Texans Fans at MD Anderson
Just in case anybody was wondering, here is a picture with the 2nd Biggest Texans fan at MD Anderson!! Of course I am the #1 fan, lol Jewels has been taking my blood for almost 2 years now. When I first started getting my labs drawn with her I was a complete wreck. I was extremely nervous, once I took a whiff of the alcohol pad after they prepped my arm for the stick it was all over and then I was hyperventilating, near fainting…… just the anticipation of the blood draw gave me extreme anxiety!! Even at 31 (was actually 30 at the start of chemo), a grown woman turned into a 5 year old and if I happened to be lucky and my Dad was there I would hold his hand every time (maybe correct word is squeeze) Jewels is so good she would stick me and I could hardly feel a thing. As time went on I got to the point where I trusted her 100% and now I never have anxiety like before. I actually look forward to seeing her for my blood draw and talking about our Texans. ~...
Need Help on fishing stuff for adopted family for Christmas!!!
We are in need of a little help for one of our families. The cancer patient Billy has fishing stuff on his wish list and we are lacking a fishing expert at our foundation We are looking for any advice, store discounts, or if anybody is interested in purchasing any fishing items (see picture below with fishing pole info and saltwater fishing tackle) for our adopted cancer patient (it could be somebodies end of the year write off too, lol). If anybody has seen any good deals or clearance fishing stuff any help would be greatly appreciated!!!! ps: he also has tools on his lists...
University of Texas Police Department Today – purse found!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At University of Texas Police Department today picking up my purse!!!!!!!! Thank you to everybody for the prayers So thankful the person that found it turned it in!! They found it exactly where I thought I left it too. Tomorrow I will be at MD all day and it will be nice to stop by the cafe and say thank you to the employee that turned it in....
Rough Day at MD Anderson :(
Had an extremely rough day today. Losing my purse was just icing on the cake. The expression when it rains it pours not accurate, it should be when it rains it turns into hurricane!! Today was my PET scan “aka” starvation day. Had nothing to eat or drink after midnight so driving in with no coffee and starving for my 1:30 scan was already hard. Thinking driving when starving might be as bad as driving when sleepy or drinking , lol. After I got to MD, had to wait a long time because they were running behind. Had 3 IV misses and had to get a different person to come in and they got it on the 4th try. The vein was in a weird spot and hurt (inside elbow included pic). Finally finished around 5:30 and could barely walk I was so wiped out from not eating. Brought rolls to eat in the dressing room when I finished my scan so I could at least make it to get food. My blood sugar was 46 a few scans ago and almost blacked out when I was leaving so I bring something small to at least keep me from possibly fainting. I then made it to the Cafe (next to large cafeteria) for Starbucks…… Credit card machine was down, so dumped out change in my Purse and was $1.00 short for my coffee…… lady behind me actually bought my coffee. Dropped my lip gloss at counter of course , one of those days. Was crying at counter after lady bought my coffee , told her thank you several times....
Christmas help needed for families battling cancer!!!
Christmas help needed for families battling cancer!!! Please read stories, I have included links below. I want to share with everybody why our Angel Tree program was established. Last year (June 2012) I started chemo, over time the chemo gradually wore on me making many things in life more challenging. I somehow made it through our foundation’s first event last year (Oct. 2012) and then the holidays were right around the corner. In November I ended up in the hospital with a blood clot, had multiple infections, extreme fatigue, nausea, severe stomach issues, high fevers, etc…. Basically it is like you have the flu almost every day of your life (side effects vary depending on treatment). Last winter God opened my eyes for the first time during my 17 years of battling cancer. I finally truly understood what this disease does to people and their families. All my life I never could understand why people chose to give up their fight against cancer, but I now understood (first 3 times I had cancer it was surgery and radiation only). Cancer is an everyday battle and from one day to the next you don’t know what to expect. Without my family I don’t know that I would have the strength to fight this. I went from superwoman to super sick and last year was the first time I couldn’t do it all. For Christmas we normally had 25-50 people over, our tree went up the weekend after thanksgiving, entire house was decorated the same weekend, every person that was with us for Christmas received a gift, everything wrapped like it came from a department store, etc… And last year...
