Great evening ...

So, I just logged into the Young Survival Coalition boards and saw a wonderful post. One of the women on the boards consulted with a fantastic oncologist and spoke with him about her stats. She asked him about her HER2NU status. I am HER2NU positive, as well. She wanted to know about her recurrence rate, being HER2NU positive. He said that he doubted that she would EVER recur, as he's had only 1 patient ... of all his patients (and they are ALL breast cancer patients) ... recur. WONDERFUL NEWS. Herceptin is a great drug for us HER2NU positive gals. Before it came out, things looked bad for, as it made our cancers much more aggressive. One in Four women, on average, are positive for the HER2NU mutation. So, this leads into my next point. I'm continuing on Herceptin. Typically, it's done over one year. Some choose to go on to do two years of the drug. My oncologist and I have decided that I am just fine moving on to a 3rd year. My heart scans are consistently good. I don't know anyone (that's not metastatic) that has done 3 years, but I'm damned aggressive with this disease. My oncologist thinks that it's a wise move. We're tight. He knows that I was diagnosed at stage 3. Pretty late stage. Plus, I'm a young woman with a young child. He's wonderfully supportive of my being so aggressive.
On to politics. Leave now if you don't care to read about it.
So, the debate was a bit anticlimactic for me. I missed parts of it, as I worked late and my boss and I got it to air on the speakers throughout the salon. But, my blow-dryer was drowning out the debate. After listening to the end of it on NPR, it sounds like everyone thinks that both candidates did okay. Funny thing though: NPR pointed out McCain's comments about how "nasty" Obama's adds have been. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? John McCain started this huge flame-war in regards to the adds. He's the one that continues to associate Obama with a "terrorist" who was accused of such when Barack Obama was 8 years old. Come on ... is that all you've got? Let us not forget the Keating 5. At least Obama was 8 years old when the guy was doing his "nasty deed." McCain, not so long ago, was taking vacations with and using the private plane of a man that was indicted only a few years ago. Who in the hell told McCain that dragging Obama into this "terrorist" shit was gonna bode well for his campaign. Someone is getting fired!
McCain is desperate. I think his running-mate shows that. Again, my step-brother has Downe's Syndrome. I've never seen my step-mother use Shane as a card in any game. I HATE THAT. She's NEVER put him in the spot-light for her own gain. She's never shoved him in front of her to gain ANYONE'S sympathy. Sarah Palin is a parody of herself. She has chosen to drag a pregnant teenage daughter into the largest spotlight that that girl will ever experience: the entire world. I cannot imagine dragging my child into that. If you're that young, wait four years AND THEN RUN FOR VP. But, ambition, as we've all seen, is quite the Siren. DEADLY.
xoxo
Anna
p.s. I've been told by many people that they are afraid that Obama might be targeted by extremists that want to cause him harm. I SAY TO THAT: If you are that simple minded that you want to harm someone because of their race, you need to look within yourself and the Bible (which I'm assuming you "pristine" people subscribe to). Jesus was of middle eastern decent. HE WAS NOT WHITE. Shocking! Shocking for people that are totally clueless. Pull your ignorant heads out of your asses and remember that that region was inhabited by many human beings before our blessed America was even a baby. If you're too ignorant to understand that, take some time to reflect. If you cannot do so, turn your TV off and, FOR GOD'S SAKE, DO NOT GO TO THE POLES. Find a therapist and get over your race issues. GET A HOBBY ... AND A VASECTOMY. The last thing we need in this world is more of YOU!