Breast Cancer ~ Cannabis Oil~ Chemotherapy

Hello, hello!!

It appears that I haven't touched this page since 2016. Crazy enough, this little blog of mine has been viewed over 300,000 times. I honestly hope it has helped someone somewhere. It helped me just putting my "journey" into words. I really don't like referring to cancer as a "journey," but it is.
Thanks for coming here, thanks for praying.

Here's an update.
I was diagnosed when I was 31.. Thanks to God,  I'm still here at 40.
Still married to my wonderful husband and have 3 kids in middle school.

Believe it or not, for YEARS I have received 5+ emails or calls per week asking what my protocol was when I got the REALLY scary PET scan showing metastatic cancer and up to my clean scan soon after.

I can only tell you what I did and what I experienced. I've been called a 'miracle' and a 'unicorn' from friends, strangers, and doctors. I'm still amazed and show my before-and-after scans often.

I'm trying to spread hope and positivity. Unfortunately, what worked for me at that time- isn't a cure-all. I have no idea if it will work for you or your loved ones. All cancers and people are different. I don't want to create false hope of your cancer being healed....just hope.

These scans were 6 weeks apart.

After my metastatic diagnosis, I was blessed to have friends who read and shared with me about Rick Simpson's oil and story. https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/what-is-rick-simpson-oil

Just by googling: Rick Simpson or RSO, you can learn about how and why this was tried in the first place. I learned everything I know from googling reliable sources. 

A week later, a generous man offered to pay for this alternative treatment that may or may not work. Thanks to him, we could quickly start our plan.

Rick Simpson's plan of action is to consume 60 mg of THC in 90 days.

With a team of caregivers, we decided to try to double dose and be done in 45 days instead. 

It worked, but I slept about 22 hours a day. I was hospitalized a few times, I was told. I remember doing the oils and chemo in the beginning- but nothing of the last 3/4 of my days.

All I did was sleep. Your body heals with sleep.

I'm convinced that my faith in God (the ultimate healer), wicked smart doctors, chemo and RSO killed these little beasts. I took every avenue to help my body fight and heal.

Cannabis Oil is legally available to those who qualify. If you're not sure about your state, google is your friend. I live in the great state of Minnesota, I'm unsure of what's legal elsewhere. If you live here and are interested in THC oil, start here: https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/cannabis/patients/registration.html

I want to also say that while I was on a smaller dose of THC, I did have my cancer recur, this time to my brain. I also was diagnosed with LPD. Leptomeningeal is cancer spread to your spinal column. It doesn't have a cure and currently, patients have a 2-4 month lifespan if treated.

Shockingly, subsequent scans showed my LPD was gone. What the heck, right?

To end this ridiculously long post, Thank you for your positivity, ideas, recommendations, prayers, and love. As we've always said, we couldn't keep doing this without all of your prayers and help. 

Current medical status: no active cancer other than in my brain. The whole-brain radiations and cyberknife sessions have worked well. 

I had 2 tiny lesions that we blasted a couple months ago. An MRI next month will see if they're gone and if new tumors have activated. Prayers, please :)

Much love.

It's My Cancerversary

Today, one year ago, my life changed forever. I was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer and was sure that I was dying.

Since then, I have received my miracle from the Lord and am now completely cancer-free. I was blessed with an amazing medical team who pulled out all of the stops and provided me with the best care possible. My friends, both near and far, are the greatest I could ever ask for and my family has supported and loved me more than I deserved.

I don't think about breast cancer every day anymore. I don't panic that the aches I do have are a recurrence waiting to happen. I live my life and I thank God every single day that I wake up; it's how I should have been living all along.

I'm almost at the end of my cancer journey. I will have my final Herceptin infusion on August 20th and my last Breast Reconstruction surgery on August 30th. I am looking forward to less appointments and finally getting my chemo port removed.

Here are some pics of us since I've last posted. This is at one of my July infusions, in serious need of a haircut.

I was texted this picture from the Relay for Life in Watertown, SD. My brother and his family walked for me. It's so weird to see your name on a bag. It's just one of those crazy times that you think, Wow, my name is on a fucking cancer bag...this sucks. A second later, you realize that you're damn happy that the bag says "in honor of" instead of "in memory of."

This was probably the highlight of my summer. Eric and I chose to be baptized along with 900 other people from our church in Lake Johanna. It was amazing and we came out of the water completely different people.

These are my new magic glasses. My job allows me to work from home and requires a lot of time on the phone and computer. I bought these glasses so my kids would be able to tell when mom was just surfing the web or actually working. I tell them that when Mom's magic glasses are on, my ears don't hear anyone who is not on the phone. So far, it has been working. :)

This is my lovely family.

My new ring. Eric and the kids gave me a Cancerversary ring. It's pink and sparkly and I love it!

Life has been great. Summer is coming to an end and Karsyn starts school Monday. I have been richly blessed. I think I should eat cake.