Shawn's F.A.C.T.s

1 1/2 Year Update, FD2 Surf, Light the Night Walk

Hi Everyone! So I haven’t written in a while but I have a couple of things to let you know..

1. I’m good. Everything’s good. I’ve hit my year and a half mark of being cancer free and all is good. I will soon get (what I’m hoping to be) my last surgery ever to get my portacath taken out. I’ll let you know how that goes..

2. Last year I had one of the most fun, best weeks of my life while kayaking and whitewater rafting with the non-profit organization, First Descents, who hosts empowering camps for young adult cancer survivors and fighters with outdoor adventures. Last year kayaking. This coming week, surfing. 

3. I wanted to share some news with all of you. I will be participating in the Light the Night Walk on October 27, 2012 at the Woodland Hills – Warner Center Park to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The funds raised at this event are used in supporting desperately needed research to help find a cure for this terrible blood-related cancer, especially since this disease hits close not only in our family, but many people in the United States.

Recently, Ray, a friend from high school who helped me thru my own fight with cancer passed away and lost his own battle Leukemia. He will be in my heart and thoughts as I walk. 

My uncle, who was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in May, 2000 has been in remission for over 10 years, until just recently when he discovered the cancer has come back. He is currently fighting his battle, and we are praying for his recovery. 

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Climbing for Cancer

Remember how I went kayaking and jumped off a 30ft bridge? Well now I am Climbing for Cancer!

Come out and climb and donate too! 70,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer each year, so it’s a nation-wide goal to climb 70,000 vertical feet at gyms across the US!

Check out firstdescents.org/climbing-for-cancer for details or to make a donation to First Descents and my Climbing for Cancer challenge. Thank you! Saturday, April 28, 10-2pm @Rockreation Climbing Gym

THE BIG 24 TODAY!!!

I can see why birthdays are meant to be lived up and why they’re meant to be celebrated in a big way. And I can also see that sometimes people may take birthdays for granted, I mean you have one every year. But considering the year that I’ve had and what has happened in my life I’d say birthdays are a big deal.

Life’s reminder to live it up. Life’s reminder that you’re still alive! 

Here’s to living it up for another year and many more birthdays to come!

1 YEAR!

I’ll keep it short and sweet today.

March 11, 2011. One year ago I finished my last chemo session. One year ago on this day I was officially considered to be in remission.

Fast forward 1 year to today, March 11, 2012. I am still in remission. I am healthy, living and enjoying life. Need I say more? I don’t think so.

1 YEAR CANCER FREE!

Grateful. Blessed. Live life. 

1 Month to Go…

1 more month! 1 more month until it will be 1 year since my last chemo session and that I will have been in remission! To celebrate I am going to go skydiving. That’s right. SKYDIVING. I gotta go big. 1 year plus my birthday month, how can I not? So whoever is down to go with me, whether that’s actually jumping with me or staying on the ground- let me know.

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11 Months Since Remission

Hey everyone, I know this is a little late and it’s been a while since I’ve updated but as in my experience with all of this, no news is good news.

I had my checkup with Dr. E this past Monday to get the results from my bloodwork and scans that I had done in January.

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SOMETIMES LIFE HAPPENS…

sometimes i just get really mad. annoyed. frustrated. stressed. disappointed. sometimes i just want to scream out at the world. sometimes i just want to question why things happen.  why bad things happen to good people. why things happen at specific moments in time. whats the reason or purpose? why when things go bad they continue to get worse. sometimes i wonder about the what ifs. sometimes i wish things would be different. 

(sigh)

(deep breathe)

sometimes life happens and there’s nothing we can do about it…

1 Year Since Being Diagnosed with Cancer

1 year ago my life changed. My world was turned upside down. I was blindsided by something I never even imagined could happen to me. 1 year ago, today, I was diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer. 1 year. It has only been 1 year, but it seems like forever ago.

Just to kind of get a sense of where I was just a year ago and where I am today, I went back thru this blog and re-read my posts and watched parts of my videos…

As I read thru my old posts, it just feels surreal. It’s crazy to think that all this stuff happened to me. All these rush of emotions in such a short period of time. It’s just crazy. I mean I read it and it’s almost as if it’s not me. Like I was reading someone else’s story.

