The Book Babe Speaks

My friends have been getting on me about the fact that I never blog anymore. Apparently having a blog is like having a pet, you have to pay attention to it. So here is a brief rundown of my year so far and then some book reviews.

I saw my oncologist in January and he once again insisted that I have a hysterectomy. He has been telling me I needed one since October and I keep ignoring him. Not the best thing to do but I did it anyway. He was quite cranky with me in Jan so I decided to talk to my friend’s mom who is a breast cancer doctor and she said that in my situation, it is necessary. Blech. So I had it done this last Wed. So I am currently all hopped up on Percocet. Very exciting. It hurts to do everything including breathe…

I signed up to do the 3-day again in November. I am halfway to my fund-raising goal! I also have a ton of residual anger from everything so I joined a roller derby league. I am not on a team yet since I am still training. Soon though… It is a ton of fun and good exercise. I think I may have done semi-permanent injury to my hand but totally worth it. I am apparently more of a bad ass than I thought.

Book I have read recently:

Party by Tom Leveen ~ This one is my new favorite book and he is my new favorite author. He lives here in Az and is a super awesome guy. I was hooked from the first page. The entire book revolves around the end-of-the-year party and is told in first person from various characters point of view. Tom has the ability to believably write in female voices as well as male. Something that is not always easy to do. Ultimately it is a story of love and redemption. I am not even talking about romantic love, although that is in there, but many different types of love. Parental, platonic, friend and even love of one’s self. I really enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it to everyone. It hits the stores April 27th. So go get it!

Undead Much by Stacey Jay ~ I love this series! It is very Buffy-if-she-was-a-zombie-slayer only without as much teen angst. This is the second book in the series (first one is You Are So Undead to Me) and I hope there are many more. They are quick easy reads and they make me laugh. There was only one thing I did not love about it but the rest of the book was so much fun that it was easy to ignore it.

My Double Life by Janette Rallison ~ This book was so much fun to read! It is my favorite of all her books. It is about a girl who looks like a famous pop-star so gets hired to make appearances on the pop-stars behalf. It ends exactly like I wanted it to and it just made me happy. Janette’s books are like that though, simple and fun and everything that you want them to be.

Merlin’s Harp by Ann Eliot Crompton ~ I know that there are a plethora of book re-telling the story of King Arthur and Merlin, I have read many of them, and this is one of my favorites. It is told from the Fey’s point of view, specifically from the view point of the daughter of the Lady of the Lake. It is beautifully well written and I enjoyed every second of it. It is in paperback  and should be available in any bookstore. This is one that even people who are “experts” at Arthurian legend would enjoy. Also, the cover is one of the most gorgeous covers I have ever seen.

Mistwood by Leah Cypess ~ This is old-school, high fantasy for teens. So Good! This debut novel was recommended to me by my friend Aprilynne who raved and raved about it and she was not wrong. Reading it made me so happy, I felt like I was a little girl again reading my very first fantasy. It was a very satisfying read. I think I smiled for a day after I read it.  Also out April 27th.

Brain Jack by Brian Falkner ~ This was a ton of fun to read, even though I do not have the computer smarts to really understand everything that happened. It is a fast paced boy book, sort of a computer/end-of-civilization/conspiracy storyline. It seems like a lot to cram into a book for teens but it totally works. I enjoyed reading it, and would have enjoyed it more if I had more computer knowledge. It was out in New Zealand last year so you can probably get it off of the internets (yes I know that “internets” is not correct, but it makes me laugh to say it and write it). It comes out in the US  this fall.

Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick ~ A very cute story about a secret zoo underneath the Clarksville Zoo. There is mystery, a missing girl, tons of animals and even Sasquatches.  I would have liked it a lot more if I was 12, but it was cute. An interesting idea and a sweet story, good for boys and girls. It won’t be a big adult cross-over book but I think kids will like it. This book has a “Eragon” type story (self published, sold a ton of copies, got picked up by a major publisher) surrounding its publication so look for it to come out soon from Harper.

Those are a few of the ones I have read lately. I will try to post at least once a week… No promises though

I wanted to thank everyone who attended, worked on or donated to Project Book Babe.  There are not enough words in any language to express my gratitude to all of you! I also wanted to wish you all a Fabulous and Happy New Year!

I look forward to a lovely cancer-free new year.   2009 brought all of us our share of challenges but mine were made easier to deal with because of the support of friends, family and everyone who attended or worked on Project Book Babe. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
I learned many incredible lessons this year and they will serve me well for the rest of my life.

