SPINAL TAP!

The other day I had a spinal tap.  Pretty bad ass I know! As you know my life tends to be pretty scary. I don't need to bungee jump or sky dive ( though sky diving at this point sounds pretty fun and a tattoo.)  Life is my challenge. It amazes what is going on in my body, yet, I can still manage to walk and live.
Anyhow,  Wednesday I am taking one more step into cyborgdom and getting a ommaya. Here is how they put it in if you are interested: How to become more of a robot
Why am I mentioning ommaya? In the spinal tap they found cancer cells.  These have metastasized from my lung cancer. I will be receiving chemo in this port twice a week. They will be testing each time for cancer cell.  Crazy news the week of your birthday, right?
So, now I'm just wondering when I will turn into "Small Wonder."

Her dress, ROCKS! I mean I could totally pull that off at my age right?? I mean I should have a license to wear what I wanna. I have earned the right! Then, once I beat this, you can ask me what I'm doing and I will reply, " I'm going to Disneyland....and Sea World!!"
I'll be going home to rest. Spinal Taps make your bones achy and tired.  I'm bummed I can't be in Nashville but believe you me I'm always there in spirit. Besides I don't think I would be much fun.

When is my vacation from Cancer?

As you can probably tell, no trip to California, yet. My last blog was in September. In October, I was back at the Neurologist. My favorite place to be called into after a PET scan.  They found a spot on my lower spine. At first they sent me in for radiation. I had been been marked to start treatment. I was called the next day. The day radiation was supposed to begin and they cancelled!  The tumor board had met AGAIN and decided that this lesion (what they thought was what they call a "drop lesion") was not related to my lung cancer or the tumor on my pituitary gland.  This was something that would only get bigger and bigger. It had already caused me to lose my footing and fall.  Among other things...scary I tell you.
Anyhow, on October 12, I went into the surgery.  They removed the tumor on my spinal cord and behind was left a 6 inch scar. The good news is it was BENIGN!  Thank the Lord for that! I no longer have the side effects I did. I still haven't gained my strength back. However, I have definitely slowly started to gain my strength. All in due time.
It's hard to believe it's already November.
It looks like I may get to come to FINALLY visit. My parents asked what I wanted for my birthday. I said,"Visit my beloved Nashville,please?"  So, pending my usual issues i may be in the weekend AFTER my birthday, November 15. This is also when Lungevity is having their walk/5K run. I'm hoping my mobility scooter and I will be attending. 
NASHVILLE FRIENDS:
Lungevity is having another walk this year on November 17. If you are interested in walking, go to this link Lungevity. Please join my team Badger Believers, if you wanna!
It's 2 days AFTER my birthday day this year. It's during Lung Cancer awareness month.
I hope to see my Nashville friends while down there. I'm not a great planner and I would love to see you while I'm there so please drop me a line if you have any ideas of where we could meet up. You can think of it at your gift to me :)
Much Love!
K*

it's not easy being an anomaly.....

Well, first of all I would like to take a moment to remember the Great Muppeteer that passed of emphysema on August 23, 2012. You may remember him best as Count von Count on Sesame Street. He was also Gobo Fraggle, Amazing Mumford, and many more! Thank you Jerry Nelson, for teaching us all how to Count...ah ah ah!  Another soul taken by a horrible lung disease...BOO HISS!

Anyhow, in Kristi Badger news...well it's not the greatest. On the good side, my right lung and brain tumor are dormant. As of September 13, I have moved into maintenance Chemo for my lung issues. The tumor on my pituitary gland was taken care of with the gamma knife they did back in May...yea.

NASHVILLE FRIENDS:

Lungevity is having another walk this year on November 17. If you are interested in walking, go to this link Lungevity
It's 2 days AFTER my birthday day this year. Also it's during Lung Cancer awareness month.

 However, along the way I have developed a tumor in my lower back. It was found in my last PET scan. Then last week I had an MRI done. The tumor board is still trying to decide what kind of lesion it is. I almost started radiation this week when they called and cancelled. The board is trying to decide whether it's removable or whether it just needs radiation. Regardless of it all... very scary and frustrating. I'm trying not to think about and do all I can to rest in him...it's all I know how to do at this point.

