2/27/09 How is Myra? Directly from the horse's mouth....

Hot flashes galore today, stomach doing flips all day AND no appetite, taste very sensitive AND my right hand has these scars that resemble burn marks.

I was thinking about what can I eat? (stop laughing!) What comes to mind that doesn’t make my stomach flip at the very thought of it? And ROBIN to my surprise, after naming all my favorites I said Chinese? So, I walked inside this Chinese joint and thought I might throw up, but I didn’t!

I got veggie lo mein and the fried chicken wings and prayed all way back home that I’d be able to eat it, since I DON’T EAT Chinese food. I got it home and it was sooooooooooooooooooo good! I was so happy I cried!! I am drinking ginger ale and it feels good in my tummy too. :)

Ok I am going to watch American Idol now and hopefully eat an Oreo???!!
Love you and I am holding it down!

Myra

2/27/09 From Robin Gaetani & Rob England

I first met Myra when I was working at Gartner, geez, had to have been back in 2001 that we met?! It was instantly that we began laughing together; I made her first birthday countdown that she so proudly hung on the outside wall of her cube, right under her name!!! I’d not known what I would have done if she wasn’t just a few cubicles away from me…many days, more than I could count, she lifted my spirits. Most beautiful thing about it was that she knew exactly when I needed it; without me even letting on I needed a boost. Now, we all are to return the many “liftings” I’m sure she has done for so many more peeps…for those days, I am forever indebted to you Myra; and I know you know how much it meant to me. When I left Gartner in 2002 we kept in touch; I lost my mother during that year and Myra was there for me…and now, me for her, for always. Myra always successfully tackled any task she started, with poise, positivity and ease. The generosity and love exude from her beautiful soul, I can’t remember a day that I didn’t see her gorgeous pearly whites, (have you ever seen such perfect teeth by the way???) never to let anything get her down and persistent with instilling that same attitude in to as many blessed individuals as possible. I know, with all I have in my heart, that this battle she is facing now will end even more successful than any endeavor brought to her. Strong will and natural positivity beat anything that comes in its way; love and devotion keeps us sane during tough times, friends keep us laughing…may you look at that “rose angel” and find strength. I love you Myra! Keep on keepin’ on…
Love, peace & hair grease!!!! I’m out!
Robin

2/23/09 Tough Times Don't Last....

Tough Times Don't Last....But Tough People Do!

Momma said there'd be days like this. This is the hard part of the journey. The fatigue is cumulative, the mouth sores persist, metallic taste, loss of appetite. Myra is just muscling through but these aren't the easiest of days, quite frankly. Now is the time to make her laugh in spite of the pain and fatigue.

I am happy to post any story or sentiment to add some cheer. This is a friend and colleague, Aquita Blount who sent these pictures to brighten Myra's day and remind her to lean on us. If anyone else has anything to post for Myra, please send my way!

2/18/09 Three down, 5 to go! Me and My Buddy

Myra is doing amazingly well. Felt pretty good this last cycle, not so nauseous and just a little joint pain but none of that horrible bone pain from before. This is not to say she does not have some down moments where she has a hard time picking herself up. That is where your support has made a tremendous impact.

Myra had her 3rd chemo treatment today. Today during chemo, Myra was sitting next to a woman, Josephine (also Jo!) who was at the end of her treatment and Myra was talking about her huge network of support and all the things we are doing to support her. I could see the envy written plainly on Jo's face, "You're so lucky" she said. And Myra said quietly, "I know".

This is Myra - me playing the part of annoying paparazzi - cracking her up in the process.

And Myra insisted that this photographer post a picture of us together so here is a picture that Laurie the nurse took of us this morning.

How KICK ASS does she look in this ball cap??? Who could look so good with a perfectly round ripe bald head but Myra. Made me hungry for an apple afterwards!! :)

2/12/09 Bald and Bodacious!

From Myra:

Here I am with a head shaved that I did myself!

Put on a little mascara and lip gloss and felt CUTE! LOL

2/12/09 Happy Half Birthday Myra!

As most of you inevitably know, Myra loves her birthday. Judy Perugini came up with a master plan to celebrate Myra's half birthday in style....

Dear Friends of Myra,

Many of you know that Myra is going through a challenging period in her life right now. After her diagnosis of breast cancer at the end of the year, came surgery followed by two of eight scheduled chemotherapy sessions completed thus far.

Her spirit continues to be resilient, and is tested daily by the side effects of her
chemo treatments. Knowing she has the love and support of all her “Peeps”
continues to help her through some tough days.

To continue our joint love-fest for Myra, we can do something special and collective to cheer her along while she wins her battle with cancer. We’d like to ask you to write down your favorite ‘Myra Moment’. The plan is to collect your personal Myra stories via email, print them out and bind them in a scrapbook for her. Since we all know how Myra LOVES her birthday, it will be nice to surprise her and present the scrapbook to her on her HALF Birthday which is Feb. 12!

Everyone has a Myra story they remember: The one that made you laugh out loud.
That embarrassing moment she couldn’t wait to tell you about. The song she couldn’t get out of her head.

There’s not much time so please send an email to Penny Gunn with your favorite Myra memory no later than Monday, Feb. 9th. Please make it easy on yourself and feel free to write your thoughts/stories down in the body of an email and send. Your input will be printed out on appropriate paper. Or if you want to design your own page, you can attach the file to your email.