The outpouring of love from fans of the Project Book Babe authors (as well as friends and family) was incredible. I received so many good wishes from so many people, it was amazing. I even received a handmade quilt from a group of ladies who belong to a group called Twilight Australia. Three of them presented it to me in person and it is completely stunning. I could not have made it through 2009 without all of your support.

I finished chemo at the end of July and radiation at the end of September and was fortunate to feel well enough to participate in the local Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for the Cure (there are pics in an earlier post). It was the second weekend in November and I had a wonderful time. It was a bit difficult physically, 20 miles a day is a lot of walking and I was only six weeks out from radiation but I managed it anyway. My team was called Project Book Babe’s Walkers for Knockers and consisted of myself and four of the ladies who were instrumental in bringing about Project Book Babe. We all had a ton of fun despite the challenges it provided. We had team shirts with a different slogan for each day; Save the Bunnies; I’m a Street Walker (this one got the most laughs) and Bookin’ it for Boobs. There was a ton of community support, from the random person sitting in their driveway cheering us on to the elementary school that came out with signs and cheers. Our team became fast friends with another team and have joined forces for next years walk. I met a number of survivors on the walk and heard numerous stories, each one more inspiring than the last. I had the privilege of being on stage for the closing ceremonies and what an honor that was! I highly recommend the experience to everyone. It can be hard to dedicate the energy to training and fundraising but you will not regret it.

Thank you all again a million times over for your support and I hope that the New Year brings you nothing but happiness.

Love,
Faith

I saw my surgeon last week and he said that I am officially cancer free. Very exciting. Also saw my oncologist last week and he scheduled me a PET scan for Jan just to make sure that the chemo got it all. I also have to see someone about other lady parts that are at high risk for getting cancer. Not so fun. I still have to see them every 6 months to make sure that it does not come back and I still have to be on Tomaxifen for 5 years.  The oncologist says it is working, as evidenced by the increase in severity of hot flashes. I thought that they would be easier to deal with in the winter but not so much. A hot flash is now followed immediately by a cold flash. Every day is an adventure…

I had a lovely Thanksgiving. It was quiet and uneventful, just the way I like my holidays. I have been sick which sucks since it does not seem to be going away. I am pretty sure that it is just an obnoxious cold. I don’t have any flu symptoms so that makes me happy. It just keeps moving to different parts of my body, tons of fun. I am still tired alot but I think that may be due more to the cold then to other things. I think that the chemicals are working their way out of my system so yay for that.

My team for next years 3-day walk is huge and we are starting training this week. Can’t have too much training. Am very excited to be doing that. Some of us are also going to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Climb to Conquer Cancer in Feb. I am also looking forward to that. Should be a fun time.

I saw New Moon (got the pleasure of seeing it early so did not have to fight the crowds) and loved it! I was very pleased with the shirtlessness of the wolf pack. That was pretty. I just had to thank Stephenie for writing Jacob so shirtless. I enjoyed it as I was reading NM for the first time and I enjoyed it even more with the movie. It was a ton of fun to watch and I really liked the wolves. I have always been part of Team “Both Because They are Fictional” and always will be but NM definitely could have turned me had I not been a Jacob lover. I know, I know, that may sound like blasphemy but luckily they are fictional so I don’t have to choose between the two.

This past weekend was the Susan G Komen 3-day breast cancer walk. It was such a phenomenal experience. There was a lot of crying, hurt feetsies, sore muscles, and cranky moment. But it was all worth it. I have never been so incredibly inspired in my life. The support from the community was more than I would have thought. The crew worked tirelessly (the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to bed) to feed us, hydrate us, and fix us and they still had the energy to cheer us on throughout the day. There were cheering stations filled with supporters with water, candy, little gifts, cute kids, signs and of course dogs. There were a number of people who would stand at an intersection to cheer us on, wait until the last walker passed by and then drive to the beginning of the line of pink and start all over again. There was so much love and support it was overwhelming. After lunch the second day, there was a couple who were handing out business card sized thank you cards with pictures of their daughters who lost the battle with breast cancer. They just kept thanking everyone for walking and raising money so no other parent would have to suffer the loss of a daughter. It was heart-wrenching and times like that renewed me and kept me going.

