Endless amounts of thanks yous....

First, I apologize that this post has been so delayed.  Life, once again has taken a hold of me and I have been lost between internship, classes, cooking, working out, cheering on the SIXERS, seeing friends and spending time with my family and my partner.  I can't even begin to express how WONDERFUL it feels to have this 'normal' chaos of work, relationships, school, and a personal life.  So much better than complaining about cancer!

However, I truly would not be here experience what I do on a daily level, if it weren't for each of you, and each of those individuals who generously, and oh BOY do I mean generously contributed to these next three rounds of treatment.  My partner and I were not only shocked, but overwhelmed at the amount of individuals who stepped forward in all aspects of this treatment from LARGE donations in my Paypal account, to frequent flyer miles, and hotel time shares.  It was to say the least, the most beautiful form of kindness I have even been a part of.. and as I said, I was overwhelmed with a sense of love, and confidence from each of you, that this cause, this treatment IS worth it.  And truth be told, it is.

So, I want to take this time to greatly thank the woman of the hour who scheduled Rich and I to fly from PHL to HOU this first infusion round, the wonderful, the incredible Ms. Susie Laws.  This woman, did not even hesitate to donate her miles.  Not only was Susie selflessness to offer these miles, but she made our entire trip easier and the financial burden that had been put on our shoulders during these infusions completely diminished knowing that such kind souls as Susie, took the opportunity to help Rich and I.  So, my dearest Susie! I can never thank you enough for making this trip happen for Rich and I! I hope you realize how amazing of a woman you are, and we are so endlessly grateful for your kindness.  All my love to you, dear!

As for other amazing women, Ms. Jen Wilkens reached out to Ms. Linda Walsh, a kind soul, and from what I've heard a wonderful mom -- donated her hotel time share so Rich and I would be able to afford a Hotel close to Houston, and a very easily accessible location so we were able to wake up at a decent hour to then receive my infusion just minutes away. Linda, we are so grateful for such amazing kindness from strangers, and thank you from a very deep place in our hearts.

Lastly, obviously not least -- all of you, and I mean a TON of you, contributed gracious amounts of money to carry us through the next 4-5 months of treatment.  I wish I could send each of you a large bouquet of flowers or a big teddy bear to show you my thanks, but obviously that would be counterintuitive :) So here are a list of my biggest supporters who make MY life possible through their kindness...


Big, huge thanks to: Ms. Linda Davidson, Ms. Elaine Crouse, Ms. Shannon Tower, Mr. Patrick Cummings, Ms. Ruth Hendry, Rene Kegelman, Ms. Kaitlin Mallouk, Ms. Annette Armstrong, Ms. Jennifer Nelson, Ms. Patricia Hane, Ms. Sandra Bruce, Ms. Judy Kilty, Ms. Erin Mills, Mr. Stephen Distaso, Ms. Mindy Newman, Ms. Katy Cooper, Mr. Larry Lewis, Ms. Samantha McCauley, Mr. Ross Blumenthal, Mr. Charles Cavanaugh (who I am attempting to contact, so, Mr. C -- if you see this, please email me!), Ms. Barbara Bosworth, Ms. Daphna Brown, Ms. Roe Blumenthal, Ms. Liz Schroeder, Ms. Rachel Coulshed, Ms. Ashkan Rahmati, Ms. Jen Berry, and last but certainly not least the Crail Family!

I thank you, my good dear friends, acquaintances, fellow HL warriors, strangers whom I've never met, I thank all of you for making these treatments a reality for me, and to have the ability to bring a care giver with me to handle the stress and chaos of treatment.

I am forever in debt to all of you, and can honestly, never thank you all enough.
Just know, you are creating normalcy and life for someone who is living each moment as it is her last.
And I will continue to do that, not only for myself, but to honor those who have contributed to this treatment cause.

Next Round will happen in early March! And we are mentally and financially ready!
Sending Love and Light,

B.

Check-in, Texas Style!

Just wanted to write a quick note that the January treatment round is finally complete, and we are finally home from our travels.  I have many, many thanks to give from those who donated frequent flyer miles, to a hotel time-share, to paypal account for our pecan pie fund, and so much else!  My family, my partner, and I were overwhelmed at the amount of outreach and generosity and we sincerely could never thank you all enough.  Since, I am still catching my breath from receiving treatment yesterday morning, and flying out last night, I will be posting a LARGE thank you response in the next few days of those who were involved with making this treatment round happen.

For now, just know, we enjoyed 24 hours (and possibly 8 of those hours) outside in the warm weather, with great food, good company and a quick treatment.

Just wanted to let you all know though, we are home, safe and sound! And can never thank you all enough for sending me to Texas to receive this treatment.   Here's to a zero-side effect treatment, friends around the world, the best BBQ in the country, great pecan pie, health and normalcy! 

