Vegetarian challenge

Recently I have been reading a book called "The China Study."   I know many of you have already read this book and have gone vegetarian.  As I read it, I can understand why you did!  So the Myler family is jumping on the bandwagon starting January 1st.  I cannot promise that we will do it forever, but we have commited to do it for 30 days.  So we are starting there.  No meat and very little dairy for the month of January. 

It is absolutely crazy to me the information that I have been given since my cancer diagnosis.  I have seen dieticians who have told me more dairy, more dairy, it is a good way to get protein.  But the research has proven that dairy and animal protein is the cause and contributor to a lot of diseases.  In this book, they talk about literally being able to turn on and off cancer with your diet.  Well, if you don't mind, I would really like to turn mine (and my sister's) OFF!! 

So, I am putting the challenge out there for anyone who would like to participate with us.   For those of you who are already vegetarian, thank you for your example, also feel free to send me some recipes, hints and tips. 

Let's all eat lots and lots of plants in 2013!

Watch and wait........for now

So, here is a little update on what our treatment plan is.....

The oncologists want me to either do radiation or have a single mastectomy.  I don't want to do radiation, as it would be right over my heart and I already am having heart issues.  With irregular heart beats, fast pulse, etc.  I am taking some medication, which does seem to be helping.  But, now I am very protective of my heart and want it to get stronger, not weaker, by radiation. 

We have decided to do another mammogram in 3 months (March) and see what is happening, if anything.  I am continuing the Herceptin therapy, which is supposed to block those receptors and cells from reproducing.  I am also going to begin Tamoxifen after the first of the year.  This should shut down my ovaries, so that I no longer produce estrogen.  Which sounds crazy right??!  Well, my cancer LOVES estrogen.  So, it makes sense to deprive it of its true love.  I should expect some serious hot flashes.  So if you see me after the first of the year and I am all flushed, you will know why! :)  I know this medication has a lot of controversy over it, but I am going to give it a try and hope that my body will tolerate it well. 

We feel good about waiting to do a mastectomy at the moment.  Of course, it is always available for me if something does come up in one of the mammograms.  I pray that this is the right decision and that this cancer thing was just a "catastrophic event", as my doctor put it. 

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers, I KNOW that they have helped us get through this.  We could not have done it without all of you.  THANK YOU!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Meg is thirteen!

Roman is eight!

Saturday was Roman's 8th birthday!  He has been counting down the days and it has finally arrived! 

A few things about our Roman:

• Loves Legos
• Favorite color is blue
• He is a morning person
• Loves sweets
• He wants to be a foot doctor or a tummy doctor when he grows up.
• Loves to play the Xbox
• Loves to use tools
• Loves board games
• Favorite subject is science and doing experiments
• Favorite food is crepes or "roll-up pancakes"
• Very funny and likes to tell jokes
• He likes to cook in the kitchen and do "Sweet Genius" challenges.
• Very easy going.
• Loves to wrestle with his dad
• He likes to think up new inventions
• He is very brave, he doesn't seem to be afraid of much.
• Likes to give other people money
• Loves playing with his best friend, Tyler



Science Fair

We have had a busy last few days, preparing for a homeschool co-op science fair.  The kids each prepared a science experiment, and then made a board for display.

Here is Meg's....the naked egg! 

Roman took two pumpkins and guessed which one would have more seeds!

Did you know even small pumpkins have 400+ seeds? 

Thanksgiving

This Thankgiving I am thankful for so many things.  Most of them are so close to my heart, that it is hard to talk about.  You all are so important to me and make me the person that I am today.  Thank you for everything that you have done for me.  I hope that each of you know that I love you!

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving day. 

Meg, Brittany and Josh

 Mikayla, Colton, Roman, Katie (Nathan's friend), Nathan and Austin

 Ranelle

 Rex, Ryan and Kyle

 Mikayla and Meg

 Tanner and Austin

 Brayden and Lauren

Just a few of the cousins together! 



It's Children's Day!!

