Hi--First just wanted to let you guys know I didn't have my first treatment yet of this upcoming round because there was a mix-up at the Chemo Unit.  I was supposed to start treatment at the end of July, but then it got pushed back to the beginning of August.  Anyway, because of the mix-up and the fact that Dr. Mitchell was out of the office for a little while on vacation, I scheduled treatment to start on August 6, which was today, but ended up deciding not to get it which I will explain.  There might be a change in the original plan of treatment that myself, my parents, and Dr. Mitchell had discussed during our appointment in July after my last set of scans.  I went up to Sloan-Kettering this past weekend and had an appointment with Dr. Chung, who was the oncologist I went to for a second opinion last November when I started up treatment again because the cancer had metastasized.  Erica was going up for an appointment and treatment and invited me to go along, which sounded like a fun idea and the timing worked out since I felt like it was a good time to go see Dr. Chung again to get his opinion on how to proceed with treatment at this point.  So I met with Dr. Chung on Monday morning and it was a really great appointment.  He was extremely pleased with the progress I have made since I last saw him in November.  He kept remarking about my "tremendous response" which was really great to hear obviously! 

Anyway, he went over four options that I could take going forward.  The first was to do nothing, which he didn't think was a good idea.  The second was to get just Avastin.  The third was to get Avastin and Xeloda-Xeloda is the pill form of 5-FU.  The point of getting the Xeloda versus the 5-FU is that it allows you to get on with your life since you don't need to get the infusion of 5-FU in the hospital and wear the pack.  The fourth option was to be referred to a thoracic surgeon to discuss surgical removal of the remaining cancerous lymph node in my chest.  This last option would be the most aggressive.  I decided that just talking with the thoracic surgeon would be a good idea-no harm in just getting some information.  So Dr. Chung gave me the referral to Dr. Downey and I was actually able to see him on Tuesday morning before I went home.  The appointment with Dr. Downey went really well, I was very impressed with him and his staff.  They took a lot of time with me and explained the surgery and gave me a lot of information.  The surgery is called a thoracotomy and would involve removing some lymph nodes in my chest, also called the mediastinum.  They would take out the lymph node that is cancerous that is still evident on the PET and CT scans, but would also take out some other lymph nodes in that area.  Dr. Downey would make an incision in my back sort of near my armpit.  The surgery is pretty major, but he has done it before and it is not a new or experimental type of surgery.  In fact he said it was not a technically difficult surgery.  I would be in the hospital for about four days and then spend time recovering for about 4 to 6 weeks.  Having gone through 3 surgeries/procedures already, I know I could handle this. 

So this is obviously a lot of info to get and a little bit unexpected.  I am meeting with Dr. Mitchell tomorrow to go over all of this information and to see what she thinks about it.  I also have appointments scheduled with Dr. Chung and Dr. Downey for Aug. 19, 20 so that my parents can go up with me to help me make this decision.  This is a difficult decision, even though I feel like I'm in a good position.  It is exciting that I have responded as well as I have to treatment and have made enough progress that some of my doctors think that surgery is an option at this point.  But it is hard to make such a huge decision, especially one that could really affect my life.  I have told myself from the beginning of all of this that I would do anything I could to beat this no matter what and I believe at this point that surgery is the most aggressive option for me right now and that it gives me the greatest chance of coming closer to permanently beating the cancer.  While there are always risks to surgery and the recovery will be painful, right now it seems worth it to endure that, to give me a greater chance of preventing the cancer from spreading or coming back.  This will always be sort of a "wait and see" thing-that's just the way cancer is I think.  But having this surgery feels like it will give me a little bit more of an edge over the cancer right now.  Also, by removing some lymph nodes from my chest, they can be tested for cancer which will give me and my doctors more solid information to help decide on future treatment after surgery.  If for example, something like six lymph nodes are found to have signs of cancer that would influence my choice to go for full blown treatment again after surgery, but if no cancer is found or only one lymph node (as my scans seem to indicate) shows sign of cancer then that would help me to feel confident in choosing to get just the Avastin or maybe the Avastin in combination with the Xeloda.  Anyway, there is a lot for me and my family to think about and I definitely will not make a final decision until meeting with Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Chung and Dr. Downey again.  I will definitely keep you guys posted on all of those appointments.

