Words

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - Words matter. I always listen – very, very carefully to every doctor and researcher I ever hear. There are a few key things I like to hear, but sometimes it’s not what they say out loud that matters. 

Recently, a group of us went to the IU Simon Cancer Center to hear from some docs that are in the world of cutting edge science. Just an update to see where the world is right now with cancer treatment and research, and all of the exciting things they are doing to help. It was amazing! There will be a great posting soon on verabradley.org, so please keep checking back to see that.

As I was leaving the lab tours, I saw the note above on a refrigerator. I took a photo and put it up right away on my personal facebook wall, just because it was so.wonderfully.inspirational. It boosted me, made me smile, made me want to hug them all. Then, when I got home and checked facebook that night, I learned that so many people felt the same. It was shared, reposted, commented upon, etc. All comments were the same basic message; "we LOVE to see this." 

Sometimes is just the little comments that give us the energy to keep going. To keep taking our medicines, to keep raising funds, to keep lending helping hands. We do it daily, and not because of the big, grandiose statements but because of the little true words that exist in the hearts of those we trust the most. Go, go cancer research!

Football

INDIANA — We look like we are ready to play football, don’t we? Just kidding. We are actually helping to load up the van for the most amazing initiative; I’m so excited to be a part of this in a small way.  My friend Connie (she’s the sassy one right in the middle of the photo) was the impetus behind an innovative new wave of cancer research at the Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center. That research, involving healthy women donating tissue samples, is now about to be celebrated, showcased and launched into the stratosphere by working with Super Bowl XLVI. Both are located in Indianapolis, so it’s just the perfect partnership. The women who donate tissue for this particular event might find a very special surprise as a thank you – in addition, of course, to the gift of hope!  Indy's Super Cure hopes to collect 700 tissue donations during the weekend leading up to Super Bowl XLVI. The collection will take place January 28 & 29, 2011. To join the interested donor list, please visit komentissuebank.iu.edu.

Bryan

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -  This is Bryan. He’s just a regular fella, if your definition of "regular fella" includes "genius" in the description. He’s an oncologist and a researcher, a combination I have found to be life saving. Just speaking personally, of course.

He's a researcher at IU Simon Cancer Center and also works at the Vera Bradley Foundation Breast Cancer Research Laboratories. He’s made a pretty important discovery about neuropathy which could help countless cancer patients.  (neu*rop*a*thy – noun. Disease or dysfunction of one or more peripheral nerves. ) Older people and African-Americans seem to be most at risk for this development, which is often terrible and debilitating. Genetic biomarkers, for those of you that might not know, are the hot item in cancer research. HOT. Item. :)

I read this article with particular interest. I sit on the Grants Review Board of the American Cancer Society’s  Tumor Biology and Genomics division, so it fascinates me. I liked what it had to say, the potential for the future, the hope that is sandwiched between every line. I do have a favorite part of the article, however, the one that makes me smile the most.

Dr. Schneider  is …"the recipient of the 2011 Advanced Clinical Research Award (ACRA) in Breast Cancer." 

I like that because Bryan is young. For the record, I know several of his patients personally and they refer to him as "adorable." But I digress. Bryan is young, gifted and already finding things that will help us old cancer patients get by. His potential is of a breathtaking scope; and allows us to dream of the biggest things he can accomplish. 

I want my children to know Bryan. To know him as the man that took care of business. That eliminated a big worry from their lives. Go go go, Dr. Schneider. We all love you, are proud of you and are honored to be among the many who help you with our funding. 

Photo: Courtesy of Indiana University Melven and Bren Simon Cancer Center

Knowledge

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA - You don’t know everything. Just keep that in mind about … well, about almost everything! No matter how experienced you think you are, no matter how well-versed or studious, someone can always teach you something valuable.

I went into my mastectomy two weeks ago with about as much information as the average layperson could acquire; after all, the world now has Wikipedia so knowledge is just a click away! (Just kidding, go to your doctor with medical questions. Period.) I’ve been speaking about breast cancer for five years now, having gone through allllllmost every part I thought I knew just about everything a person could go through. Chemo, check. Radiation, check. Multiple surgeries, check.

