Walk The Line...

After the Opening Ceremonies and the Survivors Lap at 6:00 pm on Friday, June 20th, team members can hit the track. There will be people from the team at the track the whole time, and all team members are welcome to camp out at the event, or show up whenever. Our team captain, Katie, thought that it would be good to have general walking shift times, but have the "sign up" be more informal, so I've posted a "poll" on the right side-bar so people can choose their preferred walking shift. (If you can only walk one hour, then choose the shift that includes that hour.)

Take a look, and take a second to vote on the walking time that works for you. You can choose more than one shift as well. If you're very flexible on when you can walk, this will let you choose a time when a lot of team members are walking, or when nearly no one is and we need someone on the track! It's a fairly informal way for us all to know when we'll be heavy or light on walkers.

Also... the "theme" for the event is "Carnival," and teams are encouraged to have a booth with an additional fund raiser (related to the theme) going on. Katie's got some ideas for this, but if you've got a good idea (you know, like maybe we need a cotton candy booth, or a pie toss booth, balloon animals, ooh or all three!), add it to the comments or tell Jamie or Katie. Thanks!!

Just Ask... Spread The Word

The countdown continues, and we still have three weeks left to get pledges for the Relay!

The number one reason people do not donate is that no one ever asked them! Your goal is to reach out to as many people as possible, and simply ask if they'd like to be involved. Most people's lives have been touched by cancer in some capacity, and they'd like the chance to help in some way — to honor, to remember or to celebrate. Below are some great fundraising tips from the ACS to get you started:

Fundraising Tips for Individuals

Sign up
Sign up to use the Relay For Life^® online fundraising Web site and make your own personal Web page. Start by clicking right here to Join Jamie's Team!! We'd love to have at least 11 more walkers!

Email Your Friends and Family
Send emails to everyone you know using our easy and fun-to-use email tool. Import your address book, use one of our email templates or create your own, track results, and follow up. Soon, credit card donations will start rolling in. Really, it is so fun to see the subject line for incoming email read: "A Donation Was Made On Your Behalf". If you need help importing your address to your Relay Team Member contacts, or figuring out how to email contacts, just email Jamie, Katie, or even me, or comment on the blog. Help will come your way!

Make a List and Check It Twice
Make a list of potential donors. Include everyone you know. Start by making a donation to yourself online. Your gift will set the tone for others to give.

One a Day
Ask a different person each day to make a contribution. If you get four $25 gifts, you will have raised $100 in less than a week. Don’t be afraid to ask for larger gifts. Cancer is an issue that affects us all, and most people are happy to donate.

Double Your Money
Many employers offer matching funds programs. Your $50 donation could turn into $100. Inquire with your personnel/HR department to complete the paperwork required to get your gift matched. Visit our Matching Gifts page.

The Mighty Pen
Send a letter in the mail to friends, family, and co-workers asking for their support. Include a printed off-line donation form (find the link on your personal Participant Center page). Let them know if you are walking in honor of someone. Explain why the cause is important to you; heartfelt messages get the best response. Don’t forget to send a thank you note to people who donate.

Bring It Along
Take your Web site's address and contribution form everywhere you go and ask everyone you interact with to sponsor you. Remember, the fight against cancer is a great cause, and most people want to help.

Talk It Up
Ask for a few minutes on the agenda of any meetings you will be attending. Explain why you are walking and ask for everyone’s support. If you are dedicating your efforts to someone who has had cancer, tell that person’s story.

Blog It!
Post details about the Relay on your personal blog, and link to your Relay Participant page so family and friends can easily pledge (for example).

Offer Food
Offer healthy treats to your friends, family, and co-workers for a small gift to the American Cancer Society. Most people can be tempted to donate.

Clean House
Clean out your garage or home and set up a Relay For Life^® donation booth in exchange for your finds. Ask your friends and neighbors to donate their stuff to you, explaining that all proceeds go to the fight against cancer.

Celebrate
If a birthday or holiday is coming up, tell your family and friends that in lieu of a gift, you would like them to make a donation to the American Cancer Society for your Relay For Life^®.

Pin It Up
Post your Web site address or walk paper on the bulletin board at church or temple, in the office, at the gym, or at school. Make sure to highlight your name, phone number, email address, and team Web page address

Send the Message
Change the recording on your voicemail or answering machine to mention Relay For Life^® and how callers can make a donation. Then, when you call people back, ask them to sponsor you. When emailing friends, add a “PS” asking for their support.

Call Us
Your local American Cancer Society office has more helpful hints on raising support so don't hesitate to call or email to make this the most successful Relay For Life^® yet!

Jamie Clobbered Cancer - Come Celebrate By Walking!!

So here's the skinny on walking in the Relay — it's $10 to register online right here, and the online registration wizard only takes a few minutes.

Once you've joined Jamie's team, you get your own participant page where you can send out emails to get donations, or you can just donate something yourself and come on down to talk with Jamie and walk the track for an hour (or two or three...).

C'mon... summer is coming, and we can all use more exercise. You know, keep the heart healthy and look good in your summer wardrobe. Speaking of which, you get a groovy new T-shirt when you join the team!