JJ Watt Pictures from Today – Jamie’s Hope Exec. Director – Amanda Abiassi, Jamie (me), JJ Watt, Painting of JJ by Adam Barnes (Cindy Gilmore/my sister’s fiancé)
Amanda & I met up with JJ Watt today! At the last Masquerade for a Cure Gala, Dr. Price won the awesome over-sized painting of JJ Watt in our auction. Unfortunately during transport, the painting was ruined by the rain Luckily artist (& my sister’s fiancé!) Adam Dallas Barnes was able to recreate another one and JJ made it extra special by signing it for us! Included a few pics from today with our Executive Director, Amanda Abiassi (aka superwoman, lol) carrying the art inside the office. These are also the first photos I have posted since my hair completely fell out again. ~...
Weekly Update (1 of 3) – Jamie / Hair Falling Out Again :(
Update 1 (1 of 3) : Hair started falling out again Doesn’t look like I will have hair much longer, picture shows how much fell out in the morning only and it has been like this for over a week. Not really sure what’s going on. My Hair History: Last July/August 2012 in the church parking lot was the first time I noticed it falling out. My hair was very long and this was the first time I lost my hair due to cancer (had cancer 3 previous times, but was treated with surgery and radiation). Around May/June 2013 my hair started growing a little after my chemo regimen was altered. Since then it seems like it would get little growing spurts when I was in between chemo cycles. It was still less than what I had before and seemed thinner, but I was thankful to have any hair. Last Sunday once again we were in the church parking lot and bye bye hair. I noticed a ton of shedding and wasn’t sure what to think, but it has continued to fall out by the handfuls. Our pet roller I used for our cat has now become my everyday tool, lol!!! ~...
Late Chemo / People Staring At Me – Pink Hair & Hat
Posting this a little late, was super busy working late night during chemo and didn’t get done at MD Anderson until about 10 pm last night. Interesting thing I have noticed with pink hair is people stare at me and I even felt like I was getting some dirty looks. When I had no hair, I think people knew what I was going through and tried not to make it obvious they were staring. We teach our kids not to stare and point fingers when they see signs of an obvious medical condition because we feel it’s rude, but pink hair from what I have noticed doesn’t fall into that category. I definitely get very obvious head turning and surprisingly I don’t think people realize that it is pink due to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Luckily when my pink hair is out of control I have a little pink Texans hat to cover it up ~...
Texans Game Pics from TV Sent by Friends
Received pics from various friends while watching the Texans vs San Francisco game. ~...
Pink Hair, at Texans San Fran Game
New pink hair at Texans game. hoping they turn this game around ~...
Texans Taking Over San Francisco
In San Francisco for the Texans Game. Texans are everywhere!!!!!!! We are taking over!!!! Bye, Bye Blonde in pics and Hello Pink!!! My sister has wanted me to get a pink wig forever but now that I have a little hair and it’s breast cancer month it’s time for a little pink hair dye for the game ~...
Texans San Fran Game /Going Pink
Going Pink for breast cancer awareness month !!!!! Pray for what little hair I have Going into my 16th month of chemo, due to the removal of one if my chemo drugs my hair now grows occasionally....
Arian Foster w/ Texans While Waiting for Chemo
Arian Foster, Jamie Gilmore (me sneaking out of MD Anderson before chemo started) at the Reliant Stadium September 26, 2013 Arian Foster, Jamie Gilmore (me 5 months before chemo started and 2 months before we found out my cancer was back again) at Texans vs Baltimore Ravens Playoff Game on January 16, 2012 My New Jacket So another little bonus yesterday!!!! I went to MD Anderson for labs….grabbed a pager for chemo…..snuck off campus and ran over to the Texans store at the Reliant Stadium to see if they had any new unique items since we leave for San Francisco for the Texans game next week!!!!!!!! While I was shopping Arian Foster stopped by to do a little shopping!!!!!! I have met him twice now, once with really long blonde hair, now with just a little bit of hair and think I may have met him with no hair, but did not take a picture, ( I included my old pic just to see how different I looked) Also, I scored a new Jacket It’s nice to have a jacket that I can wear with business attire and also can wear it if we are going to any Texans event where I want to dress up a little. After my little stop I was off to I.W. Marks to pick up the donated pendant I will be wearing during the live auction on October 25, 2013 (Masquerade for a Cure)!!! (See previous post for info) Then back to MD for chemo ~...