Then I was introduced to something they call "drainage tubes." I’ll not say anything more about it, suffice it to say "ouch." All of those years I had been asked about my mastectomy (which was a partial, no tubes, five years ago) and I never had a response when asked about things like tubes. And reconstruction? Never had it, just walked around like Frankenstein’s monster and didn’t give it another thought. Well, now I’ve had both. I didn’t do it for kicks, there was yet another suspicious mass found and since it was the third in a year, it was decided that a complete mastectomy was a viable option. That way, all tissue can be checked and help answer these nagging questions. (I’m happy to report that all was found to be clean and clear, yay!) But, for years I have spoken to women who have talked to me about theirs, and their reconstruction following and I could only give a sympathetic hug and utter "I’m so sorry!"

But, now I know, girls. I get it. I’m so sorry I didn’t know until now what you’ve been through! I now have a full list of things to suggest when getting gifts for a friend going into this surgery. I now can offer tips and ideas about how to make yourself feel better afterwards. Everything has a silver lining; I think for me without question, the fact that I can help more people with firsthand knowledge is it. If you find yourself or someone you love about to step into that world, here are few links to help you with questions. But again, please talk to your doctor for specifics about your particular case.

Resources:
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center
American Cancer Society
breastcancer.org
American Society of Clinical Oncology
caring.com

Survivor

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - I put Indy on here, because that’s where this little fella had the biggest struggle of his whole life and he doesn’t even remember it. He was floating around in amniotic fluid and chemo at the same time, kicking like crazy. I’ve met a few other mommies who had babies while being treated for breast cancer, and we all act the same. We are all ferociously proud of our children, and even more ferociously angry at this disease. How DARE you come near me when I am busy creating life, stupid cancer!

So today my son gets a big shout out for a big reason. He turns 5 years old today. Initially, I was told that I had to pick, baby or cancer. Thanks to the second opinion given by the great doctors at IU Simon Cancer Center, I didn’t really have to pick, I got to ditch the cancer and get the baby. He’s 5 and he’s flawless. He has great big blue eyes and smooth white hair. He doesn’t like to see his sisters cry, and it makes him angry if you tell him it’s time to be done with Mario Kart. He is taller than his 8-year-old sister, and thinks the word ‘because’ qualifies as a complete sentence. Walking into the pond fully dressed and using a napkin as a superhero cape are totally logical ideas in his world. He says things like ‘I really AM handsome, mommy!’ and ‘My sisters are my best friends!’ all the time. In other words, he is above average but on the whole, a genuine little boy like so many others.

At night, after I have read him his ‘bednight’ story and tucked him in, I watch him sleep. I touch that hair and hold those little boy hands. I cry with joy for the blessing he is, and realize that all of his normalcy, all of his standard-little-boy things make him all the more miraculous. Happy birthday, my little man. Mommy loves you.

On the Line

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - Apparently in football they have this thing called the ’50 yard line’. It seems to be an important marker for aficionados – they want their team to cross said line with great regularity, they want the opposing team NOT to cross, they want to make sure their seats are as close to it as one can possibly come, that kind of thing. As a hockey girl, I was only vaguely familiar with said line. Until the day that I put my foot on it at the Indianapolis Colts game (the Sunday, October 4th game). Then I got the whole picture; I was standing in the middle of the field when the soldiers brought in the flags, the national anthem was being sung and the Blue Angels flew over the open stadium. All this before the team even came in! When the Colts ran in, the crowd erupted and a few of the guys came over to us and gave hi-fives and hugs. Some were wearing pink tape and others pink shoes (no one had mentioned how fun the footwear was at these events, I might have attended earlier had I known!). Why on earth was I there, how on earth did this come to pass? The Indianapolis Colts decided to honor breast cancer survivors and one fabulous surgeon from the IU Simon Cancer Center (my own wonderful Dr. Bob Goulet) and I was selected to be one of the survivors on the field. Thank you, Colts, for making such a day for so many important women. And their friends. And their families. We all go through it together. GO TEAM!!!