Starting Over, Catching up and Silver Linings

I'm back in the blog game. 

I didn't mean to take such a long break.  

I had plans for a major change to my blog layout and design for my return.  Instead of a major overhaul, I ended up making some subtle changes.  I'm guessing it looks the same to you.  It pretty much looks the same to me too.

To be honest about the break, I was mentally exhausted and needed a blog break after working on my Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge fundraising campaign from January, 2019 until February 2020.  I was all in from November 1, 2019 until Super Bowl Sunday, February 2, 2020 and a then some after that.

I raised a grand total of $13,100. 

Team Draft and I were scheduled to present the $11,790.00 BIG CHECK to Lung Cancer Colorado Fund at the end of March.  We had to cancel the in-person presentation due to Coronavirus and the risks of exposure, restrictions and need for social distancing.

One year on my own.

I still don't feel comfortable going into details on my blog, another reason for the break.  It's time to, at least, let everyone know, I am single and have been for just over one year, officially.  The beginning of May, 2020 marked one year since removing myself from a very toxic relationship, situations and removing my ex from my home and life.  Breakups are crappy.  This one was, no doubt in my mind, The best change I could have made for me and Laynie and at the best time.  It gave me a renewed joy and a sense of freedom to be me, stroke deficits, cancer and all.  It also allowed me to make strides in my stroke recovery.  There was no more holding me back.  I made more improvements in my first couple months without my ex than I did in the whole year and a half after my stroke.  

Quarantine has been treating me well.

Instead of commenting here about the positives that have come to me in self-isolation, I wrote them in a lungcancer.net article, Self Isolation Silver Linings.  

Click HERE

or 

Self-Isolation Silver Linings

to read all the great things that have happened.

Illistration from lungcancer.net Self-Isolation Silver Linings

I'm a poet.

Another cool thing to come out of quarantine was the opportunity to participate in a Writing with Cancer Workshop offered by University of Colorado Cancer Center.  The above article was written before I participated in my first writing session.  Until Coronavirus, these were in-person, in Denver only, sessions.  They are now offering an every other week workshop via Zoom.  From two sessions, I've written three poems.  I will be sharing all of them with you soon.

A beautiful journal that was gifted to me.

My first poem

Three Interviews and a Fundraiser

I've had several recent opportunities to share my lung cancer story and to advocate for more research funding.  It just happened that these three interviews were released so close together that I am sharing all with you in one post.

Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge

I took the challenge this year.  I've been fundraising for Lung Cancer Colorado Fund to support the groundbreaking lung cancer research and treatment developments at the University of Colorado Lung Cancer program.  I earned the chance to go to the Pro Bowl to experience the events while I share my lung cancer story and advocate for awareness and lung cancer research funding.  Click HERE or the Pro Bowl logo to see a Team Draft video about my fundraiser.

 

You can help me reach my $50,000 fundraising goal .  Click HERE or the donate button to submit a tax deductible donation today. Donations can be made through Super Bowl Sunday, February 2, 2020. 

            

Living Lives with Lung Cancer website interview

LLwLC is a website focusing on lung cancer patients and survivors living and thriving in spite of their diagnosis.  I'm lucky enough to be one of the first to be interviewed.  I can't wait to see and read upcoming inspirational stories from fellow lung cancer patients. Click HERE or the zipline photo collage to read my interview.

https://livingliveswithlungcancer.com/meet-lisa-peace-lungs-happiness/

Cincinnati radio/podcast interview

Melissa and I recorded this interview in November 2019.  I think it was originally an hour and ten or twenty minutes long.  The Medical Apocalypse doesn't really have a Cliff's Notes version.  Melissa did a wonderful job editing that down for the show.  you can hear the interview HERE or click this video.

2020 Lung Cancer Survivor Super Bowl Challenge Kickoff

Because of everyone's generosity, I raised $374 for my challenge.

I kicked off my 2020 Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl challenge fundraising campaign at the Cleveland vs Broncos game in Denver on Sunday, November 3, 2019.

