As always, we have a lot going on.  For a while, Sal and I were trying to cut back on activities and a fast pace, but it just isn’t who we are.  We aren’t the kind of people to sit back and watch the grass grow.  We plant the grass, water it, then party on it!  What can I say…..we are true east-coasters!  We have 3 wonderful kids who make us feel alive.  They keep us going.  We’re very social – we love our families and our friends.  I tell Sal all of the time that I’ll sleep when I’m dead.  Life is for the living.

We just got back from an awesome week at Bethany Beach in Delaware.  Sal’s brother-in-law’s family has been going together for the last 30 years, I believe.  They were kind enough to invite us to go with them this year.  So, we were honorary Kiefers for a week!  There were, I believe, 70 people there this year.  It was really nice watching Jameson and Chase play with their first cousins as well as their new “extended family members”!  The kids had a BLAST!  I have to say that Mark’s family has to be the most welcoming group of people that I’ve ever met in my entire life.  I’d take a guess and say that Mark’s Aunt Sue must have coined the phrase, “The more, the merrier!”  I started referring to Aunt Sue, unbeknownst to her, as the Grand Marshall of Beach Week!  Aunt Sue is the the kindest, friendliest woman.  She made sure that she welcomed every single person and even came by our house to say “so long” as we were leaving…..and gave us the dates of next year’s Beach Week!

I’m feeling great!  I really am.  I was feeling so good at the beach that I actually forgot about my port-o-cath.  I was in the waves like it was nobody’s business and didn’t even think about the port until someone asked me about it.  I’m living my life.  Cancer can kiss my ass!  I had an appointment with Dr. Saidman yesterday that went very well.  I still have an annoying cough that comes and goes.  I take a Claritin D at least once a day.  My lungs sound clear and my chest x-ray is clear.  It could be allergies or a side effect from radiation.  Dr. Saidman and I talked about tumor markers.  He isn’t a big fan of following them because of the false positive and negative results, but he’s going to follow mine – because I’m a pain in the ass!  Remember, I was a perfectly healthy 34 year old woman who had Stage 3 breast cancer.  Any kind of heads up or red alert is good for me.  I might even ask Dr. Saidman to follow my tumor markers every 3-6 months and not tell me the results.  He can worry about the numbers.  I don’t need to.  My job is to live life and be aware of anything weird that my body tries to tell me about.  The Femara that I take daily makes me very stiff first thing in the morning and after I’m sitting for a while.  I’ve become a professional stretcher!  I believe that I’ve lost some of my sense of smell from chemo, too.  I still haven’t gotten all of the feeling back under my arms from the mastectomy, either, but they feel much better than they did a few months ago.  Everything in time.  Sal and I met with Dr. Serletti at Penn right before vacation.  I will be having another procedure done in November, most likely.  He needs to make some minor adjustments.  All in all, though, things are going very, very well.  I’m extremely happy about my progress and how much I’ve overcome in a short amount of time.

Being at the beach for the past week made me want to write about sunscreens and what I’ve learned.  Basically, none of them are safe and we slather it like soap all over our bodies!  The 2 best/safest sunscreens that I’ve found are Thinksport for kids SPF 50 and ironically, Badger SPF 30.  See, Honeybadger DO care after all!  Please, do your own research.  Visit www.ewg.org and review their findings.  They change every year.  This website contains a wealth of information – from produce to cosmetics to sunscreen.

It’s funny.  I was such a pain in the ass 16 year old.  I can remember laying around my parent’s pool with all of my girlfriends.  I’d be loaded with baby oil while I ate a hotdog, sausage sandwich, or a bag of chips.  Then I wonder why I got cancer!  Christ!  What was I thinking?!!  Number 1, I have fair Irish skin.  I don’t think that I’ve ever had a suntan in my life!  Number 2, hotdogs, sausage, and chips are delicious but those days are over!  While at the beach, however, I did eat a half of a cheesesteak.  It wasn’t worth it.  It didn’t even taste good.  I’m not religious about not eating red meat, but I’ve cut 95% of it out of my diet.  Red meat, fast food, junk – it’s so bad for us.  Trust me, I wouldn’t be preaching about this if I didn’t just go through what I did.  I was lucky enough to receive the wake up call when I did.

