Friday, September 3, 2010

Happy New Year To Me



Dear God, thank you for this birthday. Another year of life is a wonderful present and this new year is full of possibilities. You've removed the shackles of my illness, and I can now choose to order my next steps in so many ways. I can go there. Or there. I can do this,that. Something new. Something better. Something rewarding. Something helpful. Something HUGE. Something great. Thank you for this day - for this new hunger and appreciation. Thank you for my health. For my recovery. Thank you for staying with me. Thank you for my angels. Thank you for hearing prayers. I feel like this day is more significant than I know, a new chapter for me. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store now that I'm even more aware of your loving-kindness and mercy.  My new year celebration has come early. No need to wait until Jan. 1. Happy New Year!! My faith leaves me to only expect the best. As always, I'm also asking you to continue to protect my friends and family forever and never stop speaking to my heart. (I will work on listening.)

Love,
Maya

Friday, August 13, 2010

Good News All Around

'Lion King' actress Shannon Tavarez to get transplant of umbilical-cord blood for leukemia treatment


BY Lore Croghan

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, August 13th 2010, 4:00 AM


Shannon Tavarez, an 11-year-old soprano from Bellerose who played Young Nala in the hit Broadway musical, will get a transplant of umbilical-cord blood. It has been used for several years as an alternative to bone marrow for treating leukemia.


"I'm just praying everything works," said mom Odiney Brown. Brown and Shannon's doctors opted for the treatment when a bone-marrow donor couldn't be found for Shannon, who is African-American and Hispanic, two groups that are under-represented in marrow donor registries.


Shannon is undergoing intensive chemotherapy at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, L.I., to prep for her transplant on Tuesday.


"She's in good spirits. She's singing and playing the piano," her mom said. "She can't wait. She calls this her 'new birthday.'"


The National Cord Blood Program at New York Blood Center found a workable, though not perfect, match for Shannon. Brown said the donor is anonymous.


Meanwhile, bone marrow drives that donor center DKMS Americas has been holding for Shannon will continue Sunday at rapper 50 Cent's community garden in Queens. Fitty registered as a donor and made a video in Shannon's honor.


Read more: https://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/13/2010-08-13_lion_king_cub_to_get_lifesaving_transplant.html#ixzz0wVWU1I2B

Thursday, August 12, 2010

So Happy

All I can do is say thank you. I received wonderful news from the doctor today. After two stem cell transplants and 3 or more cycles of chemotherapy, most of my cancer has been wiped out. The official term is "near" complete remission and for my illness, it marks a serious victory. I'm just in awe. I just feel so thankful and blessed - so much more than I can describe here. I don't have the words, so I'll keep this short and sweet. Thank you for all of your prayers. Thank you for all of your support. Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. I'll keep writing, but I want to make sure I take time out to say thank you. Faith is a powerful thing and a lot of you helped me keep it. God is the ultimate healer and a lot of you helped me stay focused on Him. All I can say is thank you and God is so good.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Back Home

Haven't written in a while. But I'm happy to be home. Feeling better each week. Thanks for all of the prayers and support!

Monday, June 21, 2010

So Much More Than Chemo



I have to be honest. I didn't plan to write about God on this blog. That's not what this was supposed to be about. So who would have thought, six months later, my plot to beat this thing would be such a spiritual journey? A reconnection with faith. A family reunion. A new understanding. A new confidence. A new strength. Who would have thought people who were once strangers days ago would pause their busy lives to stop and unite and pray for me? Who would have thought I'd gain such a burning desire to become a resource, someone who uses her first-hand knowledge with cancer to help comfort and help support other cancer-fighters? (Speaking of that - please keep another cancer fighter, Emma J., in your prayers as well.) Who would have thought I would have first-hand experience with an illness that always seemed so dark and mysterious and sad to me? Who would have thought that dozens of people would call to meditate on the Lord's word through a prayer call set up by a friend I met as a care-free freshman in college? Who would have thought her family would prop me up so wonderfully, claiming victory and offering kindness and support? Who would have thought that my husband would be so unbelievably tall to me - that my head would fit on his shoulders so perfectly? Who would have foreseen a son - a walking, talking, smiling piece of our heart designed to remind us of God's awesome powers and to remind us to fight to no end. Who would have planned for me to be surrounded by Dads when my biggest secret is that I don't know my father? Who would have given me a mother who smothers me with love? Only someone who never wanted me to doubt that I'm special. Who would have kept me healthy for 30 years? Only someone who saw my battle coming and wanted me to be prepared. I just shake my head. It was all part of a master plan. I can't tell you all the ways it's clear to me this victory has already been written. I'd be here all night and I haven't even yet detected it all. All i know is Jeremiah 29:11 is the theme song.  Lord, you made me healthy so that I'd be ready to fight. You gave me family every way you could - through church, through marriage, through friendships - to remind me that I'm not alone and to enhance my strength and to guide me. You gave me a son when I wondered if I could have one. You gave me a Dad when I needed one. You gave me my soul-mate early in life so that our marriage would be well past the appetizer stage and strong enough to handle the entree you had in store for us. There are no voids for me. You gave me people who knew you. Who would have known that it might come in handy for my father in-law, as part of his career, to have first-hand experience with oncology? Who would have thought I would have a pastor that provides such a deep testimony for me? Who would have thought I'd have such a strong mother-in-law who has overcome her own battle - through faith? I like to be in control, but I didn't control this. I like to write, but I couldn't have written this plot. This was written well before I knew it. I'm passively reading and learning. And I'm in awe. I hope I can do it justice when i tell it over and over again. 


