B9 for Steph

The youngest in our chemo group got back her biopsy results today of benign! She had the biopsy last week because some slight clustering was seen in her check-up mammo. We're all so relieved! Thank God! =>

Herceptin and A Puzzle

I'm so confused right now. I know that it's been a busy month, but I didn't realize that I was so busy that I forgot about my Herceptin infusion until today. I went in thinking that my appointment was today when it really was last week. No one said anything about me missing an appointment. I even met up with my med onc Dr. Wolff, Shirl who took a picture today for the study, AND Liam who gave me the Herceptin infusion. No one asked why I missed last week. I didn't realize until I looked on my calendar just now that it was suppose to be then. I have a headache today, and this isn't helping!

Otherwise, the infusion went smoothly. I talked with Dr. Wolff about setting up an MRI for Oct. as well as a follow-up mammo since the last one showed some seemingly benign calcifications. He wasn't too sure if both were needed so he e-mailed my surgeon and radiologist to figure it out.

Work has really picked up, and I'm really enjoying being back in the lab full-time. Also, at the beginning of July, we had a baby shower for Linda, who looked absolutely wonderful. Baby JuHan (Korean name picked out by her father-in-law) was pretty active, and we enjoyed seeing the sonogram pics, especially of his smile! I haven't had a chance to upload the pictures, but I will.

The following week Sam and I went tubing down Antietam Creek with a few of my co-workers, and this past weekend, we were at Artscape, a free arts festival in Baltimore with films, music, and art on display and on sale. Lots more pics. This may well explain why I mistook the week for my treatment. Too many things going on. At least I feel good enough that everything is flying by fast and that I feel like I don't need treatment! Now I'll have to figure out when my next infusion will be since the schedule is off. Good grief! I thought I was going insane there for a minute.

Pictures from Thai Restaurant with Grant Review Group

Marc Mendonca in green was the panel chair. He moved the reviews along at a good pace and in a jovial manner. He had the difficult task of summarizing the reviews for each grant. Diane Bender (sleeveless pink) was my mentor as a consumer reviewer. It was fun to hang out with them after dinner, talking about natural disasters and their family origins.

Nina Burford(next to me) is a retired school teacher from Canada who was diganosed with breast cancer many, many years ago. I forgot when, but I'll always remember the story of her surgeon. She had the awful experience of going into surgery expecting a biopsy and came out with mastectomy. I had only heard of such things, but never met anyone who went through it. The surgeon didn't contact her until a week later and released her from the hospital earlier than expected. She made a complaint against the surgeon with the medical review board. She didn't want his license taken away, but wanted the board to review all his surgeries for a year. This was done, and in the end, the surgeon thanked her for allowing him to keep his license.

Carole in white was the other consumer reviewer and is a pediatric oncology nurse. Barbara DeVinney was the scientific review officer, who asked scientists to be on the panel and noted budget issues with the grants.

pics of me in the lab

I was helping out Beth's relative on her high school AP bio homework, and she wanted a pic of me so here it is. It's a good way to show you on my hair growth, too!