With deep sadness, I have to announce that my beloved Kate passed away May 4, 2018.  Her cancer took a sudden turn for the worse and she was in constant pain that normal meds couldn't keep up with.  She had time to be surrounded by her family and friends before she passed so she could tell each one her last thoughts. She chose to take drugs that would keep her asleep and out of pain.  She passed the morning of a beautiful sunny day.  I was by her side and holding her hand when she finally left to be with those that went before her.

She has left a hole in my heart that can never be filled but she is no longer in pain and is dancing free.  I know she is watching us all and surrounded by love.  She will never be truly gone because she remains in our memories and hearts.

Ken

Loving on Kate Taylor Potluck Party this Sunday

Invite to a

“Loving on Kate Taylor”

Potluck Party

This Sunday, March 18th

11am - 2pm

Kiri Saftler’s - 230 North Sunset, Fort Collins

Food from about 11am - 1pm

Skype/Zoom at about 12:15pm

Let Kiri at (970) 215-7581 know if you can come early for setup or stay late for cleanup.

Let Deanna at (970) 412-1283 know if you’d like to Skype/Zoom in to the Party.

We will set that up for around 12:15pm.

If the weather is bad and you’re wondering if it is going to happen, call Kiri or Deanna.

Kate wants to be surrounded by her sisters to help her re-vision, and move beyond her major role of Family Caregiver.  This is a wondrous time to WRAP UP the old, and OPEN UP to a new path for a new identity. She needs the strength of her sisters who will come with an uplifting and upbeat attitude to lay hands on her and see her in her vision of perfect health and vitality. If weather permits, we will have an igniting ritual around a fire for us all to release old, unhelpful patterns ourselves.

Kate says, “The end of 2017 was a very big time for me! I'm asking once again for the wysdom and guidance of my Tribe of WyseWomen as I make some new VERY BIG STEPS along my NEW PATH.”

“Most of you know, with the death of my dear brother, I've just moved into a whole new world of mystery and challenges. So I'm calling on my Wyse Council of Women to help me see the possibilities and play with the challenges. Don was my role model for treating everyday like an adventure. I miss his brilliant smile in every moment.”

“For over 25 years I have been the Family Caregiver. Since my father’s catastrophic stroke in 1993. In January 2005 we learned my brother was diagnosed with ALS. Four years later my mother was diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer, and we lost her only 2 months later. This was the first time we knew of cancer diagnosed in our family. Then we learned that I also had stage-4 metastasized breast cancer. I still have late-stage metastasized-breast cancer, diagnosed in 2011. I still use Hospice to help me manage pain and oxygen care. Time for me to move beyond being the family caregiver, and refocus on RADICAL SELF-CARE, and what’s next???? What shall I become? What do my Sisters suggest? In order to wrap-up-the-old, and open-up to a new path for a new identity, I would love to be surrounded by these sisters to help me re-vision. RIGHT NOW is a beautiful and powerful time to recreate. Some are seeing my new path as a chance to rest as others around me are dying.

“BUT I PROTEST! I’m not DEAD YET!”

"Please help me best by reminding my sisters, my Wyms, that I am radiantly healthy.”

“Sing with me! Dance with me! Play with Me!”

No more, Poor Kate. I’m not done yet!!!”

There are lots of ways to support Kate (and ourselves) on this journey,

both at this Sunday’s event and afterward—

Bring to Sunday’s event—

• a pillow to sit on if you can sit on the floor. There is limited seating.

• flower(s) to add to a communal bouquet.

• your positive loving and caring energy

• poems, pictures, songs, rituals you’d like to share

We look forward to joining you loving on Kate with positive, uplifting energy, with no fear or negative energy. 

At the Food Part of the event on Sunday afternoon-- If you can join us in person, the food part of the event is from 11am-2pm. Bring healthy food – no sugar, gluten, or dairy.

Many Wyms will not be able to come in body on Sunday, but we cherish their energy and good wishes! Others will provide unbelievable strength and love – in Body and in Spirit. We are powerful Women who can transform the universe through just an act of purposeful intention. So for those who cannot, or choose not, to attend in person, we will set up a Zoom/Skype type opportunity.  Even those choosing to avoid technology can “tune and set your own energy” so Kate can feel your love and guidance. Thank you!!! Let Deanna know if you’d like to Zoom in to the Party. We will set it up for about 12:15pm. 