I was hoping to take a vacation from cancer next month...and if those Ellen tickets pull through I WILL find a way. I WILL!!

Peace to you my Lovelies who keep me up in Prayer and Love!

K*

Exciting week, AHOY!!

I hope everyone is doing well! This week I am having quite a few tests done. In fact, I'm finally getting results that I have been waiting THREE months for.  That's right, we finally get to see what the Gamma Knife did inside my head. So, here is how the schedule goes:

Monday: PET Scan 

Thursday: MRI then appt with the Brain Doc to see what all the Gamma Knife treatment did

Friday: Bloodwork, Visit with Dr MO to see the results of the PET Scan and to see what kind of chemo I will be receiving on Friday...full blown or maintenance!

I'm exhausted just thinking about the upcoming week.

Since November (Lung Cancer Month) is quickly approaching, I thought I would share some facts from Lung Cancer Leaders

WOMEN AND LUNG CANCER

Lung cancer will take the lives of 71,000 women this year – more deaths than from 

breast, ovarian, and uterine cancers combined - yet cancer’s #1 killer of women remains 

greatly overlooked and misunderstood. Here are some of the essential facts about women 

and lung cancer:

*Lung cancer kills more women each year than breast, uterine and ovarian cancers 

combined.

*93% misidentified the leading cancer killer of women or have no idea what it is.

*Lung cancer will kill 71,000 women this year, nearly 80% more than will die 

from breast cancer

*Only 8% of women know lung cancer is the leading cancer killer of women (49% 

think breast cancer is)

*One in every 16 women will develop lung cancer in her lifetime

*Lung cancer diagnoses among women are up six fold over the last 30 years

*One in five women diagnosed with lung cancer never smoked

*Approximately 20,000-25,000 people who have never smoked are diagnosed with 

lung cancer in the U.S. each year; more than 60 percent are women

* As a separate disease category, lung cancer deaths in never-smokers ranks as the 

seventh deadliest cancer worldwide

*The overall 5 year survival rate for women with lung cancer lags far behind those 

of other women’s cancers (Lung cancer: 18.8%, Breast cancer: 90.1%, Ovarian 

cancer: 45.6%, Uterine cancer: 81.1%, Cervical cancer: 71.8%)

*Lung cancer receives $1,249 of federal funding per death, while breast cancer 

receives $27,480 per death, followed by $14,336 for prostate cancer and $6,590

for colon cancer

*Lung cancer surpassed breast cancer as the #1 cancer killer of women in 1987

References:

Cancer Facts and Figures 2011, American Cancer Society. 

http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-

029771.pdf Accessed October 2011.

Hyams and Johnson. Out of the Shadows: Woman and Lung Cancer. Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 

2010.

Out of the Shadows: Women and Lung Cancer, Lung Cancer Alliance. 

http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/shadows/Women_and_LC_2010.pdf Accessed September 2011.

The Desperate Need for Lung Cancer Funding. Uniting Against Lung Cancer.

http://www.unitingagainstlungcancer.org/research/need. Accessed October 2011.

GfK Roper Public Affairs national survey, conducted Oct 7-9, 2011. 

http://www.vshift.com/images/vshift/assets/File/LLCFW_Survey_Press_Release.pdf

Remember Cancer isn't always pink!

I will be sure to let you all know what I find out!  

Thanks for all your love and support! It makes my heart shine!

Love!

K*

Where did time go?