On a lighter note, Erica and I had a really good time during our weekend in NYC.  We did some shopping and went out to dinner and walked around the city and stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Erica also had an appointment with her oncologist and had treatment too on Monday.  I just wanted to also add that Erica was really helpful last November when my scans showed that the cancer had spread and I decided I wanted to get a second opinion at Sloan.  Sloan-Kettering is a pretty incredible hospital and I have been really impressed both times I have gone there.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good night.  I will post another message after meeting with Dr. Mitchell.  Thanks as always for everyone's messages--it's so great to hear from so many people!

Hi--Great news from my scans!!  I met with Dr. Mitchell today to go over the results of my scans and everything looks really good, which is such a relief.  The main results are no evidence of any new tumor growth which is obviously always a good thing, my liver is still totally clear, the one tiny pulmonary nodule inside my lung is still there but remains unchanged in size at 2 mm, and there is still one lymph node in my chest that was picked up on the PET scan and on the CT Scan.  The lymph node had a reading of 3.73 on my PET scan which was a decrease from my April scans when it had a reading of 4.8.  The lymph node also decreased in size from my April scans, it is now down to 12 mm, which is pretty tiny.  That lymph node was the only thing picked up on my PET scan and the tiny pulmonary nodule and lymph node were the only two things noted on my CT scans.  Everything else looks really great!  Dr. Mitchell was very pleased with these results and of course so was I!  Today it really felt like all of these past treatments I've gone through since November were really starting to pay off and all of the bad days and the hard nights and horrible side effects were really worth it to get results like these. 

After Dr. Mitchell went over the results of the scans with my mom, my dad, and I she discussed my future course of treatment.  She felt that the right way to go would be to continue with treatment for another four or five times, but to only get the Avastin, one of the three main drugs I've been getting for my past 15 treatments.  So that means I would no longer be getting the 5-FU and irinotecan, which is really exciting because those two drugs are the ones that have the worst side effects.  This also means no more pack (for now)!!!  The main side effects of the Avastin are high blood pressure, which I really don't worry about because my blood pressure is so low and has remained really low throughout the time I've been receiving Avastin and the risk of blood clots, which I also don't really worry about anymore because I am still giving myself the blood-thinner injections (as a result of the pulmonary embolisms last August) every other day which greatly reduces the risk of blood clots anyway.  So while those are serious side effects, I will be very happy to not have to deal with all the other side effects such as fatigue, abdominal pain/cramping, etc.  I think I will be starting this next round of treatment next Wednesday, so I'll post something next week after I see how treatment goes with just getting the Avastin.  I'm hoping for the best and I really think it's going to be so much better than it has been. 

Anyway, just wanted to share the news with everyone--thank you so much for all of your encouraging messages.  They have helped me get through this round of treatment, especially those particularly difficult days during my last set of 5 treatments-there were some really rough days there, but all of you helped me get through them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Hi!  Just wanted to give a quick update on how things have been going.  Hope everyone's having a nice summer-I can't believe it's already July!

I had my last treatment in the middle of June and it went pretty well.  My last couple of treatments went much better than the previous ones had been going, which was a relief.  I'm not sure if it was due to the decrease in dosage of one of my chemotherapy drugs (the irinotecan), but the last couple treatments definitely went a lot more smoothly.  So that was 15 treatments since this past November, hopefully these last five have continued to work!  I had scans this past Friday-the usual: a PET and CT scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis.  No MRI this time--Dr. Mitchell requested that I have the MRI of the abdomen done the last time I had scans in April so that she could get a close view of my liver in case surgery was an option at that point.  Since my last scans showed that my liver was clear and there was no evidence of any tumors on the liver, there was no need to do an MRI this time.  So that was nice since it cut back on the time I was at the radiology department.  Anyway, the scans went smoothly and thanks to Ry for driving me to them.  I am meeting with Dr. Mitchell on Tuesday to go over the results-so I'm hoping that like the past two times, there will be more improvement.  I am really, really, really hoping that there is no new tumor growth anywhere, that where there has been evidence of the cancer it has continued to be controlled and hopefully in the best case scenario has shrunk even more.  Hopefully these last five treatments were able to completely get rid of the last spots of cancer that were still showing on my last set of scans, but we'll see on Tuesday.  The days in between actually having my scans done and getting the results are hard, but I try to keep my mind off of everything. 

Some good news from this past Thursday-I had my yearly colonoscopy done and everything was fine.  After being diagnosed with colon cancer, they suggest that you get a colonoscopy yearly for the first few years.  So this is my second colonoscopy after my diagnosis and both were totally fine.  No polyps or anything which is really great.  Colonoscopies obviously aren't pleasant and it's kind of annoying because you can't eat the day before, but it's worth it once it's over to know that everything is ok.  Dr.  Goldstein (who was my surgeon) has done my last two colonscopies.  He is a phenomenal surgeon and a great doctor. 