Beyond the event itself there are important ways you can help Kate and Ken move through these vital and challenging times—

For instance, you can sign-up for weekly check-in calls to talk us “up.”

• Kate and Ken are tired of swimming against the stream. Please help us move with our gracious Water Goddess Sister. Help us see her direction, feel her flow.

• Kate would love to do ½ to 1 hour of yoga each morning. In person would be great, but by phone works too.

• You don’t have to cook our meals, but a little phone help planning meals for Ken and Kate each week would be lovely.

• Spend ½ day or more with Kate at SunHaven, while Ken chops down firewood, or plans a new shed, does a new SunHaven project, or goes to a movie.

• Other PROJECTS Ken would love to work on with someone -- Dog Run, Outside Kitchen Patio Grill, …

You get the idea! With Don’s death. I’d thought to have some time to heal a decade of patterns. But now I think it might be more like 3 decades. Hope you can join us! Join me! It can be easy work with all of your loving of hearts and hands.”

Kate Taylor
970-402-3041

Bittersweet - New Level to this Cancer Journey

In March of this year- 2016, I beat the death-within-5-years prognosis given to me in 2011.  Our celebration, however, was somewhat muted by a bout in the hospital to have my right lung drained of 3 liters of breath-stealing fluid. This fluid is caused by the metastasized cancer on the right lung.

I have been struggling more with the pain and fatigue of metastasized cancer this past year. Returning home from the hospital in April, I began a whole new level of this cancer journey- the introduction of hospice care so I could continue my journey at home. I now have home visits from Pathways Hospice to help me at home. They manage my pain relief and oxygen needs. Although I try not to let it get me down, or prevent our adventures, I am getting slower and take more "managing" for my daily needs. Things are going very well with hospice. They are a big help. And they are as committed as I am to be sure my final days are in my beloved SunHaven, and not some institution or hospital. Plus they are committed to providing quality-of-life care which makes me more comfortable, and takes some of the caregiving load off Ken.

I'm pretty housebound now, but SunHaven (our nearly-finished rebuilt mountain home) is a paradise to be housebound in. I do get into town for a weekly massage, and tea time with friends. And Ken and I try to include wheelchair adventures every now and again. He loves to "push me around." 

Meanwhile, I've been letting folks know that I'm at this new level in my journey- the hospice care level. And that I  welcome visitors. Especially this summer when travel to SunHaven is easier. I would especially love to have some sacred/ceremonial time with my many sister/friends during this time. And Ken and I are planning to pull together a birthday open house on Sunday July 24th.

While at home, I am continuing the Tennant Frequency treatments and still follow a very careful, supportive diet. When I stay quiet and don't exert much, my energy is lighter and my spirits stay up. Meanwhile, I trust my weekly hospice nurse to monitor my body and she will let me know when I enter the "actively dying" phase of hospice care. Of course, no one knows when their final days might be, and I never want to discount the power of the body to heal itself in miraculous ways. I know many success stories where people far worse than I currently am, still recovered fully. Meanwhile though, this summer would be a good time to check out the new SunHaven, and come up for a visit.

"Cancering" - Living with Cancer, Bone Metastasis, Lung Metastasis

Almost a year ago I had the second Surgery to remove growths in the remaining tissue of the right mastectomy, and remove the left breast. Last Fall, we learned the cancer has spread from being contained in my lymph nodes into my spine and right lung. Here is what I've learned from that, and how I am managing.

First let me say, I do not do well with surgery. I know people (like my amazing daughter Tracy) who have had multiple surgeries and "bounce back" delightfully well and healthy. It seems no matter how well I set myself up for an easy recovery, my body greatly objects to the invasion of surgeries. Both pain and anesthetics easily push me into depression. This makes it harder for me to take good care of myself. In both my surgeries, the drain site took a year to stop feeling traumatized. Even though I am now happy I am no longer "lopsided," and even though all the tissue removed proved to have no cancer, I am still dealing with pain and side effects of the surgery last March.

Secondly, while my doctor wanted me to get the 2nd surgery because she was very concerned about the new lumps in my breast, she also warned me that "what the body does to heal from surgery, promotes the growth of cancer."