I'll try to write from the hospital. I won't be feeling good. So I might not be so upbeat. But I do know I will get better and my plot to beat this thing will continue. It's just not really my plot.  It's my story, my life, my spiritual journey. But God is completely in control. Who else could have authored this? Who else has the literary technique to add in such foreshadowing and irony and symbolism to my life's story? I never set out to pray publicly on a blog. I never set out to search for scriptures as part of my cancer fight. I thought I'd be writing mostly about chemo and side-effects and hair loss. That's part of my story too. But that's not what's on my heart. There's so much more than I knew to this plot. 

Friday, June 18, 2010

A Prayer

Dear God,
I can't sleep. I'm not sure why I went for that afternoon frappuccino. Maybe you wanted me to talk to you this morning. Let me use this perfect pitch-black, morning quiet time to be still and meditate on you. It would be a crime not to start by thanking you for all of the blessings you've bestowed upon me. And it would be even more criminal not to boast about them and share my blessings with whoever will listen - or read. My blessings have been hand-delivered. I know that's true because your fingerprints are all over my life. Your all-power hands are holding me and carrying me. That's the only way I could be feeling the way that I do. I feel better than I have in months. I'm nowhere near 100%. But I'm better. So much better. And I thank you for that. I also thank you for who you are. I thank you for sitting - for actually dwelling - in my heart so that I never have to wonder if you're real or if you're there. You speak to me through other people, constantly showing me goodness and kindness. Knowing you is pure joy - the ultimate gift. I feel you and I hear you and I know you're guiding me. Thanks for allowing me to persevere even in the midst of sadness. Thank you for allowing me to overflow with hope even when ostensibly, there was no way forward. You are my light. Such a beautiful light. I'm humbled by your grace and your mercy and your love. Lord Jesus, my savior, I also come to you to ask you for a complete healing. I know you already know what's on my heart. But by praying to you and praising you and acknowledging that you're the only one that can help me, I know I'm only strengthening my relationship with you through faith. Lord, I am honored to be your daughter. Father's Day is only days away and I'm blessed to know you as the ultimate Father. I'm blessed to be able to see your likeness in the men in my life - the perfect mix of strength and gentle.They constantly strive to be more like you. Still, you're the only father that can help me. I trust you will provide my every need. I know you're the ultimate miracle-maker and healer. I'm asking that you rid me of this awful thing that has hurt me and my family and so many people that I love. I'm asking you to heal me, completely. I'm asking you to hold me close as I go in for chemo - a dose of life-saving poison - later today. I'm asking you to stay with me in the hospital next week to comfort me and to protect me. It's so hard sometimes, Lord. I'm being poisoned in order to live. I'm being stripped so that I can rebound. But I know you are there. And as it says in Proverbs 3:8, I know you will be "health to my navel and marrow to my bones"  - the two things I want most in the world. Please don't allow me to be a source of sadness or pity but a reflection of your grace and mercy. Please help me be a source of inspiration and light and most of all, love. Please teach me how to pray. Please teach me how to praise you. Please help me to give back and to serve. Please continue to rain blessings on my family and the entire network of angels supporting me and helping to lift me up. Please strengthen me so that I can one day thank them and return the love. Please continue to guide me so that I represent you in all that I do. Please continue to be a shield over my family. Please continue to move us toward much happier, sunnier days - away from the dark days of  December when my diagnosis seemed to spell doom. Thank you for enlightening me. Continue to speak to my heart and soul. I'm elated because I see your everyday miracles more clearly now. I love you with all of my heart. Lord I adore you - more now that ever before. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.


Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not
wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to your navel
and marrow to your bones. Just what a bone marrow cancer patient needs.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

June 5, 2010

I'm so grateful. I'm writing to give you an update on what I've been up to recently. The best way to start - really, the only way to start -  is by letting you know how grateful and blessed I am. The past couple of weeks have reminded me of just how important it is to have family and friends. June 5, 2010, in particular, was the best day I've had in a long time. My sister got married in Atlanta. And I was there with family and friends even though just three months ago, I wouldn't have imagined being able to go. That same day, a special group of friends camped out in Maryland to support me in my battle and to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  It was a special day in so many ways. This weekend wasn't so bad either. My husband and I took my son to a nearby beach and a neighbor's ice cream party and then today, we joined a church in the community. Soon, I'll be back in the hospital for a second transplant. But I can't believe how many wonderful experiences God has filled me up with before I go in. I'll be in a hospital bed, but I'll be able to replay fresh images of a wedding, the Chesapeake Bay and our new church home. I'm so thankful. It's not good to have cancer. But at least there's good coming out of it. I am just more thankful of things I used to take for granted. I don't think I could have ever felt this thankful before.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Drugs!

Interesting Wall Street Journal article today on Revlimid, a drug I'll likely start taking at some point later this year. (Info on Revlimid is near the bottom.)

Two Drugs Can Make Cancers Less Fatal


By JENNIFER CORBETT DOOREN And RON WINSLOW
New uses for two established cancer drugs significantly increased the time patients survived without their disease progressing, in studies that provide fresh evidence of how cancer is often becoming a chronic disease.
Researchers said Rituxan, co-marketed in the U.S. by Roche Holding AG's Genentech unit and Biogen Idec Inc., cut the risk of cancer returning in certain lymphoma patients by half when used as a maintenance treatment for two years. In the other report, Celgene Inc.'s Revlimid doubled the number of myeloma patients whose disease remained in remission three years after treatment began, compared with those on placebo.

In many cancers, drugs are stopped after a set round of treatments. In both of these cases, patients were given the drugs for prolonged periods after their disease was initially treated with other regimens. Both studies were stopped ahead of schedule because of the strength of the benefit found during scheduled interim checks of the data.

The Rituxan study involved 1,018 patients who had been diagnosed with stage III or IV follicular lymphoma—a common type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma—and whose disease was no longer detected after a combination treatment of chemotherapy and Rituxan.
About half of the patients were assigned to continue treatment every other month with Rituxan for two years, while the other half didn't receive the treatment.

The study, led by Gilles Salles, a professor of medicine at the University of Lyon in France, showed that after a median follow-up of 25 months, disease progression occurred in 18% of the Rituxan group, compared with 34% of the control group, which translates into a 50% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence. The findings were released in advance of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in June.
"This study suggests lymphoma, like many human cancers, is a chronic disease and increasingly is likely to require chronic therapy to maintain remission," said George Sledge, ASCO's president-elect and an oncologist at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Patients receiving Rituxan had a higher rate of infections at 37%, compared with 22% in the group of patients who didn't receive Rituxan as maintenance therapy.

Rituxan is currently approved as a treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis. The product had more than $5 billion in global sales last year, with about half of the sales coming from the U.S. In March, Roche and Biogen Idec filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking expanded approval of Rituxan as reflected in the study's findings. A spokeswoman for Roche said the wholesale cost of two years of Rituxan treatment is about $47,000.

In the Revlimid study, 614 patients under age 65 who underwent a transplant of their own stem cells to initially treat myeloma were given either a placebo or 25 milligrams of the drug for 21 days in each of the next two months, followed by a lower daily dose of Revlimid.

Michel Attal, a professor of hematology at Purpan Hospital in Toulouse, France, who was a leader of the study, reported that three years after patients were randomized, 68% of those taking Revlimid remained in remission, compared with 35% on placebo.

Overall survival after two years was similar among both groups—88% on the drug versus 80% on placebo. Dr. Attal said he expected a longer follow-up to show that the drug prolonged survival as well. Revlimid, which is approved for multiple myeloma patients in combination with the steroid dexamethasone, and for a rare condition called myelodysplastic syndromes, had revenue of $1.7 billion in 2009.
Dr. Attal serves as a consultant to Celgene; in the Rituxan trial, Dr. Salles reported serving as a consultant to Roche.
Write to Jennifer Corbett Dooren at jennifer.corbett-dooren@dowjones.com and Ron Winslow at ron.winslow@wsj.com

A Plea For Bone Marrow Donors

Friday, May 14, 2010

Praying For Devan

Here's another reason to sign up for the bone marrow registry: a beautiful four-year-old boy in need of a donor. I don't know him, but I received an email about him and his need for a donor. This hurts my heart but I will keep him in my prayers. http://www.matchdevan.com/ If you know someone who could help, please forward the info.