Can you think of any more excuses not to join in the fun? Isn't the 20th Father's Day Weekend you say? No, Father's Day is the weekend before the Relay. Registering online is confusing, or too much trouble? Just email Jamie, or leave a comment here that you'd like to walk — registration help will come to you via email or phone. I want to walk, but I can only walk at 5:00 am on Saturday morning (or 8:00 pm Friday night, etc.) —some specific time... First sign up! Next, leave a comment on this blog (or send email) telling Katie the "shift" you want to walk. That's it. Easy. Anything else?? Oh, you're worried about burning too many calories?? Well, no problem, I'll be sure to bake up some delicious cupcakes to have on hand at the track so no one has low blood sugar issues. Umm... and I also know an almost 3-year old who's joining the team and will be walking the track... Seriously, don't let a preschooler show you up!

There you go. No excuses. Now you have to come and walk.

Just do it.

Cancer Free Perks!!

We got to help Katrina celebrate her Birthday on Friday night with a wonderful dinner at The Barking Frog in Woodinville. As you can see from the photos I was able to partake in the fabulous wine and under cooked fish!! We took a taxi there and back, so no one had to be the designated driver.

I'm going to continue to remind everyone about the relay for life. We need more walkers!! If you can, please sign up so we can see how our team is shaping up. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail or call me! (If you click on the relay for life label below it will take you to the relay info post or you can scroll down to the original post and click the links!!)

Also, Check out The HAIR!!

Great News

I had my appt with Dr. Goff on Monday. All Clear!! All my tests came back negative and she doesn't know why I'm having the pain. Her best guess is my nerves are working double time and driving me crazy. She prescribed an anti-seizure medication that is used to calm nerves. I have to work up to the full dose and have to be really careful coming off the medication as well. Hopefully it will help with the neuropathy in my feet as well. I don't have to have a blood draw for three months and no scans for six months--what a relief!

I had my first hair trim today!! Thanks Wendy for squeezing me in. It feels great, but we have all agreed my hair is strange. I call it "baby puppy fuzz". Wendy thinks maybe it is trying to be curly, but it gets confused. Oh well, at least I have hair to trim :)

I hope many of you can come join us in the Relay for Life. It's going to be great fun, and would be even better if all my loyal readers were to participate. I will try to keep reminding all of you to sign up!! See post below for details.

Relay for Life — Come Walk with Jamie!

Katie Stoll (of Katie and Brian) started a Relay for Life team in Jamie's honor to get Jamie's "team" together to celebrate her success in clobbering cancer. Sign up right here!

Relay for Life is a 24-hour relay fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. You can find more info about it right here. I've participated in the Relay before, and it's a really fun and inspiring event. Team members (walkers) are needed for relay shifts, and at the event you can camp out overnight, or just show up for a walking shift and visit the campers.

The event begins on Friday, June 20 at 6:00pm and will last until Saturday, June 21 at 6:00 pm. It will be in Tacoma at the Franklin Pierce High School Track - 11002 18th Ave. E.
Tacoma, WA 98445-5200. On Friday night there will be a survivor lap at 6:00 pm for cancer survivors, and a Luminaria Ceremony of Hope at 10:00 pm. Walkers who circle the track all night walk by the light of the luminaries.

You can make a Luminaria donation to the event or to Jamie's Team in honor of anyone whose life has been touched by cancer — just click right here.

Join Jamie's Team to participate in the Relay at her Team Page — get there by clicking right here. If you're interested in joining the team to walk, but have yet to sign up, please leave a comment on this post so Katie knows how the team is shaping up. Anyone can join the fun, so mark your calendars, and get ready to lace up your walkin' shoes! We'll see you there!!

Lost Modesty

Today I had my "aspiration" at the UW radiology department. Well that is what it was supposed to be. I ended up having a biopsy instead. After mapping the area on my tush, with many rides in and out of the CT machine, no fluid came out of my "pocket". Instead the Dr had to change strategies and take a core sample from the lump that is pushing on my bum area as it was not a fluid pocket as was suspected. And as you can see I can be very detailed about this, because the anesthesia did not work and I was pretty conscience thru out the entire procedure. Believe me, I wish I wasn't. They actually had to stop in the middle of it to request the use of more drugs, because they had already surpassed the normal dosing for most people. I still hold the staff at the UW in high regard, but today was not the greatest of procedure days.

I had to stay after the procedure in the recovery area for a little bit, where I scared a nurse by dosing off which caused my oxygen levels to set the alarm off on the machine. Once I was somewhat stable, they sent me back down to 4 South, to wait out the after effects of the drugs. I guess I really was a special case today, because the nurse told me to order lunch, which John did only to have the nurse rush back in to tell me they didn't want me to eat until about 5pm and I needed to lay still until that time as well. Mind you I hadn't eaten since 9pm the night before, I was pretty hungry. All this while during the recovery, I had to keep baring my bum, so they could check on it. It's getting to the point, it doesn't bother me to have male nurses. I've lost all my modesty. One day I hope it will return (LOL)

Last Thursday, many of you know I had a PET scan, which came back clear with no indication of activity in the "pocket" in question. We had a bit of a snag when the nurse was trying to put my folic catheter in. In the end, I did the PET without it and found out the Nuke Techs actually prefer to run the PET without one. I'm hoping the good outcome of the PET will be some sort of indication that all is well with whatever they took out today.