I may have made a critical mistake agreeing to have the second surgery- After 3 and a half years of managing to keep the metastisized cancer in only a few lymph nodes, after the second surgery, the cancer metastasized onto my right lung, and into several ribs, 3 vertebrae, and my left hip. Last fall, I began to have difficulty catching my breath, and sharp pain under my right lung. By November, I had found yoga breathing techniques and other ways to manage the breathing difficulties and that eliminated the pain. Over the last few months, however, my spine and hip have become increasingly painful. Not enough pain to stop me from living joyfully, but enough to notice everyday.

How am I doing today? 

Overall, I feel I have a great quality of life. I've found ways to deal with the new metastasis areas, and evolving ways to deal with evolving pain. I'm a little slower, and weaker, but overall I still can do the things I want to and I still have fun. Without another PETscan, it is hard to know exactly what is happening with the cancer- whether it is stopped again, or whether is is still "cancering."

Testing

One thing we learned is the vast amount of blood tests  my doctors were constantly doing- the multiple cancer markers, etc.- were useless. None of them indicated growing cancer metastases ("cancering") that the PETscan showed us. Only three tests showed negative changes-

• the CEA (a cancer marker blood test) increased dramatically, 
• the AFP (a tumor marker blood test) and 
• the HCG (urine test for amount of HCG hormone) increased slightly. 

The good news is we don't have to keep doing any other blood tests. I asked my doctor "If you can't have bone metastasis unless the cancer moves through your blood, why are all my Circulating Tumor Count blood tests showing ZERO cancer in my blood." Her response was "It just tells us this test does not work for you."

What works for the Lung Metastasis?

At this point, I don't actually have any tumors on my lungs. What I have is a contained pocket of fluid outside my right lung, in the pleural cavity. It is about 1/3 the size of my lung. Inside that fluid is a fist sized group of cancer cells- sort of floating around in there. Why? My oncologist simply says "Cancer sometimes creates fluid pockets." It takes up room from being able to take a deep breath. Not being able to take a deep breath causes, among other things, my diaphragm to get tense. This causes pain and aggravates a benign cyst on my liver which causes more pain- very sharp pain like a kidney stone. For a while I could not talk in a complete sentence without gasping for breath, and the pain would bring me to my knees.

Over time I found that yoga stretching seemed to move the fluid pocket into more comfortable places. In addition, yogic breathing relaxed my diaphragm so I could once again take deep breaths.
I decided to treat this fluid mass like lymphatic fluid and lymphadema.

• I use cabbage poultices to bring down the fluid swelling.
• I use the Chi Machine every morning to activate my lymph system.

Dr. Fields told me that researchers were having success using "shock heat therapy" to treat lung metastasis. The researchers are using the Biomat to provide the deep in-far red heat.

• I switched from using a Migun bed to the Biomat every morning while on the Chi Machine.
• While resting at night before bed, I direct Dr. Tennant's frequency inducer towards my bottom right lung.

At this time, I no longer have difficulty breathing every morning or any lung-related pain.

What works for the Bone Metastasis?

There are several right side ribs and 3 vertebrae (T6, T8, and T12) attached to those ribs with "bone mets." And the left hip has bone mets as well as a tumor between the pelvic bone and sacrum.

All of it is mildly painful, but T8 gives me the most pain. So I'm moving much slower, but I do far-infra-red heat (the biomat), the Chi machine, gentle yoga and I've started Tai Chi everyday to keep myself moving. My biggest concerns are the vertebrae. I have learned that bone mets is not, in itself deadly. It's biggest risk is the cancer spreading, bone pain, and bone breakage. Broken vertebrae can mean paralysis. I use a cannabis tonic and cream every night to keep the pain manageable.

Thanks to the bone mets, I spend a lot less time on the computer since hunching starts to hurt. Wish I could train myself not to hunch when I'm on the computer! Oh well, I spend a lot more time "resting" and that's not actually a bad thing. I like it! I only go into town about 2-3 days a week. I still have lots of doctor appointments and labs being done.

