In All The B's

*Written somewhere over the midwest, as I flew home from NYC late last night.*

I never anticipated growing up. I mean, who does, or we would choose to wear sunscreen at age 4, and I've never seen a child apply SPF by choice. When you get this crazy diagnosis it's like living in an alternative universe; you're instantly catapulted into the raw threads of life. You're 29 and 99, all at once, wondering where your life went.

My favorite part of cancer is that there's people whom I've fallen in love with. They're kind, they're gracious, they're real, and explosively smart. They're honest, we quip, tease, and I can't believe that somehow my life collided with theirs. I know that I would have crossed paths with other people in my sliding doors life, and they would have been deep, and knowing, encompassing, challenging, hilarious, so I know you don't have to be a cancer patient, or caregiver, to be "enlightened" - yuck, I don't even like that word in the context. I'm swirled with people of all backgrounds, different histories, and the longer I live, the happier I am - if that's possible. Who would pick cancer? Not me. And I'm not convinced that I needed to get cancer to meet these souls. We could have met when we were in a shared taxi, at a resort, on a hiking trail, in a public bathroom. I mean, come on, you guys know me - a person is just a friend I haven't met yet.

I'm expected to do another brain surgery in Oct, and that was put off from May. I kinda want to point out what a bad girl I am, but it's not that simple. I needed proof to make sure that when they saw into my skull again, for the 4th time, it's necessary. I now know 7 different patients who had brain surgeries for recurrence, and it was in fact necrosis, inflammation, or slowly growing scar tissue. Crazy!! No spank you. (Granted, over the past several years, I've probably talked to hundreds of patients and caregivers - so it's not exactly common.)

I should have already gone under the knife, and I know from experience that I should be panicked; I could have already lost my crap. But you know what, we will die when we die. Ya, sure, duh, if you love those around you, you don't want to let go, and I don't know what has changed, why I'm chill, but who cares, all I know is that I will live my life not in fear. And more than ever, I'm not focusing on what I do not have. We are out of treatment money, yet I have never been more at peace. How weird! I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe I won't even look at any horses.

I'm literally flying home from NYC as I type, no treatment rendered. A risk from international treatment issues. My point is that I was listening to a couple (just a few) survivors complaining about the fact that we did not get our most recent treatment on time. Not all, but several, were pissed because they had vacations scheduled. Weeks off. Do they not see the projects we drive by on our way to the clinic? Every time I blow through South Jamaica, Queens, on my way to and from treatment, I think about all those apartments, those high rises. Statistically, there are people in the projects that I pass and I doubt they're getting any cancer care, in fact any medical care, and when I hear those complaints I'm floored. It's not my role to teach people, to change others, but man is it eye opening. Fuck you guys, seriously, what does it take for people to realize how gifted we are? I'm not saying we can't complain about circumstances in life, but know your audience. Put things in perspective.

We are the privileged. Yes, my treatment was delayed by several days. No I wasn't able to stay or come back. Everything is a give and take. 

Am I scared? Bheh. No. Yes. Sure, but not really. My fear is to leave Danny. I'm convinced that if I die before him, I'll haunt him in the bees, the butterflies, the bats, the butterscotch candy he sucks on. In the burkenstocks the person next to him is wearing. He will see me in the laminate countertop on the ferries as he heads back to our home island. In the whip of the wind against his face as he gets into his truck for work in the morning. He'll see a red summer dress and think about my silliness. Is silliness even enough to accurately describe? He'll see a goober dancing so ridiculously in the grocery store that I hope he'll dance with them to not leave them hanging. 

But worse would be if he left me. That would be unbearable.

See, I have it easy. :)

A photo from my First Descents kayaking & camping trip earlier this week.
No need for a filter, life is stunning as is.