Growing up when Mother's Day or Father's Day would roll around, my sister, Katie and I would always ask.....when is Kid's Day??  My parents would honestly answer, "EVERY day is Kid's day!"  Well, guess what?? Today is the official Children's Day.   So, tell your children you love them, squeeze them tight, do something special for them, be patient with them, play a game with them, whatever it is, enjoy them, it's KIDS DAY!!

This was from a few years ago, but I think it is still my favorite picture of our two kids together.  I love you!

Courage

Emotions

This past week has been full of emotions for me.  Another member of our ward died of cancer this past week.  There were three of us all diagnosed around the same time.  I am the only one left.  I know their cancers were both very different from mine.  I know this.  Everyone is different.  I know.  But, I can't shake the sadness that I feel. 

Cancer is everywhere.  Everytime you turn around.  Someone you love has it.  Someone in your church.  A friend.  A co-worker.  Be kind to everyone.  We just don't know what they are dealing with.

Family pictures

While up in Vancouver, we were able to go while there was a break in the rain, to get some family photos.  FYI:  get permission before "setting up camp" in someone's field to get a few family pictures.  If you don't, you just might get an angry landowner wanting you off their property. 

Vancouver

We headed up to Vancouver for a few days to stay with Rachelle.  I had an appointment in Portland at OHSU for a second opinion.  We saw 4 different doctors and we were there for about 5 hours.  We saw a radiation oncologist, a breast cancer oncologist, a breast surgeon and a plastic surgeon.  So our options right now are 6 weeks of radiation or mastectomy and reconstruction.  We have some big decisions to make.  I am so glad that we went though, I feel much more confident in the information that we were given.  I feel that we can truly make a better decision now, knowing more about both options. 

So that was Thursday.  While we were at OHSU, Rachelle took the kids to a place called G6.  It has a bunch of trampolines all hooked together that they played on.

They also carved pumpkins.  That was Roman's favorite thing that he did all weekend!

Later that night we went out to eat at SushiLand.  You sit down at a booth and there is a conveyor belt that goes around the restaurant.  As the cooks make up the sushi, they put it on the conveyor, it goes past your table and you pick up whatever it is that you want. Each color of plate is a different price. It was fun!  I am not a huge fan of sushi, but they had cream puffs, and teriyaki chicken, so I survived.  :) 

We also saw a beautiful rainbow, that we were sure would bring us luck! 

Friday we did some shopping.  We went to World Market, which was Meg's favorite part of the whole weekend!  What a fun store.  Thank you Rachelle for the great weekend!  Let's do it again soon!

Do YOU have the force?

The trunk-R-treat was last night.  Here are a few shots of our Star Wars fans...

Princess Leia

 Anakin Skywalker

Apples to Apples

Yesterday we went to mom and dad's and spent the day canning apple juice.  It was a rainy day, but not too cold.  It seemed like summer heat compared to the Fall we canned apple juice up at Denise's in Colfax.  Remember that Denise?  Brrrr.....

Meg and grandpa working hard.

 We were so thankful to have Treyse there.  He was our muscle for the day.  He did all of the cranking and squeezing of the juice!

 Josh came later and helped us pack all the jars into boxes and load up the cars.

Ariela came down from Albany and helped out too!  It was so good to see her!

A big thanks to mom and dad for letting us make a big mess in their garage!  
Our total was 219 quarts!

In memory of Steve Amos

This is a solo from last weekend's General Conference in SLC. 

One of our friends, Steve Amos, passed away from lung cancer last Friday.

This song is for him.

Steve Amos,  you will be missed!

A day I will never forget

I am going to try and get through this post without starting to cry. 

Yesterday we went to Sutherlin for my nephew, Colton's soccer game.  Their team wears pink jerseys throughout the month of October for breast cancer awareness.  I loved seeing all of those boys sporting the pink!  I don't know if any of the team had anyone in their families with breast cancer, other than Colton. 