Another Important Lesson about Sugar and Cancer

Over Valentines Day I learned that how quickly sugar can effect the bone metastases. Ken and I went to a cancer fundraiser cocktail party. As a Valentine gift from the fundraiser, they gave us a box of goodies- candies, a small red velvet cake, a big box of Verns toffee and a small bottle of champagne. I could not resist, I ate my share of that dangerous box. That very night I went into severe back pain in my mid spine. It was like the bone mets begin immediately growing inside my bones, and the bone pain was intense (9 out of 10) most of the night. By morning I was back to "normal." Painful lesson!!!

What I wish I knew BEFORE I had a mastectomy

For anyone facing a possible mastectomy- please consider having both breasts removed at the same time! I wish I had thought to ask for that if a mastectomy became necessary. That is my biggest regret!

On March 9, 2011 I went to Poudre Valley Hospital for an outpatient lumpectomy to remove a large lump that was suspected to be cancerous. I awoke from that procedure checked into a hospital bed having undergone a complete mastectomy of my right breast. It was a much larger mass than suspected, and was indeed cancer. In addition, the surgeon removed 15 lymph nodes, 7 of which tested positive for cancer. The diagnosis- metastasized Stage IV Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

Not knowing the extent of the cancer, or even if it was cancer yet, I had agreed with my surgeon that he should use his best judgment during the procedure as to how much of my breast to remove. Even as much as the whole breast if he deemed it necessary. I think he did that, and considering the extent of the cancer, he made the best possible decision.

Because I did not really even expect to be dealing with cancer, let alone as much as was found, I was unprepared for the ramifications of a complete mastectomy. Mainly, I quickly discovered that I HATED being lopsided. Being large breasted for the past few decades, meant I now had one large breast and one no breast. Clothes no longer fit well, and I became very self-conscious. I started down the path of trying to find a comfortable prosthetic breast for my right side. The most lifelike was made of rubber- hot and heavy. The most comfortable was a puff of fibers stuck in my bra- totally not lifelike did not move with my body, and needed constant adjusting. Three years, and lots of body-image therapy and workshops later, I still hated being lopsided, AND I hated wearing a prosthesis.

For anyone facing a possible a mastectomy- please consider having both breasts removed at the same time! I wish I had thought to ask for that if a mastectomy became necessary. That is my biggest regret!

Secondly, I quickly learned about the complications of lymphedema. Having lost so many lymph nodes, a chain in the front of my chest and a chain down my back, my scar area was not just the red line across my chest as I had seen in pictures. It was a large mass from my breast bone around my right side (under my arm) to my back. It was like a tight sheath that I wore under my skin every day. That sheath took almost two years to soften and stop being painful. Nerves were sacrificed in the procedure so some areas on my right side have never returned to normal.

I was warned while in the hospital that I might never regain the strength in that arm, and that I should be very vigilant not to injure it. Also that I could never again have a blood pressure test on my right arm, or any blood taken or injections given on that side. All to prevent any injury to that fragile side. Injury could induce a lymphedema episode.

For the first year I did not experience any lymphedema. Then one day about a year after the surgery I woke up with an elephant arm. It hurt! I had to learn to wear a tight, stretchy sleeve every day to bring down the swelling and pain. That made my hand and fingers puff up and ache, so I also had to wear a tight fingerless glove as well. I found a good lymphedema physical therapist to bring it under control. Now I get lymphedema massage every other week. And I've learned to be on guard for any signs of swelling and to wear my sleeve and glove as a preventative measure.

Three years after my mastectomy and diagnosis, I had a second surgery to remove some suspicious remaining breast tissue on the right side, and to remove my left breast. Turns out the suspicious tissue was just scar tissue and not cancerous. Meanwhile, I am so much happier to be flat-chested and not lopsided!

2nd Surgery to Complete the Mastectomy

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been 3 years since the surgery which diagnosed the original cancer. For the most part I have been doing very well and in many ways I feel I am healthier now than ever before. A PETscan from last May showed no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body. However, as many of you know, the original surgeon left behind a dangerous amount of breast tissue when he did the mastectomy. That breast issue has become very suspect and 2 lymph nodes on either side of the tissue have lit up recently with cancer.

