Team SOS (Save Our Sisters)

Had my 1st dragonboat team practice and it was sweet! You can make out my blonde head next to Megan (not sure of the spelling) who was sporting the very same 'do! We are both breast cancer survivors and most of my team is some sort of cancer survivor. Coach Ellen is great - very funny but at the same time serious. We paddle on Lake Parsippany and although the water was quite cold, the evening was warm and we worked up a sweat as we learned the various terms and strokes used in competition. More info as I get it about races, etc.

Being filmed for Better TV today on behalf of Team Aquaphor - I'll let everyone know details when I have them!

365 Days Later

It is April 7th, 2009. 365 days have come and gone since I heard those few words that would impact my life so greatly: "I'm sorry, your biopsy was positive. You have cancer." I do not quite recall what the doctor said after that. I know I stood there waiting for the punchline that was never delivered and then realized she wasn't kidding and this situation was not funny. What a year. While I may not look back and laugh, I do look back at what I have learned.

I spent last evening at the wake of a local 39 year old woman who dies of breast cancer. She was a wife of a former co-worker of mine. She was a mother, a teacher, and judging by the photos her husband Jim had on display last night, someone who loved life. As I waited over an hour to say something to Jim, it was he who said something to me. He was aware of my battle during the past year. He asked how I was doing - how I was doing? How about him? I said I take each day as it comes and he said to me, "Do not forget that every day is a gift, that is what my days with Karen were and that is what I told my daughter too". Those words reminded quickly reminded me how wrapped up I had become in the trivial again, how "normal life" had quickly become a familiar routine.

So as I laced my sneakers this morning for a run I thought about Jim's words and the past year and I made a point to look at the sky as the sun rose through the clouds. I left my iPod home so I could hear myself think. As I ran I sent many, many thank yous to the heavens as I feel good, I can run, and I can say, "Cancer? Been there, done that - last year."

If you are reading this note through Facebook, this is actually a post to my blog, www.jchildebrandt.blogspot.com. I started my blog 4/17 - 10 days after diagnosis as a place to keep family and friends up to date as to what was going on with me and also as a way to share my experience with any other woman who may facing similar circumstances. I will continue to write and continue to fight until, well, I am not sure where or how it this will end but that is part of what makes life worth living - hey, you never know what tomorrow might bring so be sure to enjoy today!

C'est magnifique!

I am back in the USA. I say back because at this time last week I was sleeping in an apartment on Le Avenue d'Opera in Paris. What a trip!

Greg and I spent three days in Paris and had a most wonderful guide - our friend Stephane. Stephane is an artist we met in Germany (oh aren't we cosmopolitan!) while attending the wedding of friends Nora and Jason. He had mentioned we should come to Paris so we went! Since we were in France we figured we should take the train ride to Switzerland and visit Greg's sister Mary so we did. Mary and her husband David live in a beautiful house set on the hillside in Mogelsberg.

Being in Europe made me reflect back over the past year. The one year anniversary of my biopsy was 4/1. Greg accompanied me to the hospital after I received a call to come back for an ultrasound since they thought they saw something in the films I had taken on 3/17. I tell everyone when I first heard the message Chilton Hospital left for me, my first thought was, ".. oh, they must have had a problem with my insurance..." never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I had to have more tests. While there on 4/1 I kept waiting for someone to say "April's Fools!" Greg was with me because we were headed to Michigan for his grandmother's funeral.

I was so shocked when they said they found a lump, even more so when they showed me how to feel it. When they broke out the surgical cart to do a biopsy I felt the world start to spin out of control. And so my journey began...

The trip to Paris and Switzerland was a welcome distraction from the events of the past year. We saw so much: Notre Dame, the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower just to name a few highlights and ate incredible meals. I'll be posting pictures soon!

Major Milestones

March bas brought me two major milestones thus far:

1. March 17th 2009 was the one year anniversary of the mammogram that detected my cancer.

2. I finally completed a race longer than 5 miles at a sub ten minute pace!(Freehold St. Pat's 10 miler - 1:36)

So many dates coming up that I look forward to; mostly being able to say,"One year ago today I..." such as the diagnosis of my cancer, surgery dates,etc. for each day that passes is another day of me being closer to being "cured"!

I am going to be part of Team Aquaphor for the More 1/2 marathon. This team is for women runners who have had or has breast cancer. I was contacted (as a team member) about appearing on the CBS daytime show, "The Doctors", but filming coincides with my vacation. There goes my 15 minutes of fame!

