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.