Friend Friday
I was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer two weeks ago on Friday January 10th. It seems like 2 months ago. So much has changed in such a short period of time. That Friday an army of friends equipped with soups, salads, flowers, wine and hugs showed up at our house. (A couple came all the way from Alabama). Jay coaches practice for wills basketball team on Friday nights so he and the boys went on to practice knowing I was in the loving arms of friends. (And knowing the boys love basketball and needed 
the distraction.) Each Friday evening since then I’ve been surrounded friends. Just sitting around, talking, laughing and sharing stories about our kids, lives and ideas. I love this. Last night I also received a big box of love from my Alabama girls filled with some of our favorites things from Birmingham and sweet notes of encouragement. When jay came home he had a huge basket for me that the Chenoweth basketball moms had put together- full of thoughtful gift cards, signs of hope and a card signed my all our third grade hoopsters. I haven’t felt like eating much but when my lifelong best friend from childhood sent my favorite homemade cookies- I hadn’t tasted anything so delicious! I am not writing all this to brag. But to just share several examples of how amazingly women surround each other and hold each other up when they need it. Crisis has the ability to reconnect friends, re prioritize days and make special outings happen more often (like going out with friends on a couples lunch date to a nice restaurant on a Tuesday afternoon). Who does that? (We did and we are going to keep doing it!) I wish this never happened. I long for our precious life of just 2 weeks ago when I was a cancer survivor, runner, mother, social entrepreneur and so, so happy! But it has. And I hold right to the beauty it has revealed such as the joy of friendship. And I hold tight to the idea that I can fight this a long time… so I can hold up another friend when she needs it.
We enjoyed a ky snow day today (which is kind of comical to two Michiganders). It was nice to get a bonus day with the kids. Bennett and I completed a huge lego castle and wills and I read our books snuggling under the same blanket on the couch. Our dear neighbor, Paulette Cunningham, came over so jay and I could go to radiation treatment. She brought math games and a board game about animals. The boys loved it! I had a meeting with a couple Hope Scarves board members this afternoon to make a plan for our board meeting on Friday. I am honored to have board members so dedicated to the mission of hope scarves and my well being. I’m looking forward to our board meeting Friday to talk about short and long term plans for Hope Scarves. Thank you to everyone who has expressed support for me by sponsoring a scarf. This brings me so much joy! If you want to sponsor a scarf please visit our website. Www.hopescarves.org – click on support. We had a little Macgregor snowball fight this afternoon and a dance party while making dinner tonight. It’s really sweet to see how far my dear husband will go to make me laugh. We have such a precious family. Four radiation treatments down! Looking forward to my parents arrival tomorrow and knocking down radiation #5. Keep all the prayers, jokes, cards, hugs, carpool rides and support coming! It means so much! With hope, Lara
Thanks to everyone who drove the kids around town, brought meals, shared gentle hugs, sent messages of encouragement and so much more. This week felt like a month! I am managing my pain and starting to make sense of things. 2 radiation treatments down and 10 to go. Every morning at 10am. Hopefully I feel more pain relief as the radiation shrinks the tumor. Happy Sunday, “funday” at our house! Lara
we had hoped. This means it is indeed metastasized breast cancer and should be receptive to hormone therapy. It is a fast growing and active tumor so it’s good we moved quickly. Jay said, everything she does is “active and fast.” Ha-ha I will have 14 straight days of radiation (weekends off). I’m told the main side effect will be fatigue which could last a week or so after treatment as it is cumulative. The radiation team is great and apart from the uncomfortable positioning the radiation isn’t too rough. I will next look at additional means of limiting the estrogen in my body such as hormone therapy and removing my ovaries. They will follow me closely with scans these next 3 months to see if the cancer shows up elsewhere. I will simultaneously work on complimentary ways to keep this cancer at bay such as diet, exercise, reducing stress, etc… My doctor was very reassuring that this is treatable right now. There is not a cure for stage 4 metastatic breast cancer but there are lots of options to fight it and I’ve got a lot of fight in me! Our family is so moved by all the love, prayers and support we have received. We are so humbled by the response through Hope Scarves and the increase in traffic to our website and scarf requests. I am staring down cancer again and it is evil and scary. It fuels my motivation to fight and to build hope scarves to spread hope and encouragement to people facing this scary diagnosis. No one should do this alone. After our appointments and treatments jay and I went to one of my favorite lunch spots and celebrated with champagne. Cheers to love, hope, family, friends, faith, medicine, research, the future and so much more. With Hope Lara