Surprise Wedding

I can't believe we pulled this off!! We just threw a "Surprise Wedding" for the most amazing and deserving couple. #tears #bucketlist #mylastdays2 #braincancer #livelikeyouredying #ittakesavilage (literally)

A photo posted by Justin Baldoni (@justinbaldoni) on Aug 15, 2015 at 5:48pm PDT

So Justin Baldoni, and Wayfarer Entertainment just helped me surprise Danny, and my family with a wedding. Everyone thought they were coming for my 35th birthday party, but when they arrived the film crew informed them to please take a seat for our wedding. It's a very long story and it has been incredibly hard for me to keep the secret. It was absolutely unbelievable with all kinds of surprises. Our episode won't air until January or so, and I don't know how much I can divulge, but in the meantime let me just give a few teasers: personalized message and invitation from Pete Carroll (PETE CARROLL!!!!), a gifted Nicole Miller dress from the upcoming 2016 line along with a hand written note, video messages, Vinny's catering, gorgeous flowers, Archie Brooks officiating. Dan and I have been legally married for awhile now but it has been impossible to do a wedding because of our financial responsibilities due to my ongoing medical treatments. The wedding was incredibly small, and I wished I could invite everyone, but Wayfarer hosted it (along with some amazing islanders donating various aspects). It was not our money, so I was just grateful for the opportunity. When people give you gifts you just say thank you, you don't ask to see if you can invite more. It was such a gift, and a beautiful dream that we had always wished for. There were beautiful toasts. There were songs sung, dancing, a little rapping, beautiful toasts, it was hilarious and heartfelt. I can't believe I was able to surprise my parents, Danny, Linda, and all of our guests. It was the most fantastic day!!

The love I have for Danny is the most special thing in my life. I can't wait for the television show to air so that people can celebrate in our love too. They took hours and hours and hours of footage, and I hope I get to see a copy of people's interviews and responses. The whole point of us sharing our story is so that other people can learn from our experience with cancer, that it could help people. 

The crew was absolutely amazing, wonderfully kind. They are kind souls with huge hearts. It was an honor to be chosen for this docu-series, and I hope it really helps people. Wayfarer Entertainment gave me the beautiful wedding, but what was even better is that they helped me keep it a secret to surprise Danny and our parents, and all of our friends. That was a gift that I got to give them. Danny was over the moon, along with our friends and family. It was the most heartfelt evening I've ever experienced. 

And the biggest thanks is to Libbey & Nige for letting us commandeer their new house which they have lived in for only two weeks. Talk about great friends! That was probably the most magical part of the entire day, that we are so loved by our friends. We are the luckiest people on earth to have such generosity and kindness. I'm still reeling from all of the excitement. In fact, it should be sung from the mountain tops how amazing Becki Day is. She is a complete rockstar wedding planner, problem solver, and connector of people. Without Becki Day navigating this event, it absolutely wouldn't have happened. Who in the world plans a wedding in Friday Harbor in early August, the busiest wedding time of the season, in only two weeks?!?! Two weeks! And it was stunning and seamless. I can't say enough about her work ethic and attention to detail. What a treat for us!!  

I'll be sleeping until Wednesday so that I can manage my flight to NYC for my immunotherapy. I'm exhausted. In fact I don't even have a voice, I literally lost it. Hopefully I can rest up and start feeling better within 72 hours. Talking in interviews, emoting and going all the way back to the beginning of this journey to review our trials, was exhausting. 

Okay time to sleep. Love and thanks to all. And I'm so sorry that we couldn't invite everyone. It hurts my heart that we had to keep it small, but sometimes that's the only option when you have such a huge network of friends, and supporters. 

A Film Crew?

Hey Guys! Thank you for all of the birthday comments, texts, and emails, and phone calls, and Facebook messages! You guys all make me feel deeply loved.

On my birthday Dan surprised me by taking me on a bike ride along the Burke Gilman, which I have run but never rode. Riding bikes on the BG is awesome! I's mostly flat and you can literally ride for miles and miles. It's stunning.

But that's not even the biggest news. One part of the big news is that I am flying back to New York next week, the 19th, for an attempt at another immunotherapy shot. It should be fine though, I'm expecting smooth sailing so to speak. 

The next part is that in 24 hours or so, SoulPancake a media/production company ("We create stuff that matters. That opens your heart. That makes you think. Our mission is to help you and your audience figure out what it means to be human and feel damn good doing it. Our brain batter of art, culture, science, philosophy, spirituality, and humor is designed to get people talking, sharing, and engaging with this crazy, exciting, creative journey that is life."), along with WayFarer Entertainment, is sending out a crew to film Danny and I for an episode of a series about people who get diagnosed with cancer. It's kinda crazy, and a huge honor to get to share what we've gone through, and share how we live our lives. My hope is that we can make others feel more comfortable about what they're going through, or have experienced. And that goes for people who have been diagnosed with cancer, and those who haven't. 

