"Live everyday like it's your first!"

AmandaP

Scrumptulescent
Female
26 Years old
Bangor, PA
Offline
Last login: 03/02/10
My Interests
Hobbies
ROLLER DERBY! I used to skate but after my car accident I could only coach. I retired though when I was diagnosed with cancer. Derby was my LIFE! ...along with my husband, pets, nieces and nephew! :)
Books
"The Last Lecture" By: Randy Pausch (A FANTASTIC book written by a brilliant professor diagnosed with terminal cancer)

http://www.thelastlecture.com/

"The Duggars: 20 Kids and Counting" ...is just a nice easy read about a HUGE christian family. The book, written by the mother and father of the oversized brood, is simply a window into their everyday lives with 18 children from infant to adult, how they got their and stay sane, and WHY they do what they do. The family is very christian but the book does not come across as preachy at all. It's just a really interesting book about a life many of us are not accustomed to.

-Otherwise I LOVE books, these are just my recent favorites. Next on my must read list are Chelsey Handler's books. I love her, she's so funny! I highly recommend her show, the BEST show in late night on E!
Movies
Hmmm... I just saw Role Models and that was HILARIOUS! I also just saw the suspense flick "Taken" with Liam Neeson and that was AMAZING (and I'm not normaly a suspense person)!

I wasn't really impressed with Angels and Demons which I just saw in the theater. I liked The Davinci Code A LOT better. It wasn't bad but not half as good as I expected... wait and just rent it.

Next on my MUST WATCH LIST: Year 1, Bruno, Up!, Land of the Lost, Toy Story 3, My Sister's Keeper, and more I'm sure!
Music
Oooo... all kinds. I LOVE music & don't limit myself to one genre or another. Though I have to say I am turning into an old fart and find it hard to dig a lot of the new stuff on the radio but hey, it's all good.
My Details
Relationship to CancerI am a Patient
Cancer TypeLymphoma
Cancer TreatmentsRadiation Therapy, Chemotherapy
ReligionChristian
Know Me
My Experience with Cancer
I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma November of 2008. I was treated for a "Pneumonia" for almost 8 weeks by a doctor before I got a second opinion who found my cancer within a week. The first doc never sent me for an x-ray since I had no insurance. He said he "could prove to me I had pneumonia with an x-ray but since I had no insurance we'd didn't need an x-ray." Turns out the x-ray I got when I went for the 2nd opinion showed a mass that took up most of my chest cavity and was crushing my heart and lungs. My oncologist said I was a week or less from death. My heart and lungs were both about ready to quit. Thank the Lord for my 2nd opinion! Question everything! I just finished my chemo a few weeks ago and will be starting radiation treatments on June 8th. The mass is still there, though it's "1/3 of the original size" so they tried to "break it up" with radiation. It's still there but as of Dec. 2009 there was no cancerous activity in the mass even though it's still there.


They think I'm in remission BUT have just found a growth on my thyroid so now they're not so sure. :(

I keep up with a blog on myspace that I have been writing since I was first diagnosed. For the play by play since the time I didn't know what the heck was going on up until now go to: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=47160560
More Fun Stuff
My Kinda People
Everyone... provided they're not a jerk or think they're better then anyone else. I have always been a people person. Even terrible people are worth something, right? How would you appreciate the good without the bad? ...Probably part of the reason a lot of cancer patients get mentally stronger once we have to deal with this garbage and a lot of us are religious... more so then before we were diagnosed even.
Reason for Being Here
I am gonna steal another guy on here's reason and leave it at "Birds of a feather..." :)
Words of Wisdom
In the words of Gloria Steinem: "Be the change you want to see in the world" and in my own words and I'm SURE the words of wiser men before me, "Live everyday like it's your first!"
My Personal Journal
No journal entries.
AmandaP's comment wall
Displaying 10 of 10 comments
 
Eva
Monday 06/22/2009 5:31 AM
Roller derby! Wicked! I just went to my first derby here in my city of Adelaide and I loved it. I can say it inspired me like nothing else. I used to be a rollerblader and it sounds like you and I can compare stories. I got hit by a car and sustained severe head injuries 10 years ago so that put a quick end to that. It was all good and I was a good as better before I got diagnosed with stage 4. All I can say is thank god for Australia's health system. You Americans do it tough for sure. Let's talk more... Eva
 
TheSeanyFoundation
Wednesday 06/17/2009 3:48 PM
hey amanda, the wig looks great. keep up the derby-ing! best wishes.
 
erikarafaela
Tuesday 06/16/2009 12:11 PM
All my doctor put my on was chemo, from what I've heard is that radiation therapy is if the cancer is localised and mine was all over my lymphatic system so I'm guessing that's why. The side effects are the worst, it took a few months for them to figure out what medication to give me for the nausea... I hope everything goes smoothly for the rest of you radiation! & you know if you hadn't said so I would never have guessed you were wearing a wig in your photo, it looks fantastic!
 
domilovesya
Tuesday 06/16/2009 11:24 AM
its good to see you here! :] hope all is well.
 
KatFieler
Tuesday 06/16/2009 8:01 AM
Amanda, you're a real fighter! Proud to get to know you! Too bad we're geographically so far apart. I'd love to sit down face to face and talk about life. But that's the nice thing about places like this! If not for this board we would have no opportunity to get acquainted. Smiles from Kat.
 
erikarafaela
Wednesday 06/10/2009 10:54 AM
During my final treatment today I finally met a girl just a year older than me who is going through the same thing as me, our mums were talking and she told me that she went to 3 separate GPs and none of them thought she had hodgkin's even through all the blood tests. They all put it down to exhaustion and an iron deficiency. It took them one year to finally diagnose her and by that time it had got to Stage 4 Hodgkin's and had spread to her bones. Hearing her story just made me realise how lucky I was & that I was diagnosed within a matter of a week. I have a hunch that my hodgkin's could have been detected earlier last year if I had gone for a second opinion about the break out of rashes I had, which the doctor and I put down to a resurgence of my eczema. Gosh I hope that wasn't too much information. But it is nice to meet you & meet a few people around my age going through what I am too...
 
Jessica
Tuesday 06/09/2009 7:43 PM
You've got to let me know when you get around to reading those Chelsea Handler books! I don't "idolize" many people.. but she's on the verge of being my role model in life. :)
 
HannahGracexo
Tuesday 06/09/2009 6:19 PM
Thank you! What a story of strength that you have!! Truly an inspiration to everyone out there. I wish you the absolute *BEST* with your health and every other area of life! I will keep you in my prayers. Have a wonderful night :)
 
Steph
Tuesday 06/09/2009 1:22 PM
It's true, it really affects EVERYONE! You seem to have a positive attitude with everything your going through which is awesome.. Just curious, are you really a candy maker?? i have the biggest sweet tooth!!
 
Nicole
Friday 06/05/2009 3:16 PM
Hey Amanda! You make candy? What a delicious job :) Can't wait to learn more about you!