Thank you for helping give Myra this great big hug wrapped up in the form of a birthday present!

Let us know if you have any questions.

Love,
Robin, Judy Perugini and Penny Gunn

What can I say about Myra’s half birthday scrap book? It surpassed any expectations we all had. Not only was the input from so many people amazing, loving and beautiful; it was HYSTERICAL. The stories made you feel like you were experiencing them yourself. The key themes were love, faith, laughter and singing and singing and singing. Myra’s got her groove back!

Here are a few photos and Myra's response!!

OMG

I got the most precious, crafty, beautiful gift delivered to me today.
HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO ME!? YOU ALL KNOW HOW
MUCH I LOVED THAT!!!! :)

I can not even express how wonderful it is. I am reading them all and admiring the smart little quote stickers, it’s great. I swear I have been laughing out loud reading so many family and friends stories! I am a trip huh?? LOL

I am so floored! Tears of laughter and joy are over my face.

Thanks to you all for such a thoughtful gift and
surprise!
Love, Love, Love,
Myra

2/12/09 Interesting article in NYT this morning

Health / Research
Bone Drugs May Help Fight Breast Cancer
By GINA KOLATA
Published: February 12, 2009

A drug of a class commonly used to combat bone loss may reduce by a third the chance that some breast cancers will spread or recur, a large study has found.

Read full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/health/research/12bone.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

We will ask Dr. Hollister about this on Wednesday.

2/10/09 Hair today, gone tomorrow.

This morning was difficult, but Myra says she is trying to smile through it.

Here is how Myra described it in her own words:

"Well it is DEFINITELY a GRAY DRESS moment but it is time to take the chemo bull by the horns and ride this baby!!! I have something funky going on with taste buds now--can’t seem to taste flavor, but you know I am still eating!! LOL. My lips are this freaky pale like pink and I have some mouth sores. Stomach does flips every now and then but nothing major THANK GOD. I have an appt with Dr. Atkiss today to do some breast work….hey its something :)

I know this picture makes your heart ache but don't feel pity. Instead feel so BLESSED and lucky that we live in an age and country with the very best medical treatment imaginable."

2/07/09 Hair starting to fall out and I am doing good

2/05/09 Buzz Cut (Notice the outfit!!)

2/04/09 2nd Chemo Today

Hi FOM’s….

Well, Myra made it through her first 2 week chemo cycle. The first few days after were deceivingly ‘easy’. Of course, easy is an extremely relative term. Myra was tired but able to eat three square meals a day and was feeling pretty good. Then Day 6 came. And Myra got hit by the chemo bus. It knocked her out. Literally. She was too tired to eat or drink and not being hydrated properly she did her best Humpty Dumpty imitation. I will save the precise details about where she was and what she was doing when it happened for later but suffice it to say, this is something we will laugh about later. We think it scared her silly and a case of Diet Snapple and a few straws later, Myra was back to a rigorous hydration regimen.

Day 7-8 brought the bone pain we had heard about but couldn’t begin to understand. The pain was unbearable and she called Dr H to be reassured that this was from the Neulasta shot, which I affectionately refer to as neu-NAST-a. The Neulasta stimulates and essentially encourages the bones to overproduce white and red bloods to ensure Myra is strong enough for the treatments. The net effect is you feel extreme pain in your bones, mostly in your hips and spine (areas of lots of bone marrow).

Myra’s words during those tough days….”My body aches and I can't figure out how to describe it. Feel in back, hips and makes me close my eyes and pray for it to pass.”

I checked out a lot of the cancer patient blogs for insight into how it would feel and tips for coping. I thought some of their words described it best.

“The doctor told us it'd feel like you'd been kicked by a mule.”

“It’s hard to appreciate how many bones you have in your body until they all start hurting at once. It’s over now, but yesterday my bones screamed out like a wicked choir in a clench-your-teeth-and-wait-for-it-to-pass kind of pain. I’ve heard it said that if ever you wanted to forget your troubles, you should just wear shoes that are too small. I can say that by yesterday evening my mind was completely clear, save for the total focus on my over-producing skeleton.

Myra discovered for herself that heating pads, a hot bath and Tylenol regularly are the best you can do until it passes. We also hear that the pain lessens as time goes on; although other patients don’t know if it is because they got used to it or that over time your body doesn’t need to produce so much.

Today, Myra had a port installed.

Here is a picture of Myra just before her port went in. Lively as usual, befriending all the medical staff and cracking jokes. She has such an indomitable spirit and people fall in love with her and want to take good care of her which makes us feel good.

We had to be at the hospital at 6:45 AM with chemo following directly after. She received a ‘power port’ which is basically the “mac-daddy” port by which she can also have PET scans, MRIs and blood work done. She underwent local anesthesia but said she felt a little out of it anyway. And though she had some discomfort-- don’t worry-- she was able to eat toast and drink juice afterwards and says the pain is manageable.

As I write this, she is now receiving her second of 8 chemo treatments, and is doing well. Remember the effect of this nasty chemo is cumulative so the fatigue will be 2x this time. The good news is Myra knows what to expect. Also, Myra’s hair will begin falling out in clumps likely day 2 following chemo. The hair loss occurs because the follicles are weakened by the chemo. I am told that you just can not be mentally prepared enough for this and it is unsettling when it happens. All in all, our brave Myra continues to a warrior.

Think warm thoughts for Myra and thanks for everyone’s continued support and prayers. I’ll keep you posted.

Robin