For the first time I can remember, I don't have much to say. That's because I have been off chemotherapy for six weeks, and I feel great! I am taking Tamoxifen, the first estrogen blocker I was prescribed in 2001, but had discontinued due to terrible night sweats.
The deal is, I haven't used up my dance card with this drug, so I will have a scan in early September to determine how well it's working. I pray to God it will work. I don't know how much longer I can continue with chemotherapy.
Ninety percent of cancer patients undergo chemotherapy once, at the time of diagnosis, and then they are done. With metastatic cancer, you are never done, chemotherapy is a life-long sentence. It is the way we control tumor growth - - a system of management.
This is why I work so hard through the Foundation to raise money for cancer research. We must find new drugs that are non-toxic to control cancer. One in every two men, and one in every three women are diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. As baby boomers move into their 50's and 60's, cancer becomes more prevalent. Research will keep us alive and turn cancer into a disease one can live with, rather than die from.
On this short hiatus from chemotherapy, I am traveling to Italy with my son's New York University basketball team. They will play four games in four cities over a ten-day period. I am incredibly excited about the trip! I am equally determined not to relive the nightmare I experienced in London. (Did that really happen? Crazy!)
My friends, please wish me bon voyage, and thank you again for your well wishes and prayers. I am forever grateful.
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