We all have hard things that pop up in life, and personal stories always help me, so I'm hoping to inspire others and put them at ease. People often ask me how I've been able to do what I've done (defy odds, find new opportunities health wise to live longer, relearn talking, reading, and moving my body) and all I can think of is how important it has been to be stubborn/strong willed, curious, passionate, easily inspired, and easy to laugh. That combo has been a saving grace. I always say this because there are no guarantees, but this type of cancer, the infiltrating astrocytoma is invasive and virtually impossible to survive solely by conventional methods. And since I'm not as hard core as I once was, there is always the possibility that the cancer is growing inside me. It's a very real, very scary reality. But if I just panic and miss the beauty in life, constantly living in complete fear, then what was the point in life? What was the point of me being on Earth? So I try to keep things in perspective. I try to maintain a balance between enjoying life and maintaining my health; constantly oscillating between two worlds. Sometimes they overlap, but often times it is an exercise in control and depravation. 

I'm nervous for the film crew, but also excited. It's very surreal, and terrifying letting people come into your life, your home, to see exactly who you are, your mannerisms, your quirks. Clearly I've been doing it for awhile, but it's different when I'm doing the blog. With the blog, I have complete control over editing on what I choose to share in my life. In this situation, I don't. I'm also not a fan of watching myself on video (hence the lack of video blogs). I'm an emoter, a sharer, an open book, but I tend to express myself verbally with the written word. I keep reminding myself that this is only through Sunday, and after that it will all be over. So I need to be in the moment, and have fun and enjoy the oddity that will be getting filmed. I will blink and it will be over. But what will last will the memories, and the documentation of when the show airs. That will be a beautiful treasure.

Post NYC Report

My college roommate Jess. It had been 10 years!! So much has changed, yet she's still the sweet, sassy girl that I have so many incredible memories with. Aaaah, the ridiculousness of college. We shared a lifetime of laughter :)

Mom getting the hang of things

The appointment went incredibly well. I highly respect Dr NYC. He seems to be the perfect fit. He reviewed my entire case, and was able to recommend a few more supplements (printing out research proving the effectiveness against gliomas/astrocytomas). I shared my plan with Dr NYC, and we discussed pros and cons of my options. Ultimately, we mutually decided that the best course of action is for me to do the clinical trial, and continue on all of my supplements. Dr NYC and I will be in contact, and I will end up heading to see him again after the brain surgery, once I am healthy enough to travel.

After my appointment with Dr NYC, I immediately emailed Dr Liau to see if we could schedule the brain surgery. She responded within a couple of hours, and I now have the surgery on the books. My brain surgery will happen on October 18th, at UCLA. I'll need to travel little over a week in advance in order to complete all of the necessary testing, and I'll need to stay in LA for two weeks after the brain surgery to make sure that I'm healthy enough to travel. All-in-all it looks like I will be in Los Angeles for a month. Thank you to everyone who helped with the cherry fundraiser, for all of the donations, and the Crystal Seas Kayaking fundraiser. The money is going to be incredibly helpful! We're looking for a rental in LA close to UCLA so that my parents can stay there, then I can recover for a few weeks. Dan will be flying in every weekend to be with me....eeek....this is really happening!!!

As a final note, the most influential statement from Dr NYC was that he recommended the clinical trial since the results are so remarkable. He says that there's a chance that if I do the clinical trial, I may never need any further treatment ever again. It's not probable, but it's possible! The trial is still pending, and we won't know the results for years, but that's the point, patients are exponentially outlasting their "termination dates" - my words not his. There is a very good chance that even if it doesn't cure me, I wouldn't need treatment for years, and years, and years. This could be HUGE.

I'm terrified, and excited, and exhaaaaausted. So I think I will go nap. Love to you all! And thank you for always supporting me. Life changes so quickly around these parts, but one constant is the love from my friends, and my family. Thank you.