I had the great opportunity to speak with Mark’s Aunt Becca who, unfortunately, is a wealth of knowledge about breast cancer.  Becca’s sister, Kim, passed away from breast cancer a few years ago and Becca underwent a preventative double mastectomy shortly after her sister’s diagnosis.  Talk about courageous.  Really.  Mark’s aunt was one of the first people that I spoke with after my diagnosis.  She was one of the only people that I chose to speak with, to be honest with you.  Once I heard about her sister and her story, I felt compelled to reach out to her.  Becca is even kinder in person than she was on the phone, if that’s even possible.  And, just to set the record straight, I don’t care what Melissa Etheridge said about Angelina Jolie and her reasoning for choosing to have the preventative mastectomy.  She did it.  I’m sure, if I had the choice – which I didn’t – I would have chosen to do what Becca and Angelina did out of fear and courage.  Regardless of the reasoning, these women did it!  I bet Becca didn’t know that she’d be a trendsetter.

I’m purposefully not going to mention this young woman’s name because I’m not sure how she would feel about me broadcasting this, but I need to write about her – especially since I’m now on the subject of bravery.  I felt honored to speak with, possibly, THE most courageous young lady that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  A nineteen year old girl is embarking on her own journey to have a preventative double mastectomy in the near future.  And, she’s ready.  She’s not scared.  She’s doing what she needs to do.  Breast cancer runs in her family so she’s taking the bull by horns.  I didn’t know her Mom or her grandmother; I don’t know the rest of her family very well, either.  But, I do know if she was my daughter, I would be so proud of her.  I am proud of her.  She is the epitome of strength and courage.  This young lady is looking cancer in the face and flipping it off!  I really wish that she would speak to some women my age and older.  We could all learn from this young lady.  I wish her all the best and I’m looking forward to hearing about how great her life is.

My great uncle, Jim Fisher, passed away on Sunday, June 30.  His private family services will be held on Friday, July 5.  Big Jim, as our family referred to him, was a true gentleman.  I have only the fondest memories of him.  Sal and I decided that we are going to take Jameson and Chase to his services.  This will be their first viewing and funeral.  During dinner tonight, I tried to prepare them with what to expect.  We talked about a body, a casket, and a soul.  I realized, as I was having a very real conversation with my children, that I am so happy to be alive.  I was glad to be the one explaining this to my kids and that someone else wasn’t explaining my death to them.  I know that it sounds very morbid, but cancer forces you to look death in the eye.  As I was explaining our souls to my children, I couldn’t help but questioning my faith as the words were coming out of my mouth.  This isn’t something that I do very often but I think that it’s a normal thing to do.  It is, right?  Did all of this “soul talk” just get passed down from generation to generation?  Am I buying into the adult version of Santa Claus?  Is there really life after death or do we truly die once we stop breathing?  Heavy stuff to be thinking about, I know.  I, probably much like most of you, feel better believing in something bigger than all of us.

I have so many pictures that I need to upload.  I still need to share the Think Pink, Wear Pink pictures.  I SWEAR that I will post them this week.  I also have golf tournament pictures to share.  On Sunday, our kids’ teeball league sponsored a “Kick Cancer for Barb” Kickball tournament.  I have to post those pictures, as well.  I wanted to thank Bob Cappelloni for organizing the event.  Bob is one of the most selfless people you’d ever meet.  He would do anything for you.  I also wanted to thank Dave Nockley of Nockley Family Pharmacy for taking care of every child’s registration, Maudeen and Adrian Harnen of Mad Tees for taking care of our t-shirts free of charge, and Hank Aftewicz for organizing our Pink Team.  Sal and I are so very fortunate to have such wonderful friends.  These people would, literally, give you the shirt off their back.

Before I forget, I any of you received a very random e-mail from me – something about weight loss, berries, etc. – no, I don’t think that you’re fat!  My e-mail was hacked a few weeks and spammed everyone in my address book!  Please, disregard the e-mail.  I think that you’re beautiful just the way you are!

I am extremely excited to share some monetary totals with you.  Think Pink, Wear Pink day raised $500!  The Liberty Tax Golf Tournament raised $13,372.27!  How awesome!  I am truly humbled by the generosity that has been bestowed on us.  I promise to dedicate the rest of my life to my family and to funding a cure for this evil disease.  I have no idea what I’m going to set up, but I’m certain that I will make a difference.

LIVESTRONG and God Bless!

P.S.  Oh, and Lib, this is the last of your birthday surprises!  If I ever write a book, I will definitely dedicate it to you!  Thanks for being a good sport!