So this Tuesday, March 18th, I will reluctantly be having another surgery to remove the problematic tissue on the right side. At that time, if possible, the surgeon will also remove one of the cancerous lymph nodes. This will allow some extensive testing on the cancer in the node that will help us determine if this is the same cancer, and what treatments would work best to stop it from spreading. The best news about this surgery is that since I will already "be under," they will also do a full mastectomy of my remaining breast. FINALLY, I will no longer be lopsided! I look forward to a summer of not having to wear a hot, rubber prosthesis. I plan to embrace flatchestedness and skimpy summer dresses.

I will be at the Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland this time around. It is the big new hospital on I-25 near Hwy 34. Surgery will be around 10am in the morning (Tues, March 18), and I will have to stay over at least one night. Since my original surgery was planned as a simple outpatient lumpectomy, and turned into a full mastectomy with overnight hospital stay, I take comfort in knowing more what to expect this time.

Many of the loving people who know me have been asking what they can do to help or to support me during this time. My Beloved Ken will be there for me before, during and after the procedure. He is my rock! After my experience last time I know I will not be very coherent for any visitors on Tuesday. So if you would like to visit I suggest Wednesday. I hope to be discharged Wednesday late afternoon.

I would welcome prayers, candles, and visions of gentle, easy surgery and recovery all day Tuesday. One of the surgery-prep books suggest visualizing me on a pink healing cloud during the procedure and sending more pink clouds after. I've been using this time to create a Surgery Checklist full of ideas to prepare and recover. I also love cut flowers and think every sick person and every hospital room should have them. But if you are coming by you might consider bringing fresh, organic berries as I can't think of a more delightful break from hospital food.

I expect to be home at the Laporte House by Thursday, but I would prefer to have a quiet day to adjust to the recovery process on that day. However, by Friday I'm sure I would love visitors. In fact, I'm sure by Friday Ken would love to get back up to the land to continue the rebuild, so people to stay with me during the days from Friday March 21 through Thursday March 27th would be very welcome and give Ken a much needed break.

They tell me I will not be using my arms for some weeks afterwards. No driving for up to 6 weeks. So cooked meals would be a great blessing for both Ken and me. I imagine soups and stews would be easiest for everyone, but we would be open to any ideas. My main dietary restrictions are all organic foods, no sugar and no soy, and I can not tolerate strong spices, but we do eat meat and stevia is my very great friend. Ken is putting together a schedule for visitors and food, so please call him at 970-305-0678. He is recording three things- people who can stay with me for a half day or a day, people who can bring food, and people who would just like to stop by for a quick visit. This way he knows when he can get away to SunHaven.

Ken and I are doing well and are comfortable with this decision to have the surgery, although it complicates the home rebuilding process. On the SunHaven front, the upper windows for the loft are finally installed. We hope to complete the large, lower windows and install the two downstairs doors soon. There are still parts of the SIPs walls that need to be completed, and the roof is only about 1/3 done. In spite of the slow process and my surgery, we still plan to be living there in May. We have no choice as our insurance will no longer pay for in-town rent after May. We may be camping out for the summer, but at least we will be home!

 If you are close by and have to time to visit or bring food Ken and I would both be very grateful. If that does not work for you, or you live far away, we would welcome your prayers and good wishes. Either way, know you are in my thoughts and are an important part of my healing circle. I am very grateful that you have been a part of my life!

Magic Waters - Healing Waters

It’s true. Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. We all need water to survive. BUT at the same time bad water can be deadly. In contrast, there are what I call the “magic" waters- water that heals while nourishing the body.


In our town of Fort Collins, Colorado we supposedly have exceptionally healthy city water, with little chlorine taste or smell. Nonetheless, this city-treated water is full of chlorine, fluoride (mandated by the City and gotten cheap from nuclear-waste sources-ugh!), plus other people’s hormones and prescriptions that are still in the processed toilet water we are drinking. On top of that, most of our purchased (supposedly clean, filtered) water has questionable sources, questionable filtering, and is distributed in plastic containers.

Why does this matter? Cancer compromises your overall health. So when you are fighting cancer (or trying to stay alive during chemo) everything you put in (and on) your body can adversely or positively affect your health. This is just common sense. So Cancer Thrivers are careful to eat nontoxic, organic, nutrient-dense foods. We eliminate body products with toxic chemicals. And we need to find quality water sources.