I met so many people on the walk and heard so many stories. Every time I got on a sweep van (they picked up the worn and weary ones whose feet could no longer carry them, 60 miles is a long way after all) I asked people their stories and they were more than willing to share. I met so many incredible people that way!

The weather was beautiful. Friday it was cloudy, Saturday it alternated between rainy, cloudy and sunny and Sunday it was sunny but not too hot. I loved walking in the rain! It was a ton of fun.

The whole weekend was one long testament to the power of giving and friendship (so has the whole year actually). Each walker raised a minimum of $2300 in order to walk. That is a lot of money but 0ver 1700 people (that is only the Phx walkers!) were able to do so. In this economy, that is amazing. And it was not just about the money. The training involved is intense, kind of like having a second job. The training can take up as much as 30 hours a week. And that does not even include the fund-raising. The devotion to the walk and all the time spent in the hopes that one day, no-one will ever have to go through the pain and agony of breast cancer, speaking as a survivor, that means the world. As the Susan G Komen people say “Everyone deserves a lifetime”.

My team was superb! We spent every second of the weekend together and then we had breakfast and lunch together today. Yay us. We are rock stars! Don’t get me wrong, we had cranky moments but our friendship is stronger than ever. I have the best friends in the universe. Our team spent a number of our training walks with Team Ta-Ta Ya-Ya’s and now both teams are bff’s. So much so that we are combining teams for next year! There were some other women from various other teams that we befriended and they are also going to be part of our new team! All of them were inspirations and kept me going. A couple women who I am now friends with were pregnant and still walked! Way to go them.

The closing ceremonies were fabulous and I have to thank my new, dear friend Chrystine to thank for that. She was a flag bearer for opening and closing ceremonies and invited me to be with her as her honoree. It was incredible. We were behind the stage when the walkers paraded in all wearing the new shirts we got (pink for the survivors, gray for the crew and white for the rest of the walkers). The crew all walked in and lined the stadium, then those wearing the white came in, cheered on by the crew and audience, all the while the mistress of ceremonies talked about their dedication and commitment and their incredible spirit. Me and Chrystine’s teams walked in together of course. After them, she talked about the crew and the fantastic job they did taking care of us. Then the survivors walked in, all in pink. It was an amazing moment. The mistress of ceremonies talked about the survivor’s journey consisting of not only 60 miles but of months and even years. It was pretty darn intense and inspiring.  While the survivors walked in, the rest of the walkers and crew held up a shoe in support of them. It might sound silly but looking out and seeing thousands of shoes in the air was fabulous. Then the flag bearers walked on stage holding flags that said things like My Daughter, My Friend, My Aunt etc and then the honorees went up on stage to stand by their people. This was my second favorite part of the weekend. Chrystine and I were up front almost center stage. Looking out and seeing the sea of white, pink and grey was indescribable. Then the survivor flag bearers(representing all us survivors) came and reformed the circle they created at opening ceremonies. I am not going to lie, there was a lot of crying on my part. As soon as the walkers started parading in, all my aches and pains disappeared.

The mantra of the 3-day: I walk because I must. I am strong because the journey demands it. Together in body and united in spirit, I lay down my footsteps for this generation and the next. This is my promise: A WORLD WITHOUT BREAST CANCER!

All in all, one of the most memorable weekends of my life. And we are already planning for next year.

The only thing missing from the entire weekend was hot shirtless guys. Of which there were zero. Very sad….

Here are some pics courtesy of my teammates.

Closing ceremonies as the survivors walked in

Survivors circle during closing ceremonies

Another shot of the survivor's circle at closing

Chrystine and I onstage for closing.

Mary wrote me on the wall of the remembrance tent. Here are her pretty toes.

Me and a 30 yr survivor. We met at the restaurant where my team had our post-walk lunch.

Post walk lunch

Day 1, so early...

The whole team day 2

The whole team day 3

me holding the "I'm walking for myself" flag

Christy(from Ta-Ta Ya-Ya's) and me after closing ceremonies.

I carried this for my mom who is also a survivor. 10 years and counting...

Flags from opening ceremonies

More flag bearers from opening ceremonies

I know that it has been too long since I posted. I have no excuses… Here is a quick update.

I am very happy to be done with treatments but I am still easily exhausted. Still training for the 3-day walk,which is the weekend of November 14th. I did 16 miles on Saturday and am still tired from that. Training for this is kind of like having a part time job.