I will be sure to put a message up after my appointment with Dr. Mitchell-I will have the results of the scans and also hopefully some idea of my future course of treatment which of course is dependent on the results of my scans.  I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hello--It's been a long time since I wrote an entry on the blog, so I wanted to give everyone an update on my progress.  I've completed three of my third set of five chemo treatments so far.  These past three treatments have been really difficult.  The side effects have been pretty bad and it's been really hard to get sleep because I'm up throughout a lot of the night because of all of the side effects.  Luckily I have the flexibility to go in to the chemo unit when I need to and Sue has given me lots of fluids and a special treatment that helps with one of the side effects (one time this included a shot in the butt--I mean I don't think I have to tell everyone that that was not fun, it's one thing to get a shot in the arm, but to get one in your buttcheek was an interesting experience).  Anyway, Dr. Mitchell gave me two extra weeks off after my thirteenth treatment and my irinotecan dosage was decreased for my last two treatments.  I also skipped the bolus of 5-FU that's given to me after I finish my infusion of the irinotecan and avastin and before I get hooked up to my pack.  It has been difficult mentally to deal with the decreases in dosage and having these two extra weeks off before treatment, but I know my body needed this break if I'm going to keep fighting.  I've had treatment continuously since November and before that I only had about 3 months without chemo after finishing my second round of chemo in August.  Also, I know that I'm fighting this disease because I have an awesome life that I want to keep living, but when the side effects of the treatment become so bad that the quality of your life gets that bad, it can be really hard to keep that desire to continue fighting.  Anyway, I know I will be totally ready (physically and mentally) for treatment next Monday after getting this break.  To be totally honest, I think that part of the reason I haven't written in so long is because of how difficult things have been.  It's much easier for me to give you guys positive news and good updates and details about the great weekends in April I had, but I feel like such a downer having to tell you guys how crappy things are some days.  But, what I have to keep telling myself is that the chemo is working (which really when you get down to it is the most important thing) and that the chemo is what makes me feel crappy, not the cancer.  And this is what's happening right now with my treatment and I want to keep you guys updated about as much of this journey as I can, the good stuff and the bad stuff.    

Anyway, I will keep you guys updated with how treatment goes next week.  I think I will have one more treatment after that and then scans after that treatment.  I'm not positive this is how things will go because I haven't seen Dr. Mitchell in a couple weeks, but once I meet with her next week when I'm in the hospital for treatment, I should know the schedule a little bit better for the next month or so.  I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! 

Hi!  Well I had another great weekend thanks to Stix for Nix!  This past Saturday was the Stix for Nix indoor field hockey tournament at Haddonfield Memorial High School (where I went to high school and played field hockey.)  It was such a great day!  A bunch of us got there early around 7 to start setting up the registration tables, the colon cancer informational tables, the food in the cafeteria, and the 2 indoor gyms where the games were played.  Teams and players started arriving around 8:30 and after an introduction from Alicia (the Head Varsity field hockey coach at HMHS), games got started by 9:30.  The tournament was double elimination, 20 minute games, 6 v 6/5 v 5/7 v 7 depending on how many players each team had, and games were played indoors in both gyms at the high school.  The games were a lot of fun and there were a lot of teams that turned out to play-I think the final total was around 25 teams which was awesome.  There were also a lot of supporters and spectators who came out to watch the games too.  There was plenty of food available in the cafeteria, lots of baked goods, pizzas, hot dogs, and tons of drinks.  The championship game was over at 4:30.  Unfortunately my team didn't make it, although we did win our first two games.  It was so great to see so many people I hadn't seen in a while, a lot of girls I had gone to high school with and a lot of parents too.  It was such a fun day!  Everything went so well--it was such a great success!

Of course this wonderful day wouldn't have been possible without a lot of people.  I wanted to thank Court first and foremost for thinking of such a great idea and especially for all the organization, time, effort, and all the little details she put in to make the day happen (all while working full-time, going to school to get her MBA, and planning a wedding!).  I also wanted to thank Alicia for running the actual tournament-there were a lot of teams, but she handled everything expertly and it all went really smoothly.  I also wanted to thank all of the people who helped out with all of the food--OhChar and Uncle Rick, the Stantons, the Alberricos, and the Vescis.  Of course I'd also like to thank all of the great sponsors for the tournament!  They are all listed on the back of the fabulous t-shirts Court had made!  I wanted to thank Michalla for making all the awesome Stix for Nix signs--they looked so great!  And of course lastly, I wanted to thank all of the players who came out and played a great day of hockey!  It was incredible to see so many teams out there, so thank you for everyone who put teams together!

