BREAKING NEWS-BOULDER COLORADO

Susanna Block Medals with Gold in the Winter Olympics. In an interview with her today she expressed great satisfaction with her accomplishment and gratitude to all her family, fans, and friends for their support. She also announced that she will retire from this sport with no intentions to ever compete again in this life time.

Those fans who want to stay in touch with susanna should refer to her e-mail susanna@espress-oh.com, her cell phone 720-352-3661 , or snail mail 1560 Greenbriar Blvd, Boulder CO 80305., and then there is facebook. " Its been a wild journey and I am thrilled to have finished. Thanks to all of you for believing in me."

May the Force Be With You

This will most likely be the last entry on this blog.

final Stretch

Tomorrow will be #15 of 18 chemo treatments. Its down to the final stretch. Nobody is more ready for February 24th than me. I had a great week-end in Taos. Trying to hustle up some business. If anyone needs a refinance call me before these interest rates shoot back up. Enjoy this photo. No real profound meaning just a good moment in Nature. We can all use a piece of that.

MOVING ON

Feb. 2nd. This is an off week for Chemo ( a break so to speak) and then three more. I should be ecstatic and making plans and seeing the finish line but I've been a bit beat up by the entire process. Thank goodness for friends, Julia's great attitude, and a peaceful home. Maybe its the cumulative effect of the chemo, or maybe its just that this has been going on for sooo long that I am running out of steam. I just want to wake up and feel great, like my old self, with loads of energy and no aches or pains. I know it will be here before I know it but it seems like an eternity today, and yesterday and the day before.In a mode of desperation to just forget for a moment I stayed up late enough to go to a live concert on a Monday night in Boulder. Jackie Green....for those who don't know his music you have to check it out..A young Dylan amongst other tributes. He played for 2 1/2 hours. So its 1:30 in the morning and I just got home. And for 3 hours or so I almost forgot I have cancer, almost forgot I don't have any hair, and did forget that it was late into the night. Great fun!!! I have a road trip to Taos this week-end which should help pass some time, get me closer to the end with a good distraction. It's about a 6 hour drive south of Boulder near Santa Fe, in New Mexico. Surprisingly I have never been there.

Apologies for the lack of blogs and the lengthy recesses but I don't want to share the darker moments and I've had a few as of late. I am trying hard to take that leap of faith the monkey in the photo took...knowing I will land on two feet and go forward with all the gusto I started this journey with. Hang in there with me all of you. I love you guys!!! and gals......

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY!

I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE!AM HOPEFULL TO FILL THE LAST WEEKS OF THIS WITH PICTURES. I HAVE LOTS OF IDEAS JUST NEED TO GET TO IT. SO IN SO MANY WORKD JSUT KNOW I AM SWELL. READY TO CHANGE MY STATE OF MIND TO LIFE AFTER CHEMO....LOTS OF PLANS...GATHERING THE ENERGY..OVERLOOKING THE NAUSEAU AND YAWNS. BRING IT ON LIFE.

FIVE TO GO AND COUNTING

Today was the beginning of my fifth of Six sessions. Each session has three chemo treatments and one week off with just the drug Herceptin. I have completed Four full sessions. I have two more chemos this session and then I begin the 6th and final round. which will be three chemos and one Herceptin and should end on Feb 24th.

Since I last wrote....this little fungus has been making home in my mouth...called Thrush or Candida. no fun, little sores that gravitate to your tongue, lips inside, throat sometimes, need I say more. Typical Western doctors prescribe a benadryl mouth wash, and then a 7 day oral antibiotic, and the sores just sit there. So I go up to the house of a friend that Julia is house sitting for and there on the coffee table is a 5 page article on candida from the naturopath perspective. What a thoughtful thing to print out. ( It turns out it was there by chance and had nothing to do with me) But not knowing that, and totally frustrated I hit the local Vitamin Cottage. $80.00 later and a bag of bottles labeled Olive leaf, Fungal Defense, oil of Oregano, grapefruit seed extract, I was on my way to a healed mouth that could eat and drink and even taste a little bit. When I shared this with my Dr. he wrote it off to the time frame and said it would have healed either way. You gotta love these Western Docs. for their stubborn mindset. God forbid there be any real value in alternative medicine...it's like Disneyland to them. But I will say they are dam good at what they do. Do Not Draw Outside the Lines- kind of philosophy.

So that said...last week I saw a Nurse Practiconer who was young and very thorough. She got me all freaked out by a piece of the written report from my PT scan regarding a lump in my neck that had not previously shown. My Doctor had made no mention of this three weeks ago. So I've been on pins and needles for today's appointment to get the skinny on my neck. GOOD NEWS..and this is where the experience of an Oncologist with 30 years of work plays in, it was irrelevant to my treatment or protocol and there is no need to be concerned. He is 100% certain the treatment is working aggressively doing what it is suppose to do. He then elaborated on radiology and where all these disciplines do and do not work together in the patients best interest. It was a fascinating conversation and put me at ease. By the way those white blood cells- my count today was 6,000. Now that's a ton of white blood cells.

