My name is Judy. I live in Independence, MO and have a wonderful, loving husband - Tom - and three equally wonderful and loving children - Tommy, Stephen and Marianne.
I was told by my MD on June 15th, 2007, that I had breast cancer. My husband and I went to see a local breast cancer specialist August 31, 2007 who informed us that I had just a few months to live (without treatment) because I am in stage four of breast cancer that has spread to my back and abdomen. With chemotherapy, they say they can extend my life by a few years and try to make me as comfortable as possible until either the chemo stops working, or I just can't handle the chemo anymore and give up.
My family and I absolutely REFUSED to accept this and I started going to Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, Illinois with the hopes that they could turn this "death sentence" into something else by treating me with both standard and holistic protocols.
Due to being surrounded with alot of love, faith, prayers, great care from CTCA and more - on July 3, 2008, my PET scan came back with no noticible cancerous activity! The aftereffects of this news has been a little strange for me! I suddenly wanted to start wearing a huge billboard on my body letting people know... I SURVIVED!! I know - I know... it has only been a year... but.... this is just the foundation - the building block to making sure the breast cancer STAYS AWAY and does not come back. I think anyone who has gone through this can understand what I am feeling.
I decided to build this website for several reasons - one is to chronicle my battle with breast cancer; two is to show my family and friends that I mean BUSINESS on trying to do what I can in order to battle this cancer; three is to hopefully help and encourage others that are going through what I am going through. It initially was an informational site for family and friends. Now... it is growing.... due to my "wanna wear a survivor billboard" feelings - I decided to start offering clothing, jewelry (my favorite!), mugs, magnets, etc. about breast cancer. My goal... to make these items as affordable as possible, but still make a little bit of money and donate a portion of the profits to either CTCA or the Breast Cancer Relief Foundation.
I created the Cancer Update Forum, to help keep people posted on how I am doing. So... if you want updates as to how I am doing.... please visit and subscribe to the various threads by clicking on the NOTIFY button. This will send you an email when I make a new post. It will also save me time by updating everyone at once as opposed to answering several different emails from those of you who are concerned about me! Now, I am hoping that others with breast cancer or those who have loved ones with breast cancer can visit this forum and receive some help, inspiration, uplifting of the spirit!
I want to thank all of you for your love, prayers, positive thoughts, gifts, cards and mostly for just "being there" for us! Our abounding love and thanks goes out to our immediate family for all their love and support during this trying time. Thanks to our "second family" - the people at Kimak's Pest Control where Tom works - we feel truly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family! Another special thanks goes out to my clients - VFW Post 5789 and the Crystal View Estates Board members for their support, patience and understanding!