It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, I got to introduce myself, share my lung cancer story, information about lung cancer Awareness Month and my participation in this year's Super Bowl Challenge.  So many tailgaters were more than generous with their time and money.  Browns fans and Broncos fans as well.  It goes to show, no matter which team we root for, we all agree that lung cancer (or any cancer)sucks.
More photos of #CLEvsDEN tailgating HERE.

I have until December 30, 2019 to reach my $50,000 fundraising goal.  Please donate HERE.  No amount is too small.  Every dollar counts, even when you make a minimum donation.

Meaningful Football

Meaningful football to me this week:It's the Cleveland Browns playing a do or die game in Denver.  It means, possibly turning this season around in Week 9, although, a bit late in the season. It means, beating a top rival, again, at Mile High. It means bonding with my Browns football family while tailgating like we are in the Muni lot and watching the Browns in person instead of on TV.

It also means It's Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the kickoff of the Team Draft Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge.  I'm anxiously waiting the details of this year's challenge because I have set a $50,000 fundraising goal.  I'm super excited to get started!  Yes, fifty thousand dollars.  Top challenge participants have set the bar high.  It's time for me to join their ranks.  I'll share the details in a future post. 

Meaningful football 2015/2016 Season:The NFL preseason was underway in August 2015.  It was the dawn of a new era for the Browns. My football family and I were reunited after a long summer without football to watch games and cheer the Browns through another season.  Like many years before and every season after, we had hope, we believed.

I was diagnosed with stage IV, non small cell lung cancer during preseason on August 14, 2015.  At that point it was, by far, the most devastating, emotionally draining and excruciatingly difficult time of my life.  But what did I do the night before finding out the stage of my lung cancer and what my prognosis and treatment plan would be? I attended a Browns preseason game with the Pikes Peak Browns Backers in Colorado Springs, CO.

Meaningful football since lung cancer:

Dec 9, 2018

All football is meaningful to me since my lung cancer diagnosis. Even in the losing seasons, I am grateful for football and my Browns Backers family.  The Browns and the Pikes Peak Browns Backers have been with me since day one of my lung cancer diagnosis.  They have provided me with the support, needed distractions and events to keep my mind off of everything involved in a lung cancer diagnosis and fight.

I had a lot of fatigue, some pretty uncomfortable and painful side effects when I started my first line of lung cancer treatment.  I had times I was scared to leave the house. But I would get up, get dressed, in orange and brown, and still go to watch the Browns play with my local Browns Backers club.  That's how important the Browns are to me. That's meaningful football.

Tackling lung cancer, Dec 9, 2018

Meaningful football NFL Week 14, Dec 9, 2018:

It was a chance to go to Cleveland and an opportunity to attend the Panthers vs. Browns game with Team Draft. I live in Colorado.  Before December 9, 2018, I had only been to one Cleveland Browns home game.

A brief uncle and niece Dawg Pound reunion, Dec 9, 2018

That weekend was amazing.  Not only did I get to personally witness the Browns win at home, it was the 1 year anniversary of surviving a hemorrhagic stroke.  I got tears in my eyes when I was in the stadium and watched the Browns take the field that day. I get emotional today thinking about that moment.  I was alive. I was standing. I was walking. I made it through the toughest year of my life. Not only did I survive the stroke and make miraculous improvements in my recovery over the year, I did it all with late stage,  stage iv, terminal, lung cancer.

Please donate to the 2020 Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge

Here WEGO

I started blogging about my experiences of being diagnosed and living with terminal stage IV lung cancer in 2016, approximately six months after my diagnosis.  I continued to blog as I was diagnosed in 2017 with Moyamoya, an incurable ultra rare brain disease, and after my hemorrhagic stroke.

The stroke was my third major life threatening incident in just over two years.  Somebody referred to my multiple diagnoses, struggles and deficits as a "medical apocalypse".  That term was more than accurate. I amended the name of my Peace Lungs and Happiness blog in 2018 to it's current title, Peace Lungs and Happiness: Anatomy of a Medical Apocalypse.

After three years of blogging, I am a nominee for the 2019 Best in Show Blog at the WEGO Health Awards.  It's an honor to be among my fellow nominees for this award.

