Dusting off the blog...

The last time I blogged was my race recap for Eagleman. Re-reading that rekindles my excitement to race again! And no better time since TODAY is 6 months until CHALLENGE AC!! Booyah!

Mom: Just a recap: 4 kids - all busy. Oldest daughter,14, is on the swim team this year and loving it! It is very time intensive - they don't leave the HS until 6 at night and get home at 9:30ish. She is learning a lot about time management - which is good for her.  Daughter #2, 12, finished up field hockey with the middle school and is not concentrating on band and jazz band. Playing alto, tenor, and bari sax for the various bands. Son, 10, just turned his double digits 2 weeks ago. He is a webelo in cub scouts and has his swim class. I am trying to convince him to make the leap to swim team at the Y. He also takes a gymnastics class that he enjoys.  Daughter #3, 5, has her girl scouts and takes gymnastics and swim class. 

 Vet: I am on vacation until 1/2. Yeah! That doesn't mean the calls, emails and texts have stopped. But they have lessened.

Survivor: I have appointments coming up next month - ultrasound and doctor appointment in January. All stable for now. Considering asking for a PET scan to see if it detects anything new/different.

Triathlete: 2013 was a great year for me race wise!

RACES 2013
May 5 - NJ Half Marathon Relay
May 12 - Manassas Ladies Sprint Tri  - 2nd in AG!!
June 9 - Eagleman Half Ironman
July - Jersey Girl Tri Relay (Bike) 2nd place!
September 8 - Sandy Hook Sprint Tri
October 27 - Marine Corps Marathon

It was a year of firsts! My first HIM and my first MARATHON! Both had PR's !! Haha! I can only get better from here!

I have joined a group of triathletes swimming with a coach at 5 am twice a week. I think it will be very good for me - I have never swam the distances that she has us swimming. I am the second slowest right now, so I can only get faster. Trying to decide if I should consider a TI class or go for some private lessons. I watch videos and try to replicate what I do but I am not seeing improvement.

I am excited for 2014!

Races so far...
June 8 - Escape the Cape Sprint
June 29 - Challenge AC - guaranteed PR!!!

Considering -
Shamrock Half Marathon - March 16
Wineglass Marathon - October
Iron Girl Sandy Hook - September

There are so many races out there to try (or tri!)! I will have to do this a lot of years to try them all!

I am a guinea pig.

I spoke with Dr. F. The first thing that she said is, I bet Dr. Jerk didn't explain things very well...he is a surgeon after all! Haha! Yup...surgeons have big heads!

So, apparently she made a powerpoint presentation for that big meeting with the Big guy, Dr. Tuttle from Memorial Sloan Kettering. Wow....I guess I should be honored?? A powerpoint presentation all about me and my cancer...maybe I'll be made into a movie??

At the meeting, he concurred with no surgery at this time. As long as my Thyroglobulin antibodies are coming down, that is as good a sign as any right now. Dr. F could not give me any solid answers with research backing her about the fact that I can have thyroid papillary cancer in my neck for years without doing anything...that is what I want. She said that she would email Dr. Tuttle and see if he could give me any papers with statistics, but that it was unlikely he would respond. Nice.

Then she threw out the term 'Insignificant Microscopic Metastasis'. Wow - is that an oxymoron or what. How can metastasis of cancer EVER be considered insignificant. In my scientific mind, it just can't. I have been mulling that term over for 2 weeks now, and can not fathom it. I guess I am going to have to get used to it. I do understand that Papillary Thyroid Cancer is slow growing....that is awesome (remember, it's the 'good' cancer to get!) but how long do I live with it? How do we know it will not metastasize (significantly) to elsewhere. Again, where is my research based evidence....lacking.

I guess I am ultimately a guinea pig in this....5-10 years ago they would have removed this 'insignificant microscopic metastasis'. Now I sit and live with it in me.

The plan: Ultrasound again in 3 months - I will do this in January. Then I will do another nuclear scan in February (another iodine free diet for 2 weeks - woohoo!) And of course blood work to watch the antibodies and hope they continue to come down.

And of course the ultimate plan: Stay healthy, Eat clean, and Train! I have a race in 7 months, 2 days and 15 hours - but who's counting!!

The glass is half full!

This video is one of the best triathlon videos I have seen and one of the few about cancer survivors! I love the Danskin series because they always have a cancer survivor wave at their races - and I always participate. I really think I am going to do this triathlon next year - the Rev3 Half Full Triathlon, because you always have to see the glass as half full!
What a great video! Watch it and let me know what you think! Just copy and paste this link - I can not, for the life of me, get this linked in!

http://vimeo.com/50963563