I will try to post what I find out soon, but I have my three month check-up with Dr. Goff on Monday, so I may not find anything out until I talk to her. My nurse, Heidi will probably call and give me an update. She is so great about making sure we know all the details as soon as she finds anything out. I love that about her...always thinking about the patient and their state of mind.

I hope all is well with all of you--I will let all of you know any info I get as soon as I get it!!

Lots of Love,

Jamie

Minor Setback--Fast Action

I'm sorry for not posting a picture. I need to get John to take a photo to post. The hair is coming in strong!!

I've had a minor setback this week. I started having some pain this week and the usual drugs were not cutting it, so on Wednesday I called my favorite nurse, Heidi. As usual, she responded very quickly and told me I needed to come up and be seen. The next morning at 10am, I was being examined by Barb Silko, a very competent nurse practitioner, who sees patients during recovery after surgery, so you don't have to see the "boss" every time you go in. Barb did a "thorough" exam, and proclaimed she couldn't "feel" anything, but wanted to discuss the option of having a CT scan with Heidi.

I was on my way out of the office, when I got sidetracked talking to Tina, the team coordinator, regarding a change in my next scheduled blood draw. We were just about to leave, when Heidi caught us. She had wrote the requisition for the CT scan, and had Tina call downstairs to get us in that day! Talk about service. About 20 minutes later, I was chugging down the Lumen (barium smoothie) which was less thick than the regular stuff. At 12:30, I was laying on the table getting ready to start the scan.

Today, I got a call from Heidi with the results. She assured me they didn't see anything suspicious, but that I've had a pocket of fluid by the area where they did the bowel resection. It has always been very small (17mm x 19mm), but that it has grown a little bit (23mm x 24mm) and that it was likely causing the discomfort that I have. Dr. Goff looked at the scans and wants me to have a Pet Scan to make sure nothing "lights up", since my last one in November. She also suggested that the scans be sent down to the interventional radiologists to look at to see if they will be able to surgically drain the pocket. She is somewhat skeptical that they will be able to do it, because of its position, but wanted it to be the first choice. I think she would have to go in surgically if they can't do anything about it.

I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to find Dr. Goff and have her involved in my recovery. She and her team are the most wonderful people out there! I highly recommend the SCCA to everyone I talk to. I don't know where I would get such great and fast care like I receive from the SCCA.

I will keep you all posted about what I find out this next week. Wish me luck!!

Nice Brows!

So here's the best I can do for a recent-ish "close up" from a trip to the ocean the first week of March. You can't see Jamie's hair (it was cold!), but you can see the return of her great eye brows. Yeah!

Just click on the pic to get a closer look.

Lucky Number 8

Hello All!! I thought I would give you all a brief update post chemotherapy. I had my first blood draw (one whole month has gone by!!) and all is "spiffy"! My CA-125 is the lowest it's ever been at a cool low of 8. After starting out well over 4400, I will take an 8 any day.

My hair is coming in pretty strong now. I was worried for a little while because it was falling out again, but that seems to have past. I'm starting to lose the "steroid" puffiness in my face too--thank goodness. My eyebrows and eyelashes are coming in as well, so I'm starting to look more like myself.

I've been doing twice weekly deep water aerobics with my sister, Jennifer and Mom. The Club has just added Tuesday and Thursday to the schedule so I am going to do those classes as well.

I will try to post a picture soon :)

Happy New Year!

Katrina here, with a brief Crase update. Jamie and John spent the weekend with us, and we celebrated Chinese New Year in the International District on Saturday. As usual with any of our joint ventures, big or small, we had a glorious time.

To kick off the weekend, I heard John chopping something in the kitchen Saturday morning. Turned out to be pineapple, and he was making Eggs Benedict for breakfast. It was absolute heaven. We also had an amazing dinner in on Saturday night, and with Jamie as my sous chef, we are unstoppable in the kitchen (and don't end up buried under dishes). The guys had picked up groceries on the way back from a bike ride. Good food, good friends, good conversation, some casual travel discussion—a very nice start to the Lunar New Year.

I think it's very cool that 2008 is "Jamie's Year" so to speak, since her Chinese sign is the Rat. This year promises "Great renewal, success and adventure," for her. Sounds good to me!

Jamie's looking great, feeling fabulous, she's sporting a gorgeous new hat (knit by Ali), and is Madeline's new "best friend". They played together a lot this weekend, and on Sunday M said, "I just want Jamie and John and Shorty to stay with us all the time now, OK? " If only we could all just hang out and have fun all the time... the perpetual holiday. Although with John and I cooking for all of us all the time, we'd all need to invest in some new mountain bikes (and ride them a lot)!

Gong xi fa cai! Wishing you prosperity! (Happy New Year!)