I had treatment yesterday--it was my 12th (or my second of the third set of five).  My oncologist decreased my dosage of the irinotecan back to where it was for my 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th treatments, since my side effects had gotten so severe the last two treatments.  We'll see how the end of this week goes and depending on the severity of the side effects, I can hopefully start building up my dosage again.  Everything went well on Monday and I will be disconnected tomorrow as usual.  My mom and Ryan were there on Monday to keep me company so that was fun.  Anyway, thanks again to everyone who made the Stix for Nix hockey tournament possible, it was such a great day and I will never forget it!  I hope everyone is having a good week! 

Hi everyone!  Sorry it's taken me a few days to put up a message about the great weekend I had, but it's been a rough couple of days!  Chemo is definitely kicking my butt this time and the side effects have been pretty severe and so far aren't showing any sign of letting up.  Anyway, I wanted to give a recap of this past weekend so those who weren't there could hear about it. 

I drove down to Williamsburg early Thursday morning, hoping to get there before any side effects set in.  I went straight to Ann's house and we got Cheese Shop for lunch, yum!  We picked up Julie at the airport and then headed out to the Steele's house.  Jocelyn was already there with her adorable son Jack--I was so glad to get to meet him!  Jord got in that evening and Brother (Julie's older brother Carl) also got in later that night.  Mimi (Jordan's grandmother) was also already there and Joey came out that night too.  Mrs. Steele made an awesome dinner and we spent the rest of the evening organizing stuff for the 5K on Saturday (well ok everyone else spent the rest of the evening organizing, I sort of fell asleep on the couch watching the American Idol kick-off show ha).  On Friday the girls, Brother, and Joey spent the day meeting with Peel about the 5K and running lots of errands and doing other preparations for the race.  Friday night we hung out at Joey's house and had Pierce's barbecue.  A lot of the other hockey girls came in that night, Silver, Jenna, Duffy, Nicole, Robin, and Katie Christopher (a Pi Phi who we went to school with) also was there.  It was such a fun night and so great to see everyone!  Saturday morning was the 5K and it was definitely a huge success.  There was a great turnout and everything was so organized!  I walked the race with Jocelyn and Amber and we had a great time.  It was a really special morning for me and it was so great to see so many people I hadn't seen in so long.  Saturday afternoon was the W & M alumni tournament.  The weather held out and it was a great afternoon, the alumni team did pretty well against the W & M, Davidson, VCU, and Radford teams.  Also as a side note, I had Cheese Shop for the second time in three days ok good.  On Sunday, there was a field hockey clinic for area middle and high school girls run by Tess, my former W & M assistant coach.  Peel, Quan, Jordan, Ann, Julie, Ginny, Kelly McQuade, Shannon, Maggie Long, Camilla Hill, and Jess K. all coached and there were about 50 girls who came out, so Sunday was another huge success.  I headed back home on Sunday afternoon--I was sad to leave Williamsburg though, it's always so fun to go back there to visit and this weekend especially had been so great! 

So needless to say the weekend was a lot of fun and a huge success!  There are so many people to thank for putting together such a great weekend!  First, I wanted to thank Jordan, Jules, and Ann for organizing the 5K and the hockey clinic.  I know they have spent the past few months preparing for this past weekend and that it definitely took a lot of time and effort (I don't know where you guys found extra time with all of your schedules!), and it really meant so much to me.  I also wanted to thank Peel, Quan, the W & M hockey team and the girls from Pi Beta Phi for their help and support with the 5K.  A lot of the Pi Phis volunteered around the course to help direct the runners and some of them also ran in it.  I also wanted to thank Mr. and Mrs. Steele, Mimi, Jocelyn, Joey, and Jenna H.--they helped out so much (as they always do) and I know it couldn't have been a success without all of you guys.  Thanks also to Brother for making the trip and for being the best race director ever--his expertise with races and marathons was a huge help and it was great having someone so knowledgeable run the 5K.  Thanks also to all of the 5K sponsors.  I also wanted to thank Tess for organizing the hockey clinic on Sunday-I'm sorry I couldn't make it out there to be a part of it, but it was great to see you on Saturday.  Thank you also to all the girls I listed above who helped out and coached on Sunday.  Lastly and most importantly, I wanted to thank each and every one of you who supported the weekend, participated in the run and the hockey clinic, and donated their time, money, and effort--it was such a special weekend for me, one I will definitely never forget.  I had an incredible time and I hope everyone there did too---thank you guys for everything!  I could never get through what I've been able to get through this past year and a half without everyone's support.  Thanks!