I am watching President Obama's news conference as I type this. I am sensitive to the need for affordable health care so curious to see what pans out. I do not envy this man, he has a heavy burden to bear yet I am optimistic that the good ol' USA will pull out of the morass we are in. I am all for the wiring of health care and not only because I work in e-commerce. Going from floor to floor of the same hospital and having to complete the same paperwork gets a bit redundant. Carrying ones medical records from appt. to appt. also gets old pretty fast. Have I mentioned how happy I am to have those days behind me?

Spring Approaches

Another Sunday afternoon where I sit recovering from this morning's kickboxing class; what a workout! I feel good now but I just know I am going to wake up tomorrow and feel muscles I never knew I had!

I have found that while I run (Did the NYRR8000 yesterday in Central Park) I lost a lot of "core strength" last year. Doing things like push-ups and sit-ups are down right painful. But in a good way as odd as that may seem. Exercise certainly helped me feel better throughout my treatment, however limited it may have been. I can't even recollect that feeling that chemo gave me of absolute exhaustion. And, that is indeed a very good thing!

Lots of things to look forward to in the next few weeks, vacation, family gatherings, weddings and best of all Spring arrives officially this Friday. Winter will finally be behind us. As it leaves I will be waving it "goodbye" wholeheartedly as I gaze over the crocus flowers poking there way through the dirt along with the beginnings of tulips and daffodils. I am looking forward to much warmer days. I am also hopeful that this week will bring me renewed energy; the time change last weekend seemed to really do me in!

I had the chance to reconnect with some friends from high school this past week. We had been conversing via "Facebook" (that's a whole other post in itself!)and realized we all still live near each other. Technology is a wonderful thing.

Speaking of technology, I have my 3 month follow-up from radiation treatment this week. Everything looks okay to me; all that remains from my treatment is a very faint "tan line". My surgical scar is hardly noticeable (Thank you Dr. Shapiro!) and even my port scar has faded. Tuesday marks the one year anniversary of the mammogram the changed my life. I end this entry with a question I will forever ask my friends and family - have you had your mammogram this year? Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Daylight Savings Time

Today is my favorite day of the year. No, it is not my birthday, nor my anniversary. It isn't the first day of summer and as you know it isn't Christmas. However at 2am this morning we all "fell forward" and changed time bringing another hour of light to the evening. This is what makes it my favorite day of the year. It is the promise of warm summer nights to come and spending time outside.
The darkness of winter comes to an end and I for one am so looking forward to enjoying this spring and more so this summer; I need to reclaim the summer I lost last year.

I had a nice weekend. The weather was warm , a tease, spring floating on the breeze. I started the day with a run with Jess and then had lunch with my friend Jen, a survivor herself and greatly enjoyed out time together. I followed this with dinner out with two Jessica's. We did "sushi and a movie" - we saw "Milk", which was great. I spent Sunday working out and puttering about in my garden. Capped the evening with dinner with my aunt Lorna and her family. Her son Michael was home from BU for spring break.

Greg had spent the weekend in Beantown with my brothers partaking in the now annual "Boys Beer Crawl". They actually started at the Sunset Grill and Tap, the very place I worked my junior and senior year at BU. Seems everyone had a very good time and was basically functional today!

Can St. Patrick's Day 2009 really be only 9 days away?

March Comes In Like A Lion

It is Sunday evening, the 1st of March and we are expecting to wake to a winter wonderland. Yes, the dreaded double whammy - Monday morning and SNOW!!! The Weather channel is predicting we will get anywhere between 8 - 14". Lovely. Just when I was thinking the worst of the cold and grey days were behind us.

Got my butt kicked today in a great kickboxing class. I quickly realized how much stronger my right arm is than my left and how much I need to incorporate upperbody and ab work into my exercise routine! I was dripping with sweat and I may not be able to breathe tomorrow but it was a lot of fun.

I have been contemplating hairstyles lately. I cannot decide if I should stay short and grow it all out. Short sure is easy! On the flip side I still catch myself in the mirror and jump - it takes a moment to register, "oh, yeah - that's me!". I guess it is a constant reminder of my battle of 2008 which makes me think I need to grow it out. I am leaning towards keeping it short for the summer and then growing it out in the fall. Only time will tell!

I am looking forward to next weekend which brings my favorite day of the year: the end of Daylight Savings Time!