This page was last modified on Wednesday, July 07, 2010 09:35:29 PM
Ted's four year anniversary party on May 30, 2010. There was way too much good food! We dodged raindrops. The hearty Pacific "Northwesterners" held strong and withstood the rain, while many of the former Californians retreated inside for a brief time. Overall, it only rained for about 20 minutes; just in time to eat of course. We had 25 guests. There were three other brain cancer survivors at the party. The first photo is of Ben, Jennifer, Ted and Deana. All four are brain cancer survivors. Ben was diagnosed in 2005, Jennifer in Sept. 2007, Ted on Memorial Day 2006 and Deana in 2004 for the second time. She was diagnosed ten years before but has successfully beaten it both times.
Ben, Jennifer, Ted and Deana Ben enjoying a burger while his wife Ann gets in line.
Food line. Caron, Ann and Ted Ann, Les and me (Ann and Les teach with me)
Ardie, Stanley(the hairy one), Char, and Patrick Caron, Ann, Char and Ted
Great shot of my back! Chris is in the back, I'm Gloria, her husband Les and Luanne. The party was
talking to Randy and Gloria, and Ardie is trying to held at Luanne's house. She has a great yard for a party,
find the sun. and she's an all around great person. Thanks Luanne.
Ted and I. My what big flowers! Very fattening cake, but my intentions were good.
Jennifer, Ted, Deana, Andre, Rich, and Margaret. Ann and Caron enjoying the refreshments.
Lots of food.... See everyone next year
HAPPY HOUR!
Ted is doing great. The photo below was taken on Feb. 6, 2010. It was 3 years and 8 months after diagnosis. I am on the left. Ted is next to me and next to him is Jennifer, a 2 and a half year survivor of a GBM. Her husband Chris is next to her. She's got the same great attitude as Ted!
OOPS. Be patient! I'm in the process of changing all of my original web pages (the ones I created through Google which you can link to at the address below, but some of the pages get hung up when you try to click on this link. I will be working on that this weekend. (Katy)
To see our original website with photos and information about surgery, radiation and chemo go to:
https://sites.google.com/site/glioblastomamultiforme/
This site is to give hope to those newly diagnosed with a GBM. My husband Ted was diagnosed in May of 2006. After seeing only horribly depressing websites about GBMs, I decided we should create our own site to give people hope. I update Ted's MRI results immediately upon hearing the news. Check the Health Update for the latest.
In July of 2009 we visited The Brain Tumor Center in San Francisco. The doctor told us that cancer should NOW be looked at as a chronic illness that can be treated instead of naturally assuming that everyone is doomed as soon as they get the diagnosis. I appreciated the attitude!
The picture below was taken over 2.5 years past diagnosis, Feb. 13, 2009. Ted and I have made walking a significant part of his recovery. Keeping a positive attitude and being physically active have played a big role in how both of us our staying strong. Of course the love and companionship of our dogs has helped a lot too! Our families have been very supportive as well.
We keep walking and meeting new people with brain cancer all the time. It would appear that there are a lot more people out there still staying strong and living with GBMs.
Photo number 1: Ted's 56th Birthday on Feb. 13, 2009. Photo number 2: Our athletic trainers, Morgan and Silvi. Photo number 3 the latest addition to our training team. We adopted her December 24, 2009 from a shelter in Arizona. What a great dog. She came already trained.
Here's Jennifer! Jennifer is another GBM patient going strong in our community. We recently met her and her husband for brunch at their favorite hangout. She has kindly offered her email address out for anyone interested in speaking to another GBM patient. She looked healthy and fantastic and is doing well. She would be a great person to talk to if you want a female perspective on living with brain cancer. This photo was taken Jan., 2009 a little over a year past her diagnosis.
Latest update from Jen. She's doing great!
The highlights this year have been traveling with my family to Hawaii and cruising to Alaska for my birthday. We vacationed at the Oregon Coast for a week this summer, again with my whole family, and I had an amazing garden which is a great source of joy. My husband and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and my 2 year anniversary of living with GBM. I give thanks every day for this time with friends and family and feel less like a cancer patient and more like a cancer survivor. My last MRI on 9/10/09 was stable.
I will have MRI's and see my oncologist every 3 months.
Jen