From there I made my way to the leather recliner which all but has my name on it on Weds. Got my cancer infested (not so true now) body comfortable while they hooked me up for my 3 hour infusion. Made it through a very brief visit with a few nurses, other chemo patients, and Julia's devoted parents who visit EVERY Weds, before I fell fast to sleep.

I am home and cozy now, slept off the afternoon. A friend dropped by some Thai cabbage chicken salad and I am ready to venture back upstairs and call it a night (after another cup of tea and a hot epson salt bath)

Have to share my fortune from my fortune cookie:

"You area deep thinker with a knack for problem solving"

Imagine that. And for you lotto players, gamblers, and number readers, my lucky numbers are

05 14 23 35 41 9

Everybody say a prayer for Haiti. It makes it dam hard to complain about anything, and I mean anything...

Sweet Dreams to all of you and thanks for all the support!!!

BACK TO WORK

After 5 days of bone pain I think it may have left the body, at least I hope...I am out the door off to work. A less than memorable holiday but the good news is that was then and now is now!!! My week off of chemo. YEA! I have a Drs. appt. Thursday to check the white blood count. Hopefully they have been reproducing like bunny rabbits.

Its a lovely bright sunny day in Boulder! I got my shades and ready to bring on 2010.

Matt and Dana are in route to Israel for a month long adventure.

I have been watching the Ken Burns National Park Documentary and it truly is amazing.

A little reminder of so much out there to be thankful for.

Its all about perspective

Wide angle lenses

love

susanna

Calling All White Blood Cells

Weds Chemo got a little complicated since my white blood cell count dropped to 1,000. A little low for chemo docs comfort. I pleaded with them not to skip a treatment, cause that would prolong the finish line. They negotiated with me and agreed to let me have my chemo if I would come in every day for the next five days and get a shot that would increase my white cell production. So I agreed to that.

As I was leaving treatment I found out there were issue with my health insurance going into a new year...so they suggested I get the supper dooper dose of just one shot which is the equivalant of five and just tough it up. Being the poster child I am I agreed. SO...I just got the shot. I didn't feel anything. Side effects are bone pain and ache and I have a good supply of pain killers to get me through the week-end.

No big plans for New Years Eve this year. It's a Blue Moon tonight (which means a white moon only two full moons in one month) how cool is that. Just a little trivia from your mountain woman.

I just made a killer pot of miso soup. My kids are in Denver to bring in the new year and Then both fly to Israel for a one month adventure on Sunday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS...EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU...LOADS OF LOVE

Susanna

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Sorry to be so lame in updating this but its hard not to dwell on the best of times and forget that I am fighting a fight and not just living the dream! I swear most of the time I would forget I had cancer if I didn't look in the mirror or if Julia wasn't following me around with the camera. Julia does remind me from time to time that its my attitude that prevails since she does have to deal with the side effects on a day to day basis, be it chemo brain or just downright denial and stubornness. But the truth is in the hair. Its a little bit like a chia pet.

It has been a great holiday. No shortage of eggnog, whiskey, good friends, wild turkeys, snow, and miracles.

We are getting to count down range .....7 more chemo treatments...Feb. 24th !!! I don't even have to take my shoes off to track that.

I love you all...carry on! Party like Rock Stars into 2010..

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!

Sorry to keep you all in suspense but with out a camera it was hard to come up with any note worthy news. The last 10 days were primarily tests, ranging from an MRI of the Brain to PT-CT scan of the body and a echo-EKG checking the heart. The Biggest best news is that 98% of all the 8 hot spots are GONE---in remission. The only sign of cancer is a slight stress mark on my left hip. It is hardly visible. The heart is fine as is the brain.

I DO STILL HAVE to finish all the chemo treatments through Feb. They will repeat the scan one more time at the end of treatment. But for now I could not be happier and there could not have been better news today. All your good thoughts, prayers and candles played a big role in this outcome, I just know. Wishing you all the best of Holidays in whatever you believe.

I am thankful for all your thoughts and promise you none of them are wasted. I may get my camera back next week and promise to get some snaps to brighten up this blog.

love

sus

MY BODY DOSEN'T KNOW!!!!!

I think my body has forgotten or is unaware that I was diagnosed with cancer! Sounds like me being crazy right? Let me just run down what I did this past week, aside from working every day. My night life so to speak.

Tuesday- cocktails and dinner with a dear old pal from the DA's office

Weds- Dinner in Denver and YO-YO MA with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra with my dear friend Jan Jackson ( a late birthday celebration). nothing short of AMAZING!!

Thursday- Bruce Hornsby and the Noise Makers at the Boulder Theatre with dinner before with old friends.

Friday- pick up Kenan at the airport and dinner out with Dana and Uncle Kenan on Pearl Street.

Saturday- Jan Jackson's Christmas party.

Sunday- Dinner with the kids and Uncle Kenan at home....

And I feel great!!! The ominous cough is GONE!!! Clean the ducts in your house!

Work is good, low interest rates continue to fuel a busy office. It's kind of fun to save people money this time of the year.

I am not sure what to make of all my energy but I embrace it and all my friends that I can celebrate with.

I love you all!