Why care about plastic containers? Plastic water containers are made of a resin that releases plastic estrogen into the water. Even the so-called BPA-free plastics do this if they are heated and cooled with liquid in them. The softer the plastic bottle, the more likely you are drinking plastic estrogen. My cancer is estrogen-receptive, so one of the first things my doctor suggested was that I NEVER drink from a plastic bottle again. I do use 3 gallon plastic bottles to transport my water from the store to home, but I keep these containers sterile and in a temperature controlled environment until I can transfer the water into a glass dispenser.

Ways I Use Water to Help me Thrive 1. Never drink from a plastic bottle again. You do not know how long that water was stored, and at what temperatures, in the warehouse. Get glass drinking bottles and containers. They are pricey, or you can get Voss Drinking water in 12 or 24 oz bottles for only about $3 at your health food store. Drink the water, save the bottle. I also get a $3 foam bottle holder with a carrying strap from Walmart and protect the Voss bottle in it. 2. Buy Reverse-Osmosis filtered water. It is cheap (about 25 cents a gallon) and it is the only filtering process that removes EVERYTHING. Trouble is, it removes EVERYTHING- even good-for-you minerals and electrolytes. So I re-filter my reverse-osmosis water in a Nikken water filter (which filters through minerals and has rocks on the bottom adding healthy minerals to the water), or add Prill Beads once a year to my glass kitchen water dispenser to get minerals (like magnesium) into the water for drinking. 3. Put a filter on your shower head and bath faucet. Chlorine, fluoride, and other people’s hormones and prescriptions will enter your body through your pores and your skin if you do not filter them out. If you are lucky enough to have your own well, test it for drinking. Our well at our mountain home is 500 feet deep and tests as extremely healthy and pure. So at the mountain home we do not worry about consuming or bathing in this deep-well water. 4. Drink a glass of lemon water every morning. Squeeze a fresh lemon into 12-16 oz of very pure, warm water. Drink it before getting out of bed if possible- it’s a positive thing your partner can do for you every day. It starts your day with a nurturing act for you and your body- it is very good for your liver and your gall bladder, activates your internal organs, gets you vitamin C, helps alkalinize your body, stimulates your colon, and just plain feels like you are taking good care of yourself. Drink it first thing, then wait 20 minutes before consuming anything else (except water) for the day. 5. Uncle Charlie’s Magic Spring Water- Just north of Black Hawk, Colorado is Uncle Charlie’s Ranch. He has a spring at 10,000 foot elevation that has some of the purest, healthiest water on earth. So pure it is routinely studied by Colorado State University. So pure and healthy my doctor recommended it. He will only sell it in glass containers, and you can bring your own glass containers for refill. When you visit the ranch you can have him fill a cowboy hot tub of this pure water and soak in it. We get gallons every time we are in the area. I drink 12-16 oz of Uncle Charlie’s Magic Water every morning before getting out of bed, even before drinking my lemon water! www.unclecharliesranch.com 6. Drink lots of pure water every day. As a general rule you should take your body weight, divide by 2, and drink that many ounces of water a day! So if you weigh 128 lbs, you only need to drink 64 ounces (1 gallon) of water a day. For 256 pounds, you need 2 gallons of water a day. 7. Use water to alkalinize your body. Some people drink "alkalinized water," but I have not researched or tried this. I use a product called MyPH11 (get it online or I get it at my doctor's office thehealinggardens.org) as an deodorant spray. It is simply water alkalinized to PH11 in a glass spray bottle. By spraying it directly on my skin under my arms this alkalinized water goes directly into my lymph area near where my cancer exists. Cancer can not survive in an alkaline state (nor can bacteria which is why this makes a great natural deodorant). It is super cheap ($3 for a refill) and effective. 8. Use natural products for hot tubbing. Standard hot tub products keep the water clean at the expense of what the harsh chemicals do to your skin and health. I love to hot tub and use it therapeutically to keep my mastectomy site flexible and comfortable. I use Colloidal Silver to condition the water and keep it clean. Again it is simple, easy and cheap! I get Hot Tub Silver online and it costs about $50 for 4 bottles that last about 1 year for our 300 gallon tub. Plus it conditions your skin and promotes your overall health while you are soaking in it.