I.W. Marks Donated Pendant / Masquerade for a Cure LIVE AUCTION item
Just finished chemo and now time for an update!!! On my way to chemo at MD Anderson today I stopped and met with Brad of I.W. Marks to pick up this beautiful necklace (see pictures). This is the necklace they donated for the LIVE AUCTION at Masquerade for a Cure (October 25, 2013) and I get to wear it the night of the event!!!!!! Unfortunately, I have to give it up after the auction I am unbelievably thankful to have met such wonderful people that share the common goal in life of finding a cure. Without support from people and businesses like this there would be no hope for people like me that are still hoping and praying for the cure. Below is a little info on the necklace and if you check out the link you can read more about the designer and see other beautiful pieces at I.W. Marks!!! Suzanne Kalan 18kt Rose Gold Smokey Quartz and White Sapphire Pendant...
Top Fears in Life & Overcoming Them
Pic from my car, one of my greatest fears!!! Cancer has actually helped me overcome some of my top fears, however spiders are not one of them. Nothing worse than a spider in between your window, hate it when this happens!!!! No drive-throughs for me and still afraid afraid to roll down the window So my worst fears are below and cancer has actually helped me overcome 2 of them!!! Spiders: Still DEATHLY afraid!!!! Needles: Over it!! Almost, lol. Started working on this last year when I learned chemo can cause infertility and we had to make a decision to undergo egg preservation. This was the first time I ever had to give myself a shot. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning and a few months later we learned that I had a consistent pattern of low white blood cell counts following chemo. Once again I had to give myself injections 2 days a week (following 2 days after chemo). It did not go well at first!!! In fact at first I required help, one person would pinch my skin while i pushed the needle in. Poor Garrick had to do most of it Sometimes it took me so long to push the needle in and then inject the fluid that Garrick could hardly hold it anymore. Then in November, the worst was yet to come…… A blood clot. After the blood clot was discovered I was prescribed daily injections of fragmin which I still do. This one has been the hardest since, not only do you have to inject yourself with a needle, you have to push the...
Pets and Cancer
Finally Back to Blogging!!!! Soo much to update on with my health and treatment…. Had a few rough months but started doing much better after we made several changes Will be more in detail later today along with my PET scan results later today (been on chemo for over 14 months now). Been working on my laptop from our couch and think my kitties don’t want me to leave, lol Just something we found interesting after watching the Dog Whisperer on animal planet, they were discussing dogs having the ability to sense cancer (there is scientific research and it is true)!!! So then I stared reading up about cats as well and what we have noticed is since I have been sick our cats have really become more attached and protective of me. Pepper the cat on the right actually growls and hisses sometimes when Garrick just touches my arm (it’s pretty funny) and then if she is sitting by me and awake she swats at people occasionally if they walk by. Not to mention they all follow me in the house EVERYWHERE, even to the bathroom. If I close the door, you would think a cat was dieing on the other side of the door. The 2 in the picture sleep on me EVERY night no matter where I fall asleep at. It is just interesting because we have seen the transformation of behavior since I have been...
Blondes vs Brunettes
Out supporting Amanda as she plays football for charity!! She is #1 (guess having a last name that starts with A has some advantages, lol), she is on team Brunette Always interesting to see girls play football, super hot outside, don’t think I would have lasted more than a few minutes. Thankful I am in the shade and still sweating!!! Amanda is doing awesome!!! ~...
Battle Wound from IV / Blood work, Labs and Scans
Battle wounds from 2 IV’s over the past week for the PET and CT scans and lab work yesterday:( The good news is for both IV’s they got it on the first try and no fainting episodes!!!!!!!! I got their names so I can ask for the ladies up at MD next time I have a scan, lol. Kind of like my blood draws, Jewels is my lab lady every Monday. Once I found her, since I am a fainter, I started requesting her every time. Before Jewels I was a disaster when it came time to draw blood, but since her I am no longer afraid. She has been drawing my blood for almost a year in June (since I started chemo) and has never missed. I am so thankful to have met her and she helped me get over my fear. However, in the event of her absence I have to ask for a senior tech Next post is chemo update and scan results. Sharing pictures of my tumor on the next post....Kentucky Derby
Finally here, it’s Derby time!!!!!!!! My hat is ready and it’s going to be a beautiful day. Hope to see everybody!!!!!! The Derby event at The Marque starts at 3 and Tickets will be available at the door....Donate Here
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