ll write my recipes and take some pics.

 I’ll see you soon.