Find a Cure

Thanks, Julie C. :-)

Breakthrough

Did you know it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Surely you haven't missed all the pink ribbons, pink Tic-Tacs and M&Ms, pink t-shirts, cool on-demand breast cancer educational programs, and oh, so much more?

Did you know I used to avoid buying pink things during October? Because I was superstitious and scared? I thought then that I was just a hypochondriac, but now I think I was psychic.

Did you know that breast cancer is the most-researched and best funded of all the cancers? Your purchases of Yoplait (with the pink tops) and awareness mints (with the pink ribbon on the tin) and maybe even your pink Kitchen Aid mixer are helping women like me.

The latest discovery is extremely exciting, and my doctor is communicating with The Powers That Be in San Antonio to get me on board with their clinical trial next year: a breast cancer vaccine.

Even though I already have breast cancer, this vaccine will hopefully be able to prevent a recurrence, especially for women like me who are HER-2 positive. So please, when you have a chance to buy those products that help fund breast cancer research, go for the pink!

NeuVax™ (E75)

NeuVax is a peptide-based immunotherapy that recruits the immune system to fight cancer and activates "Killer T-cells" to target tumors. NeuVax specifically targets cancer while leaving normal, healthy tissues unharmed. The key to NeuVax is a small peptide called E75 that is derived from HER2/neu, a protein expressed by tumors.

T-cells from NeuVax-treated patient attacking cancer.

Unlike existing monoclonal antibody therapy which requires frequent, ongoing, intravenous (I.V.) infusion, NeuVax can produce continuing activation of the immune system and therapeutic levels of Killer T-cells with a once monthly intradermal (under the skin) dosing schedule that is less expensive and more convenient for both the patient and physician.

NeuVax is currently undergoing clinical testing for the adjuvant (after-surgery) treatment of early-stage HER2/neu-expressing breast and prostate cancer. NeuVax may also be developed to treat other types of solid tumors.

Pity Party

In case you haven't talked to me, you may not know that I was not excited about losing my hair. I knew it was coming, as the nurses called Adriamycin the "automatic hair removal system," but still, I didn't realize how unhappy it would make me.

And this made me feel guilty, because I thought, of all the worries I have, why should I be worried about my hair? After all, it will grow back, right? But still, it was tough to see it go.

When it started coming out in chunks and handfuls and covered my brush, I couldn't take it anymore. I called George, who agreed to get rid of it all for me. When I first got there, he saw that I did still have plenty of hair (or so it seemed) and asked if maybe I wasn't jumping the gun a little bit? So I just ran my fingers through my hair and, when George saw the handful that came out, he said, "Okay, girl. Sit down."

And then I was horrified. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror for many days. Anthony said I didn't need to hold my hands on my head when I talked to him, but I couldn't help it. I tried to picture Natalie Portman and Demi Moore, but it just didn't match up with seeing myself all bald.

Gradually, though, I've gotten used to it. I usually wear a baseball cap, which is what I feel most comfortable wearing, or a scarf, which looks a little dressier, and I've started wearing these comfy Adidas ski caps that I really like, too.

And once ... just once! I even went bald. Tyler and I went to yoga class and he encouraged me to go all melon-headed to class, and I did. And I don't think anybody really cared. But I felt ultra proud of myself.

I do have some really cute hats (thanks, Heidi and Kathleen!) that I haven't taken pictures of yet, but I will soon. And despite my sadness over the (temporary!) loss of my hair, I have to admit these things: 1) It is much cheaper to be bald (sorry, George); and 2) I can get ready really, really fast.