I spent a week in Virginia with my awesome brother and sister-in-law, they work for Black Friars Playhouse so I got to see 5 plays while I was there. It was so cool! Also got to go apple picking, that was fun. My new immediate goal in life is to go apple picking in an Honeycrisp apple orchard. Honeycrisps are my favorite apple, the most delicious apple ever. I read 6 books while I was there a couple I had read before, the rest were arc’s.

Lips Touch by Laini Taylor (a Project BookBabe author and finalist for this years National Book Award). It is 3 short stories, all of them great. Laini is a wonderful writer and I totally adore her. Also, she is super sweet and has the best hair! It is out now so you can get it at any bookstore. Totally worth spending the money to own in Hardcover.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown. This book was incredibly well-written and I am amazed at how well she handled such a sensitive subject. At no time was it heavy handed, nor were any of the characters growth ever rushed or too “easy”. That happens too often in YA lit and it always annoys me, no matter how good the rest of the book. This one too is available and hardcover worthy.

Little Secret by Kate Saunders. One of the cutest and sweetest books I have read all year. It was completely enjoyable from start to finish. I had a great time reading it. It would make a wonderful read-a-loud. Also available for purchase.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen. Chick lit mystery. Also a ton of fun to read, like a beach read only so much better.

Those are the new books I read, the other two were by Carol O’Connell, whom I raved about in a previous blog.

So yes, I am still alive and I will try to post more often.

My final radiation treatment is over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay me for doing something that millions of other women have done. Yay for all the women who have completed treatment and are survivors! We all rock, who is better than us? No-one that’s who!

I still have numerous doctors appts and such but the really hard part is all over. I really do deserve a pony… Tee hee hee!

I got a certificate of completion from the radiology girls. They were all so sweet. They made the annoyance of going in every day easier to deal with. Soon my energy levels will be back up, more yay.

My penultimate (one of my favorite words fyi) radiation treatment is over. Yay. My last one is on Monday. I am so happy about that. I see my surgeon again in November and then start the process of getting shiny, perky new girls. I have been having big feeling of uncertainty, I have been so consumed with being a patient this year, and had cancer on the brain since I found the lump over a year ago, that I am not sure what to do now. My future is a bit up in the air now. Kind of weird to have that feeling of uncertainty. Oh well, it won’t last forever.

I am still training for the 3-day. I have moments when I hurt so much that I feel like an old lady but I am having so much fun.

I finally joined a support group and wish that I had at the very beginning. I love my giant support system but none of them have been through this so it is nice talking to people who have had the same treatment as I. The lady in charge sends out a ton of emails about all kinds of informative stuff. One of which had info about something called Pink Light District sponsored or brought by the Arizona Institute for Breast Health. It sounds fabulous so I bought a pink light for my mom who is a survivor herself.

Any of you who have not read Ally Carter need to. She is awesome and her books are great! I have been a fan of hers ever since her first book in the Gallagher Girls series, I’d Tell You I Love You but Then I’d Have to Kill You, came out a few years ago. There are two more books in that series, hopefully there will be more! She has a new non-Gallagher title that comes out in Feb called Heist Society, it is so good! It is my new favorite. Her books are so much fun. I love them and I am sure that you will too. Not only does she write good books, but she also donated to the online auction. More evidence of her awesomeness.

More authors (other than the PBB authors)you should read because they rock:

Lisa McMann~ Author of Wake and Fade and would have been part of Project BookBabe but was on tour for Fade. Her books are kind of creepy but fabulous.

Robin Brande ~ Author of Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature and the upcoming Fat Cat out in the next few weeks. She also would have been part of PBB but was at a conference. If you visit her website, you can enter a contest to win Fat Cat. Do it, it is such an incredible story.

Barry Lyga ~ Author of a number of titles newest one being Goth Girl Rising. His short story Her Decade in my favorite thing he has done. Go to his website and read it.

Carol O’Connell~ One of the few adult authors I will drop everything to read. Her Kathy Mallory series is very well written and Kathy is one of the best characters I have ever read. She is slightly sociopathic, not in a Dexter kind of way, but that makes her all the more fascinating to read. The crimes she solves are often complicated and even though we often know who the perpetrator is from the very beginning, watching Kathy solve them and learning more about her past is what originally kept me coming back. Now, I am so attached to Kathy that it does not matter that some of her later titles are not as good as the first few, I read them all anyway.