    I didn't realize I hadn't blogged since APRIL!  So, in case your wondering, yes, I am indeed still alive and kickin'.  I've had a few procedures and a couple of hospital stays since.  I've been out of the Hospital probably since May 7th.
    Along with being told, that the lung cancer had returned and having pneumonia. I entered the hospital having horrible headaches. And as you may or may not have seen in my last blog, this was because of a tumor on my pituitary gland in my brain.  It took awhile for them to get my medication correct.  I also wound up breaking my power port, so I had that replaced. Luckily, it had not shattered and dispersed through my body. I also had another bronchoscopy.  I had to be OUT of the hospital to have the Gamma Knife Radiation treatment (otherwise the insurance would not cover it.) That was a bit of an emotional procedure because they discovered in the MRI before hand the the tumor is way to close to where my optic nerves cross. They had to be very careful when going in to radiate the tumor.  The results of this procedure take up to 3 months to see take affect.  I'm also back to full chemo. My next treatment is 7/13.
    The brain tumor has left me wearing sunglasses ALOT.  My balance is also way off. 
     In happier news, I am now been blessed with some items I've been wanting to make my life a little easier.  Now, as soon as I'm well enough, I can travel the skies again. I have a portable oxygen concentrator! Since the cancer returning, I'm back on oxygen full time. I also got approved to have my insurance cover a power scooter! I am very blessed with an awesome nurse at my insurance who helps get things done. I should have my scooter this upcoming week.  My adult stroller can be a pain in the butt. Especially when you have to tell people where to go and you feel like you are yelling just so they can hear where you would like to go.  

I'm Blinding you with Science!!!

Here is my life:
March 2011 I was told it was my Allergies.  Then I was told I had one impressing case of pneumonia I Almost one year ago (April 29) I was told I had lung cancer.
So, here it is almost one year later,
*I have pneumonia.
*I have been to Urgent Care 2 or 3 times.
*I had migraine head aches.
*I had a PET scan on Friday, April 13. (bum, bum, bum)
* I was admitting to the hospital Monday,  April 16.
* I have had two MRIs, YUCK!!!!
* Come to find out I have malignant tumor that jumped up from my lung to surround my pituitary gland.                       This is why I had the migraines. The tumor is blocking my hormones from doing their job. So, for the time being I'm having replacement therapy.
* With this I also found out that the Lung cancer is back and is also in my lymph nodes.
* Did you  know that is it is very rare that lung cancer would go to your pituitary gland..
* I'm having a bronchoscopy-TOMORROW!  This will check out the extent of the lung cancer.
*Next week, I will have radiation for the first time on my pituitary gland. 
*Soon we we find out when I go back to chemotherapy.


It should be interesting to see what they find come tomorrow. Just when you think that insane thing called cancer will blow you mind once in your life...KA POW!!!  There it goes again.  


Yet, all I can think is that God loves me and I am in his hands.  I'm pretty sure my purpose in life is to teach doctors all about anomalies. 


Todays songs are: I had to use this one. I love some "The new Mickey Mouse Club" 

Much Love and Peace to you all!
 K*

I don't believe it-Big News!