About the WEGO Awards:

The WEGO Health Awards program was created to recognize and honor those making a difference in the online health community. It provides the opportunity for community members to thank and support the Patient Leaders and patient-centric initiatives they admire. Since its inception in 2011, the WEGO Health Awards have proven to be one of the best ways to connect the healthcare industry with top patient influencers. It is the only awards program that recognizes Patient Leaders across all condition areas and platforms, with over 4,000 nominations in 2018 alone!

I need your endorsement.

Winning this award will bring opportunities for me to present my story to others, promote patient advocacy and to share my patient expertise on patient panels, roundtables and at conferences while working with lung cancer, neurology and brain injury industry leaders.

At the end of July, the top three endorsed nominees in my category become automatic finalists for the award.

Please click HERE or go to https://awards.wegohealth.com/nominees/15977 to view my WEGO Patient Leader Profile.  From there you can endorse my nomination by clicking the Endorse Lisa Moran button under my profile pic.

Lisa Moran's Patient Leader Profile on the WEGO website

End of the Year Recap 2018

Nov. 30, 2018

Since returning home in January after my stroke, I work on cognitive thinking and memory therapies every day.  I continued to make improvements throughout the year.

Being off of work and at home, we decided it was a good time to get a dog.   We rescued an 8 week old black lab mix girl named Laynie on May 1. She keeps me on my toes and keeps me on a schedule.  Both are good for my stroke recovery.

Adoption day for Laynie May.

When she first got to our house it was almost like both of us were learning and resting at the same level and at the same pace.  We would go for a walk and both run out of energy and slow down at the same time.  We would get home and both of us would nap.  We gradually increased our exercise time and kept on napping when needed.

The summer was filled with long walks in the neighborhood with Laynie.  While I was preparing for this year's Run the Rocks, she was a growing dog and needed to work off that extra puppy energy.

I completed the Run the Rocks 5k on October 21.  I shared my story of being diagnosed with stage iv lung cancer and how much the Run the Rocks 5k means to me.  It's a yearly milestone to celebrate living another year with terminal lung cancer.  This year was even more special after surviving the stroke and walking without using a cane for balance 

Run the Rocks is the most physically challenging 5k I've ever done.  I was determined to complete the 5k this year.  It was my 4th time participating in this event.  Out of all 4 years,  this year,  by far,  was the hardest to complete.  Of everything involved with my Medical Apocalypse, I think it was just athe combination of lung cancer, moyamoya and recovering from the stroke that made it so difficult this year.  

Lisa Moran speaking at Run the Rocks

Run the Rocks finish line.

The Pikes Peak Browns Backers hosted a Whiteout Game for Lung Cancer Awareness at the beginning of November for Lung Cancer Awareness Month.  It was a great event with many club members participating and wearing white.  I shared my lung cancer story at this event as well. 

Pikes Peak Browns Backers Support Lung Cancer Awareness

I ended the fall with a trip to Mayo Clinic in AZ.  I never got my 6 month Moyamoya bypass surgery follow up scheduled with Stanford University Hospital.  That's a whole other blog post in itself.  I was concerned about disease progression and wanted to verify the bypass was holding up. 

My first trip to Mayo was a series of meetings, tests and scans.  I met with my new neurosurgeon.  We discussed what led to my initial Moyamoya diagnosis,  my current symptoms and the tests that would follow that appointment.

I'm not hearing often.  If I am occupied by watching a show or reading a news story  I just don't hear when Jeremy speaks to me.  I had a hearing test to verify if it's my ears not hearing or if it's my brain.   Good news, my brain is hearing and processing well.  Bad news,  I'm just hard of hearing.  (Thanks Tesla.)

I have been experiencing numbness in my right leg and foot.  That side was not effected by the stroke.  I had MRIs and MRAs of my head,  neck and spine to rule ot any neurological causes.  

Good news, I have not had any new strokes!  I have good blood flow from the direct right carotid artery bypass.  The left side looks still looks good.