Here's a link to an article that was printed in the Flat Hat, the W & M paper, about the 5K:
http://www.flathatnews.com/sports/2332/field-hockey-unites-to-support-nixon

PS-I just wanted to give a shout out to Brent, who spent about 48 hours stuck in the airport in Arizona because of all of that American Airlines nonsense!  I missed seeing you and am so sorry you were stuck like that for so long!  Hopefully we can catch up soon!

Hello!!  I've got some good news to report from my scan results!  I met with Dr. Mitchell this morning to go over the reports from my CAT scan, PET scan, and MRI from last Wednesday.  My dad and mom were also there with me for the meeting.  So I've put the results below-just the important stuff. 

CAT Scan of Chest/Abdomen/Pelvis:
The CAT Scan is still showing the tiny, tiny nodule inside my left lung that was shown on my January scans.  It measured at 3 mm this time, but there's really not much of a difference between 1 and 3 mm because it's just so tiny!  And tiny is good!  So that nodule is basically stable at this point, but hopefully might be gone by the next set of scans.  The CAT Scan also showed the lymph node in my chest and reported it as stable and calcified, also two very good things!  Calcified basically means it's not active anymore.  The hepatic lesions on my liver are gone!!  Totally and completely gone--this was really the best news from the scans.  Now I can just focus on the two remaining areas where cancer is still present.

MRI Abdomen:
The MRI also showed that my liver is totally normal!  No evidence of any liver lesions, normal size, no abnormal enhancement.  Most people might take for granted having a normal liver, but today hearing that mine had no evidence of cancer was such great news!!  I love having a normal liver again! (Now I can start hitting the bottle again...just kidding!!!)

PET Scan:
There was a decrease in the metabolic activity of my chest lymph node again!  From November to January it went from a reading of 12.73 to 6.4.  Now it had a reading of 4.8.  No activity was noticed in the lung fields (the nodule is so tiny in size it really couldn't be picked up on the PET scan).  There was no abnormal activity in the liver which also correlates with the CAT scan and the MRI.  It was really reassuring that there was no evidence of cancer in the liver noted on all three of the procedures.

So what I took away from this and after being told by all my nurses and my oncologist that these results weren't just good, they were really great, is that I have had continued improvement, there is no new metastasis, and that the chemo is still working and effective.  This is really important because the minute the chemo stops working and the cancer starts spreading, that's when things can get difficult.  The situation I am in now is positive, hopeful, and really heading in the right direction.  I will get another five treatments and then scans again.  I did have a treatment today after my meeting with Dr. Mitchell, so my 11th treatment is already down.  Hopefully these next five chemo treatments will continue to work on the lymph node in my chest and get rid of that annoying little spot in my lung!  Surgery is not on the horizon at this point since the chemo is working so well.  If I can get the cancer narrowed down to one spot and the progress maybe starts to plateau in that remaining area, surgery might be an option then, but right now we're sticking with the chemo because it's doing an awesome job!  Sometimes the progress feels slow and of course it would be nice to have wiped out all the metastasis with the first five treatments, but I guess this is one of those reasons why cancer sucks.  It takes a long time to beat it, but this is something I can really do.  My nurse, Sue, tells me she's never seen anyone who likes chemo more than I do.  I'm still tolerating the treatments well so I'll keep on getting them until I'm in remission.  No breaks until I get a permanent break and that's when there's no evidence of cancer on the scans.  

Well that's everything for now, if anyone has any questions about the results definitely go ahead and ask in your messages and I will try to answer them in my next message.  Sometimes this stuff can be confusing!  Thank you for everyone's support this past week.  It's always a scary week and getting those scans is a serious pain in the ass, but for now things look good and all I can hope for is continued progress.  Thanks also to everyone who's signed up for the fun run in Williamsburg this weekend.  I can't wait to see everyone, it should be a great weekend and I'm really excited for it.  Thanks again for everyone's messages, thoughts, and prayers---they really seem to be working--we all know it's not just the chemo doing it's job, you guys are such an important part of this battle too and I will always be thankful for every one of you! 