Sending light and love to all of you,

B!

Texas, Round One - Complete!

Round one in Texas was a complete success!  We were able to fly in and out within almost a twenty four hour period, thanks to our good friend Liz Masson who accommodated our airfare, and all of those other wonderful people who supplied us with enough money to handle the 120 dollar (yikes!) round trip cab fare from the airport to the hotel and other travel costs.

We have luckily booked one way toward Texas for our next round which is on October 26th due to my amazing brother who had an airline voucher, and are now holding out for Corporate Angels to find us a return flight.  I've received a lot of "I want to help, what do I do" kinda of emails lately.  For those who would like to help us out with our cab fare, food, hotel costs, parking, and other odds and ends, please look to your right of the screen where it has a DONATE button and above it says "Donations for Houston Treatment," click on the button, and you can donate (with a debit, credit card, or check) as low as 1 dollar, or whatever amount you wish!  Any money you decide to donate helps us along this last leg of our trip for this treatment.  And we so, so appreciate it.

I will definitely update more once the second infusion is complete, and can never thank all of you enough for your kindness.  Without all of you, this treatment, which we hope is truly working this time around! Would not be possible. I am forever grateful to all of you... and I will never be able to say it enough.

We hope you are taking in the beauty of Fall... it's been beautiful up here in Pennsylvania
And Lily and I are enjoying every minute of it!

Happy Fall my loves!

Photo Credit: Katie N. Ehrman at the Poconos

Love and Light,

B.

Treatment, Hotels, and Flights -- oh my!

In two days my amazing partner (Rich) and I will set course again for Houston, TX.  Since the relapse in May it has been decided that my cancer is not growing fast enough to throw in another toxic treatment (yay!).  Therefore, we are attempting the EBV+ vaccine again, and THIS time around I will be put on the relapse arm opposed to the remission arm in hopes that this arm will wreak more havoc on the cancer.

Attempting another treatment to Texas is exciting (another chance for this treatment to work) but a bit financially stressful.  Therefore I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent their positive vibes, opened their hearts, and have also opened their wallets for us to make this trip possible.  I am so humbled, grateful, and words can never express how appreciative I am for the kindness of so many individuals out there.

Originally we had hoped Corporate Angels which is a wonderful organization that flies cancer patients for free would be able to score us a flight.  However, they were unable to find a flight in the areas of our departure and arrivals in the days we need for treatment.  So, the wonderful and talented Ms. Liz Masson, generously offered her wonderful miles to me and Rich -- and we have our first flight booked!!

 Ms. Jola & Ms. Liz

We leave Wednesday (October 12th) for TX at dawn and leave Thursday (October 13th) at dawn so I am able to make my night shift on Thursday at my internship.  Orginially Rich and I wanted to fly in and out the same day; however, with this round of treatment and the obversvation period it is literally impossible for us to find a flight to arrive there and then late enough to leave to have all the tests, obversvation, ect, complete -- we would most likely miss our flight.

Therefore we had to make the decision to stay over Wednesday night, something we were not sure how we were financially going to be able to handle.  Luckily, some amazing and ridiculously generous people, in addition to Ms. Masson and her miles, donated money in the last two weeks and we will just have enough to stay at a hotel Wednesday, eat, and enough for cab fare.  I am so incredibly lucky for these people as they are making this trip possible.

So! Huge, huge thanks to: Ms. Judy Kilty, Ms. Alyson Weissman, Ms. Barbara Chambers, Ms. Katy Cooper, Mr. James Oheir, Ms. Alannah DiBona, Ms. Courtney Forsberg, Ms. Linda Davidson, Ms. Ruth Henry, Mr. Chris Carr, and Ms. Michelle McDonald.  Without all of you, and Ms. Masson, Rich and I would not  make this trip, nor would I receive this form of treatment.  I will be forever grateful for all of you and your hearts.

The last thing I absolutely hate to do on my blog is ask for any charity.  However, the trips to Texas this fall were very last minute as we didn't know when my cells would be ready.  With this first trip booked and ready to roll we are now attempting to figure out the second part of this treatment.  To complete this round Rich and I have to make our way down again on October 26th for the second infusion.

Therefore we are asking again: if there is ANYONE out there who has frequent flier miles that they would be willing to donate, or money towards the PayPal account for our next and final trip down to TX, we thank you in advance.  If you have left a comment on the blog that you'd like to donate (I believe there is a Cara out there who said she would like to), I am having trouble finding you! So please, email me at: RebekahFurey@mac.com to discuss any details.  Again, we thank all of you for sending positive vibes, opening your hearts, and your pockets.  My health and semi-normal life has continued because of each and every one of you.

Thank you again.
Sending Love and Light,

B.