After the game all of the family members stand on the sidelines and clap for their boys.  The boys run across the field over to their families.  Colton came towards me and took off his pink jersey and handed it to me.  I gave him a big hug and all I could think of was, this is my sweet little Colton that I used to carry arond with me, not so many years ago. He would have his binky in his mouth and his blanket thrown over his shoulder.  Sometimes he would take his binky out and say my name, "Ritta...Ritta.." in his low, baby voice.   What a sweet gesture for him to give me his jersey, and by the way, instead of putting his own last name on the back, as all the other boys did, he had them put Myler.  Just for me. 

Colton, I hope you know how much that meant to me.  You touched my heart with your sweet gesture!  I will never forget that moment for as long as I live!  Thank you for that! I love you!

Fall school days

Can I just say that I LOVE FALL....
The leaves are turning beautiful colors and the crisp breeze is blowing through your hair (sort of), the weather is perfect!  Sometimes we can't help ourselves and we do some school outside.

And then we go out to grandma and grandpa Reber's to dig up some of their pototoes.  Who doesn't love to dig in the dirt? 



I hope each of you are having a wonderful Fall day! 

A closer look at Herceptin

I am continuing the Herceptin therapy.  I go in every three weeks for a few hours and get it through my port.  While I was doing chemotherapy I also received Herceptin.  But during that time, I did not notice any real side effects, because I was experiencing so many side effects from the chemo.  But now that I am off the chemo, I am noticing that Herceptin has its own side effects as well.  Ugh.

• Nausea
• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Dizziness

I found this video that explains what HER2 is and how Herceptin helps those of us who are HER2 positive. 

This short video is also very good.  It makes me very thankful for this new Herceptin treatment.  Otherwise, my prognosis would have been very different. 

When you think of the alternative, I will take the side effects, gratefully!

Meg

One of the ladies in our ward took some pictures of all of the young women recently, here is Meg's photo.  I can not believe she is 12, (almost 13).  Where did the time go?

Meg Lauren Myler

• Loves to draw
• Loves her cat, Tunnel
• Loves fashion
• Loves a good book, she is reading EverTaster right now.
• Loves to play with her brother, Roman
• She is the Beehive's President
• She loves going to mutual.
• Her favorite colors are blue and green
• Loves pasta
• She loves to be organized
• She is a planner.  She makes lists and likes to be prepared.
• Loves taking pictures with her camera.
• She wants to be a Paleontologist when she grows up.
• Favorite movie is Pride and Prejudice (the old one), but she loves the new one too!
• Favorite snack is Muddy Buddies.
• She is in 7th grade.
• Favorite subject is Math.
• Favorite animal, cats of course!



Check this out!

It has been almost 2 months since my last chemo treatment.  This is how much my hair has grown.  I am so excited!  And, it is SO soft. The kids think rubbing my head brings good luck! 

Look Good....Feel Better!

Today I went to a class for women going through cancer treatment called, Look Good, Feel Better!  It is a class where they teach you how to put on makeup after the effects of cancer treatment.  How to draw in eyebrows, etc..  The class I was in had six other ladies in it, all of them were at least 60 years old, I was definately the odd man out, but they were all very nice.  There were two other ladies who had breast cancer, so we were able to talk about our treatments and side effects.  It is amazing that I now belong to this group of women who have so much in common.  I also found out about a breast cancer support group that meets every 2nd Monday of the month.  I plan to try it out in October.

For this class you get a goodie bag full of cosmetics.  Everyone got something a little different, but this is what I got:

Revlon ColorStay pressed powder- (love this!!)

Maybelline Earthly Taupe eyeshadow

Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation-(love this!!)

NatureLuxe mascara

It cosmestics brow power pencil

Mac concealer-(love this!!)

Make Up For Ever eyeliner

MaryKay lip liner

Loreal True Match blush

Rouge Coco Chanel lipstick-(1st time for everything)

Loreal infallible lip gloss

My Girls skin moisturizer

Biore face wipes

Estee Lauder Take it Away makeup remover

Clinique visible skin renewer

Coppertone sunscreen lotion spf50

Guess what I got from Rachelle this week, I just have to show you!  I will give you a hint....I was missing it terribly during chemo.  Since my tastebuds were fried I could not taste anything and not tasting some of this was pretty tragic.  So now that I CAN taste again, she made me some........

Chocolate Sauce!  YUM!