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THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE

So today is Thanksgiving, and this year more so than ever I am truly grateful for many things in my life.

1.)    My life. I don’t think I have to explain this. After everything I’ve gone thru this year and almost having my life taken from me I am truly grateful to still be alive. To still be here on earth living and breathing. To still have a chance to live out my dreams and fulfill my goals. To not die young. To still be with my loved ones. I’m thankful for this.  

2.)    My health. I don’t think I have to explain this one either. I am now 8 months in remission. I’m thankful for my body pulling thru and fighting, although it’s kind of ironic that my body was the one that turned on me to begin with. I am once again healthy and able to function at a normal state and at my own will. A lot of us don’t really think about our health that often as something we give thanks for but when you have that threatened you definitely do. When you don’t have the energy or will to walk or talk, when you can’t breathe, when you‘re in pain, when you can’t control your body, when you can’t eat or when you do and can’t hold anything down, and when all you do is think about whether you’re body is going to fight or crumble, whether you’re going to live or die that’s when you become grateful for your health.

3.)    My family and friends. I would not be where I am today without them. If I didn’t have them by my side I don’t know how or where I’d be. They are my backbone, my strength, and will. They brought me thru it.

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6 Month Mark

October 27, 2011 - 6 months since Chemo

Hey everyone! I know it’s been a while but I finally have something to write about again. I am now 6 months in remission! Crazy to think that it’s already been 6 months since I was in chemo last. It seems so long ago yet not so long ago.

I had my PET/CT scan 2 weeks ago, my port flushed/blood drawn last week, and my 3 month check in with my doc today. Everything is good. My scan came back clean and my AFP blood marker was a 2. something which is great. To be honest I’m super relieved right now. Why? Because for minute there I really thought that my results weren’t going to be as good. I was thinking that maybe my blood levels were going to go up a little. I really thought that something was going on with my body. Maybe it’s just my head playing with me again but I really wasn’t sure what to expect. At least for now I can know that everything’s good and keep doing what I’m doing.

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CHECK IT OUT…SPREAD HOPE

Hey everyone I thought it was pretty cool and I just wanted to share with all of you. I was featured in the LA, Daily News, Daily Breeze, Press Telegram, and some other newspapers. Featured for this blog! 

Now although it is pretty cool that I’m in the newspaper, it sucks that it has to be for something that is unfortunate as cancer. 

Hopefully articles like these and blogs like mine will help raise awareness, spread hope, and make a difference in finding the cure for cancer. 

Here’s the link Blogging Ovarian Cancer and transcript below. (Oh ya, they spelled my name wrong, but that’s ok)

Blogging ovarian cancer: Three women affected by the disease go online to spread the word about the silent killer  

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3 Months Results Update

Hey everyone so here’s the update on my 3months results. My bloodwork for the last 2 months have been the lowest they’ve ever been at 3.0 and 3.1, which is good news. This past month though my AFP level is 6.2 which is the max it can be for it to be a normal result. But with that said, me PET CT scan results came back clear and good. So although my last AFP was a little bit higher and on the edge my other AFP levels were really low and the PET scan was clear. So I guess it’s all good still. My doc thinks so anyways. 

Because now the schedule for me is to get my AFP levels checked every 3 months, PET CT scan still every 3 months, and follow ups with my doc still ever 3 months. But I still have my portacath still in so I still have to get it flushed every 6-8 weeks. 

It’s all good though, things are looking up, I’m feeling good and strong, and I’m loving life right now. Happy and Livin it up! 

June 17, 2011 – 6 Months

6 months. It was 6 months ago when I was told I have cancer. And it’s been 3 months since I’ve gotten done with chemo treatments. When I think about it, it really doesn’t seem all that long ago. It’s almost as if I just got done with treatment a couple weeks ago. Crazy.  In a week or so I will get my first scans since pre-chemo and see if I’m still clear. It will be a moment where I hold my breath and see if my live changes again or if I will continue on this path of recovery.

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