The areas of numbness may have to do with my spine.  L5  is where the lung cancer tumor was and where I had radiation.  Because it is not brain related,  it may be spinal damage from the radiation or possibly cancer activity.  They couldn't rule cancer in or out by an MRI.  I have a CT scan and lab work in a couple weeks.  If my lung cancer biomarker numbers are elevated,  I'll get a PET scan from there. 

I was the 2nd participant in a Whole Exome Seqencing research study on Moyamoya Disease at Mayo Clinic.  They are testing Moyamoya patients to see if there is a common denominator.  They are also researching to see if there are  specific gene mutations that cause Moyamoya.  Im anxious to find out if I have a known Moyamoya gene mutation.  We already know I have two gene mutations driving my lung cancer.

2019 is just around the corner.  I can't wait to see what the new year brings my way.   I know one new endeavor is in the works.  I've been considering this for some time; I'm going to start writing articles for lungcancer.net.  I will continue to write for this blog and I will share my lungcancer.net articles here.  Im excited to get started.   You will know here as soon as my first article is published. 

I'm Just a Bill

I have now experienced the most grown up and responsible event in my adult life.  This week I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. with Lung Cancer Alliance for National Lung Cancer Advocacy Day. 

Being a hippie at heart and a registered Independent, making a plunge into politics never piqued my interest.  But when your life is on the line, you put on a big girl business dress, storm Capitol Hill with over 100 other lung cancer advocates and attend six scheduled meetings with congressmen and senators to demand a change in policy.

We desperately need additional federal funding for lung cancer research and co-sponsorship for the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act (S.2358 H.R.4897)

 On July 11, 2018,  I met with representatives from the offices of four Colorado congressmen and both Colorado senators.

Gabriele Wright from Lung Cancer Alliance, three staff members from the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC, located in Aurora, CO) and myself operated like a well oiled machine as we opened the eyes, dropped jaws and educated everyone we met in D.C.

I was changing the face of lung cancer as we put a face to the bill. 

I shared my lung cancer story of how life was for Jeremy and me the summer I was diagnosed with stage iv non small cell lung cancer caused by the EGFR mutation. We had made it past the point of a relationship when you know you are with your forever person.  We were talking about getting married. I was three years into my career,  the best job in the world, as a City Letter Carrier. I was on walking routes by choice.  I discovered the love of running.  I had joined the Jack Quinn's Running Club in downtown Colorado Springs.  On Tuesdays I would run a 5k with JQRC after a full day of work.  Then BAM!!!!, Terminal, stage iv lung cancer enters the picture. 

I explained my treatment has been radiation and targeted therapies in the form of a (chemo) pill, that I take once a day.  I told them the amount of hope that I had when six lung cancer drugs were fda approved the year I was diagnosed,  (2015). Five of those drugs were after my August diagnosis. I've been on three drugs over the last three years.  Two of them were FDA approved in 2015. One,  Tagrisso, is the treatment I'm on now.

We explained lung cancer is not just a smokers disease.70% Of lung cancer patients now are never smokers or quit decades ago. More and more new lung cancer cases are young,  athletic,  healthy women, like me, and doctors don't know why.  433 Americans are dying every day from lung cancer.  Lung cancer kills more than breast, colorectal and prostate cancers combined.  But at the same time Lung cancer is grossly underfunded compared to other cancers.

I've already sent my thank you letters to the representative's staffers that took the time out of their schedule to speak with me and requested a meeting at Senator Bennet's Colorado Springs office since he was not available to meet with me in person in Washington. I happen to know exactly where that office is located because that stop was on my mail route for four years.

Everyone in the U.S. can help support my efforts to change the future of lung cancer research.  You can call or write a letter/email to your representative. Tell them my story and/or your  personal connection to lung cancer.  Let them know the importance of the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act, especially now as I am running out of FDA approved treatment options. At this point,  when the cancer outsmarts my current treatment,  There is no other FDA approved targeted therapy.

If politics has never piqued your interest and you don't know who your representatives are,  Click HERE#. Enter your zip code and click on the representative to see their contact information.