Freak Accident?!?!

The question is…were we at the wrong place at the wrong time or the right place at the right time? Though my first instinct was the previous, I realized it was in fact the later…as the large truck tire flew down the road at our van. This occurred last Friday morning, as my good friend Caroline and I were headed to the cancer clinic for my appointments. We’d just spent a fun girl’s night in the city and the last thing we’d expected to encounter was a flying tire at our van. Unfortunately for Caroline we’d decided to take her van to the city instead of mine thankfully the tire didn’t hit my passenger window, or the windshield, better yet we were grateful that the tire hit the front passenger side of Caroline’s van instead of all of the pedestrians that were crossing the street at the time. We realized fairly quickly how tragic that could have turned out and we were so glad we didn’t witness that. Though the initial impact was shocking and very unsettling, we knew we were fine right away. The young man who lost his tire while driving, was shaken and worried about us. I think the driver of the truck was relieved that the damage wasn’t greater. His vehicle suffered the worst damage, as it turned out, he’d gotten new tires put on at a shop the day before and they forgot to tighten the lug nuts. So for all those pedestrians crossing Oak and 12th at that moment, we were at the right place at the right time.
Thanks for coming to Vancouver with me Caroline, sorry your van got squished Other than that, it was a lot of fun!

Just to let you know...

Just to let you know...Chemo makes the best mosquito repelant:) They come near me, hover, get one whiff of my chemo blood and they take off. Do not attempt this at home!!

Lucky number 7!

Our friend shot a hole in one on the golf course on 07/07/07 with a 7 iron on the 7th hole!! If the #7 wasn't her lucky number before I'm sure it is now!!

We attended a wedding on 07/07/07 at 4:44pm! Her lucky numbers are #4 ande #7!! Go figure!!

I heard that Vegas had more weddings on this lucky day than any day in the history of Vegas weddings!

Just some fun info as I recover on Day four of Chemo #3!

I'll write more when I can sit up longer to write, days 3-5 are the hardest.

Is this my Chrysalis?

Late last week my dear Carmelle, just 4 years old, started screaming out for help from the living room, “It’s too tight, the cocoon I made is to tight, get me out! She was wrapped up in a blanket on the floor, flailing around, I assured her I would get her out as she continued to shout out, “I was just pretending to be a caterpillar and I wanted a chrysalis so I could become a butterfly!!!” She’s crying and kicking as I continue to try and unravel her, she got herself in there very well. Once she was released and in my arms, she sobbed, “I just wanted to pretend I was a beautiful butterfly, and my cocoon was to tight.” I was just so imprested that she knew and understood the process of chrysalis, that I found it hard to get the big grin off my face. As I consoled her, it occurred to me that I could relate to my young daughter with my own life experience.
Is this experience with breast cancer my chrysalis, is this my time for transformation?!?! Will I come through this with “new wings”, beautiful color and a new high flying view?!? I believe so. I can feel it already taking place. And I don’t think a “moth” is in my future, but rather a “Butterfly”, with wide spanning wings, (6 legs) more movement, a high flying perspective on all of life and floating grace. I can feel it already, even as I lay in my bed now, recovery from my 3rd Chemo treatment.

A quote from Dr. Marla Shapiro: “This is a journey that should never be taken alone. When we are confronted with such a journey, we must draw strength from each other. Courage finds you and, in turn, you find courage.”

I love that I can find courage, comfort, strength, insight and love from even my young children, What a blessing!

May you find blessing and strength from someone around you today!

God Bless.
Feather

Chris Janz Live!

Come and see Chris in a full length, full band concert at the Abbotsford Berry Festival in Downtown Abbotsford, this friday, July 6th at 7:30pm. We'd love to see you out. Chris will be shaving his head, all his decision, to show support for me, to raise awareness about breast cancer and to promote the Run for the Cure on Sept 30th, 2007. Chris will be giving $5 from each of his $20 cd sales to my fundraising efforts for the run. I'll be there even though I have chemo that day. I'll be in my lounge chair resting and enjoying great music. Come and join me and bring a friend! Chris has written some new songs that I'm so looking forward to hearing them. I know you'll love it and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. If you are interested in hearing some of his music log on to his website: http://www.chrisjanz.com

The good with the bad!

I recently had someone question my decision to receive chemo therapy. They felt that anything that kills healthy cells with the cancer cells, isn't good. I feel that like most things in life, you take the good with the bad. I also feel that I'm committed to the decision that I've made, I don't have room for doubt. I have faith that I'm doing the right thing, and I'm committed to the process that I've started. And I fully intend to see it through to the end. I don't feel that it's healthy for me to not trust what I'm doing is in my over all best interest. I view the chemo as being my fighting power, in liquid form. I feel that my job is to surrender to the process, especially during that first week, and to let the chemo win the battle. Each and every day I do what I can to fight this cancer and I fully intend to win!
I have no doubt!

Well I'll be!!!

I've just finished reading the auto-biography of Dr. Marla Shapiro, Dr. Marla from CTV's show Balance and from Canada AM. She wrote of her journey througbh breast cancer. The highlight of the book for me was reading about her life mentor and elementary school teacher Gwen. She wrote of Gwen giving her a book that she's helped to co-write with 12 other authors. One of whom is me!! The book is called "You are not Alone", it was published 3 years ago out of Montreal. First in French and then in English, Chris and I were invited to the book launch in Montreal in 2004 I was asked to speak and he sang. It was there that I met Gwen and had her sign my book. It was a neat full circle moment for me to read about my book in Dr. Marla's book, I felt a "small world" connection to her. The book has 13 chapters all written by women who have experienced cancer. My chapter is one of the 13. The book is available through Chapters/Indigo book stores. If you by it I can sign it for you:) The book will need to be updated with my new story of my new journey. I'm also working on updating my website, we hope to have that done in the next week or so: www.featherjanz.com
Over all I'm feeling fairly well. My energy level is low, which does get frustrating for me, I'm use to having so much energy. I wish I had the energy to work out and feel in better shape. I've also been having restless nights, I suppose I'll make up for the lost sleep next week when I'm sleeping 20 hours a day after chemo. My next chemo treatment is this friday. I feel like I just had one and now it's less than three days away.
I'm planning a ladies get together at my place on Monday July 16th, at 6:30. Come and bring a friend, but only if you are not sick. It'll be time to visit (so I can feel like I have asocial life) it'll give me something to look forward to after a week of chemo abd I'll be introducing you to fabulous Arbonne products. So come over for snacks and fun! Hope to see you here: 32744 Nanaimo Close Chris is performing this Friday night for the Abbotsford Berry Festival. Friday July 6th at 7:30pm in Downtown Abbotsford. We'd love to see you there, I have chemo that day but I hope to make it still. Chris will be shaving his head for Breast Cancer ( to show support for me:) and he'll be donating $5 from the sale of each of his cd's sold that night, to the Run for the Cure ( my fundraising efforts). So come and hear some great music, he'll have his full band, and buy his cd! He'll also have his T-shirts, hats and buttons for sale.
Thanks for your continued support!
Bring your friends and tell some more!

See you soon,

Feather Janz