Robin McKinley~ One of the only authors I am intimidated to meet, but I totally want to anyway. Everything by her is good. My two favorites are Deerskin and Dragonhaven. They are both so incredibly well written. I could go on about them for hours but I won’t so you can go read them! Her latest title, Chalice, is my third favorite. It is about bees, love and honey. It is fantasy for those who don’t like fantasy and the love story is so understated that it is almost not there which makes it all the more lovely. Sigh, her books are so good.

Radiation is still going pretty good. As long as I ignore the super bad sunburn like  pain that is… I did talk to the radiologist yesterday and he changed my treatment up a bit so the painful spot can heal. I am very happy, the pain was starting to keep me up at night. If you want to know what the pain was like, go out and get a sunburn,  stay out in the sun for about 8 hours. Then do it five more times in a row. That’s what it feels like. But, I am getting the boost part of the treatment right now and then I will do the rest after the 5 boost treatments are over. The boost being a different type of radiation that is less penetrating and aimed only at my scar. I am very happy that I get to heal.

My training is going well, still enjoying the walking. I am meeting some great people and am really glad I made the decision to do this.

My energy is getting better, not great but better than it was a month ago. I still get tired really easily but at least I am not tired all the time. I know the walking is helping with that and I am sure that as soon as the radiation is over, it will get even better.

For all the local pet lovers, I found (or rather my super awesome friend Claudia did) a truly wonderful indie pet store called Sunflower Pet Supply. The owner is super nice and knowledgeable about all things pet and the prices are comparable to the chains. They also carry a huge variety of more natural foods. And they have some adorable pet toys. I did not get Malky any as he already has too many toys…

Here is a link to some pictures of a quilt I received from  this fabulous group in Australia. A few months ago I was contacted by this adorable girl named Alissa saying that she was a part of a Twilight fan group called Twilight Australia. They heard about the event, from Stephenie’s website of course, and made me a quilt since they could not attend the event. Alissa along with 2 other girls were here a few weeks ago so I met up with them. The pictures do not do it justice. It is freaking gorgeous! Hopefully the pictures are readable…

It’s been a while since I posted and I realized that by not posting very often I get asked the same questions like a billion times so I had better stop slacking and post more if I want to avoid that scenario. And, since I don’t have the time to say the same thing a billion times, here is a new update. Not that I blame you all for wanting to know…

Radiation has been going well. Annoying that it is every day but still better than chemo. The fatigue part catches up with me more often than not. But instead of being tired all the time as with the chemo, I merely get tired easily. That being said, I have still been busy. Now that I am feeling better I am almost never home, I have been spending a lot of time out with friends or training for the 3 day. The latter takes up most of my evenings but I totally love it. Last night I did a 5 mile and it started raining about halfway through. It was great! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and so did the other girls that were with me.

Sci-fi looking machine that I keep hoping will give me super powers but so far I got nothing

So here is what the radiation machine looks like. The top part radiates, the thing on the right scans, not sure what it scans for. I don’t know what the arm on the left does. I should care but I don’t. It is freaking huge and probably costs more than I have made my entire life. That being said, it keeps breaking. Which means that, depending on what part stops working, treatments that are only supposed to take 2o minutes some times take 10 and sometimes take an hour. It is kind of funny actually how often it happens. Here is a typical treatment. in case you care. I lay on the table and the techs lift it up and in so I am in between the 3 arms. I have these little tattoos that they line up with some weird light that looks like green cross hairs. Then they leave the room and close the giant door that looks like it would hold back a wave of zombies. And then the machine rotates, scans and radiates according to the plan they set up for me. It is not painful, merely tedious. The tech ladies are super nice, just like every one at the clinic. I also really like my radiologist even though he is not-hot. Very sad.

I have been able to read more, here are some books that I am loving currently

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins ~ This was of course as incredible as I was hoping it would be. I loved Hunger Games but was a bit skeptical that this one would be as fabulous. Totally worth having in Hardcover.

Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum ~ After reading boring arc after boring arc, I finally came across this one. The generic plot  is a love story but it is incredibly well done, interesting and well written. A fantastic debut by a wonderfully talented writer. I highly recommend it.

Soulless by Gail Carriger ~ I had so much fun reading this book. It has been a while since I have read such a fun adult book. It is an amusing romp through a Victorian London where vampires and werewolves have “come out” so to speak. It is fairly predictable but because it is a ton of fun, it does not matter in the least. This one comes out in paperback at the end of the month and if you like the supernatural, you will enjoy this one.

I am currently reading a bunch of other stuff that all seems pretty good but we will see…