So, last we left off I still had my baby room.  Here is what has happened since.  My head is still spinning from it all!
My parents, my bro-in-law, my nieces and I went to Hermitage, TN to begin to gather the contents of my house to put into storage.  We got to stop in Huntington to see the Beau-Po  duo.  They joined us on our journey to Hillbilly Hotdog . If you ever go, it's only worthwhile to go to LaSage. Trust me. I did my best to make it a great food tour too. We also stopped in Bowling Green, Kentucky at Culvers. This is a chain out of Wisconsin.   When we first arrived, we took care of getting my car up and running.  After my dad drove it coasting into Advance Auto parts.  Glad I had him to drive it there!  It turned out that it only needed a new battery! We then went to Walmart to get my oil changed.  That went swimmingly until those pesky tornado sirens started to blow.  My nieces didn't like that at all. I didn't like being in Wal-Mart anyways, let alone crushed into the area formerly known as lay-a-way.  The tornado blew over and we were on our merry way. We crashed in Mt Juliet. My nieces really enjoyed the indoor pool! We enjoyed some Red Robin (YUM) for dinner.  None of us had burgers though...weird.
Saturday, I was blessed with SOO many helpers. I also got to see some of my favorite neighbors.  There was a great deal of help from my church home The Anchor Fellowship. I also got to see 4 co-workers and friends from Kroll. It was amazing how much we got done.  However, for me it was quite overwhelming. I could only be in one place at a time.  I got a little sick of being "Kristi" that day.  It was quite a chorus :) It still weirds me out that I still don't know what is where. We then headed to my favorite Asian buffet, KOI. Buffalo Wild Wings was our dinner destination.
Even though we didn't have enough room for everything, I am glad that I will get to come back and get the rest of my belongings. I look forward to another trip to Nashville and getting to see more of my friends.  Sunday, my bro-in-law and nieces headed home.  My parents and I went to church. It always feels like home. I'm always glad to  see my Anchor family and can't wait to go back!
After church, we headed to Calypso. YUM! I  love that darn house salad dressing.  We then went to meet my "Fairy God Mother." She has been watching my dogs since May.  She was bringing my dog Ava for us to take home.  After a long hard decision, I decided it would be best for Misha to find a new home.  Our Fairy God Mother has agreed to take care of her for as long as needed, if not forever.  Misha  really loves it there. She even has her eye on a boy pup.  His name is Carlton and he is a biter.  Don't worry though he is on prozac!  She even has playdates scheduled! As much as it saddened me to make this decision, I know it is the right decision. As a person who has volunteered and fostered dogs I felt bad. However, I know Misha wouldn't be the dog she is without Ivory, Ava and I. I am so proud of her. I originally took her in because she was a mill rescue and would not leave her "house." She was such a mess and would have been very difficult to get adopted at that time. Now she is a REAL dog.
You are probably wondering where Ivory was.  She stayed with a close family friends.  They have two rat terriers, Rufus and Ella.  She was kinda a hussy while there. She slept with 3 different people.  She is a sweet girl!  
My Mom went to pick Ivory up while I was napping.  Ava was laying on my lap.  The reaction was the opposite of what I thought it would be. Ava growled at Ivory. Ivory said her hellos properly and then so did Ava.  Today, I even caught them laying in the recliner together!  Aw, my baby girls.
Now onto the medical news....
Wednesday, I went to the dr to get the results of my last procedure.  The doctor told me that everything inside looked fine. This was including my organs around my uterus.  He said there were fibroids but they looked normal. The washes inside also were normal.  However, my mom and I questioned the ones found in the walls on my ultrasound. He said the report could have been wrong.  He suggested that he could remove the fibroids. To which I kept questioning, why is it glowing on a PET scan.  I asked if he had talked to my Oncologist. He said he would. (I thought he would have before this appointment.)  The doctor seemed like he couldn't grasp the concept of why I would want it removed as he kept mentioning how young I was.  What if they found nothing. He didn't want to remove it in vain.
Well, my Mum and I left there flustered.  I called the Doctor's office after lunch and spoke to the nurse.  I told her I wanted to have the hysterectomy. I would like him to do it, if not I was going elsewhere.  She understood my reasoning and said she would call back. (May I mention that the Gynocologist Oncologists are limited here.  One I graduated high school with. How super awkward would THAT have been?) 
Today (Thursday) they returned my call. After speaking to my Oncologist, he has agreed to do the hysterectomy.  Friday I go in to sign the paperwork. Oh crap, I will probably have to do "the cleanse." again. Oh well, in case you are wondering my reasoning here is some of it:  
1.) It has to be glowing for a reason. Metabolically active is not good. Despite how much I kept telling      myself I have a "happy, shiny uterus."
2.) I would not want to pass this disease on to my hypothetical children.
3.) It's one less place for cancer to go, if it's not already there.
4.) No more periods. YEA!
5.) I would like to live longer so that I can have children...even if it is not the "old fashioned" way.
6.) This is a decision I am at peace with. I don't like having one additional thing to have to worry about.  Lung Cancer is enough.
7.) Did I mention no more periods? 
8.) There is no prayer of me EVER catching up with the Duggar Family.


I almost forgot. This week, I was supposed to go to Pittsburgh for an appointment and brochoscopy with my Lung Surgeon.  After all the craziness of the weekend, I decided to reschedule. 


So, may the hysteria begin. It's actually happening! More soon!


Much Love!
K*