Hello--Well my tenth treatment went smoothly.  My counts were all really good, it didn't take too long to actually get treatment, and I've felt pretty good all week.  Ryan was up from NC so he took me in to the chemo unit on Monday and then my mom was off from work this week because of Easter/Spring Break so she brought me in to the chemo unit on Wednesday to get disconnected from the pack, to get my Neulasta shot, and to get some IV fluids.  I had a bad night on Thursday, but was able to get lots of sleep last night and am feeling really good this morning.  

My scans are scheduled for this coming Wednesday April 2.  I am set to get a PET scan, CT scan of the chest/abdomen/pelvis, and an MRI of the abdomen so it should be a pretty long day.  They are scheduled for 1:00 that afternoon and then I have an appointment with Dr.  Mitchell scheduled for that following Monday to go over the results of the scans.  

Thank you for all of your messages, they have really helped me get through this round of treatment.  I can't believe ten have already gone by!  Sometimes on my bad days when I'm just laying on the couch or in bed, I will go back and read some of the messages people have left  and it honestly makes me forget about the bad stuff even if it's just for a few minutes.  So thank you for that!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend!  

Hello and Happy Easter!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Just wanted to give you guys a quick update since I haven't put anything up since the NY Colon Cancer Run.  My ninth treatment went ok.  Julie was here for a few days during treatment which was fun and really helpful, she drove me to chemo that Monday and then back to the hospital on Wednesday to get disconnected.  We did manage to do some fun things besides spend time in the hospital and it was great to see her--thanks for everything Jules!  I think the increase in dosage really started to set in this past treatment though because the side effects were definitely the worst they've been and lasted longer than they had previously been lasting.  I was down at my Dad's in North Carolina for most of my bad days so while we weren't able to do much it was nice to have everyone around while I was feeling crappy and to have lots of great meals (Thanks Lynn!).  Anyway, I got through it, but am not looking forward to chemo tomorrow.  Usually I don't mind going in for chemo, when I go in for treatment I feel like I'm actively fighting the cancer which is the best feeling for me and I like seeing some of the other patients and the nurses are always really funny, but I definitely don't know if I'm up for another week like I had after last treatment.  I am sure it will end up being fine-if I got through last time I know I can get through this time.  This will be my tenth treatment, so tomorrow I will schedule my next set of scans-probably for sometime around the beginning of April.  I will keep everyone posted on the date, I am trying not to get too nervous for the scans too early, it is usually a pretty stressful time for me, but I am staying positive and I know that they will only show more improvement and maybe even total resolution in some areas.  Anyway, I will give everyone another update after this next treatment and once I know the date of my scans.  Thanks again for all the messages and for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Hey everyone!  The Colon Cancer Run/Walk in New York was today and it was a lot of fun and a great success!  It was a really fun day, despite it being very cold and windy in Central Park.  The 4 mile runners went off first at 9:00-the group included Jenna (who just had Hugo about six weeks ago--very impressive), Michael, Colleen, Emily, and Kelly.  They all did great and braved the cold and wind and finished with great times.  Then the walk started at 10:15, also the same time the 15K started.  Katie Casto was the lone Nixon's Vixen in the 15K and she did great!  Katie is in hardcore marathon training right now for the Boston Marathon in April!  There were a lot of walkers, which was really fun to have such a big group!  Kevin, Andy, Becky, Alyssa, Brian, Brie, Erica, Michael, Jen, Tal, and myself all came out to do the walk.  Hugo was there as Nixon's Vixens mascot and number one supporter.  Afterwards we all headed to brunch, which was yummy and also a lot of fun.  Today was also a special day for me because I finally got to meet Erica in person!  We have talked and emailed so much since last year, I felt like I had already met her, but it was great to actually, finally really meet!  So the day and the races and the walk were all a great success--the morning was lots of fun and we ended up raising $1,149.00 for a great cause.  Thanks to everyone who came out today and woke up really early (especially with Daylights Saving Time) and participated in the runs and the walk and thank you also to everyone who donated money.  Research is so important, the more drugs and improvements in surgery and radiation they can make, the longer people can survive, so raising money for research really, really means a lot to me, needless to say.  Probably one of my most commonly asked questions to Sue (my chemo nurse) or Dr. Mitchell is whether there are any new drugs on the horizon.  So with everyone's help, soon new drugs will become available, and along with it more hope.  Thanks again to everyone for their help and support!  It was a really great day!  

I have treatment tomorrow, so I will keep everyone posted on how it goes later this week.  Julie is here for a visit, so I'll have someone to hang out with tomorrow during chemo and to have fun with this week!