The Side-Out Foundation

We live on a lovely home where the backyard is all day lilies of every conceivable color. It’s so amazing that you can’t believe it unless you see it. This is one of the things in my life that gives me courage to continue to fight my disease. We also have a horse foal who I adore which keeps me outside more than usual.

I am presently on my pill Xeloda cycle and I must say that this is one of the “miracle” drugs on the market today. You take it by mouth. Unfortunately there’s no free lunch so its side effects are red and burning hands and feet. But, according to my last PET scan the drug is keeping my cancer at bay and that’s all that’s important to me.

Side-Out was invited by the White House to supply Volleyball nets for their annual Congressional picnic. It was quite exciting for our people that attended. The Volley Ball Net proved to be most successful with little kids but it was the center of attention because the kids were using beach balls which were given to them by the White House and the Volleyballs were being used to play Soccer. Not exactly what we expected. Sadly I wasn’t there – much too hot for me. I’m sure there will be pictures posted on our blog soon.

So, thank goodness, I’m feeling well and am able to enjoy my life, each minute is prescious. We are always eager to have people read our blog and respond to it. I’ve been battling Cancer for 12 years and like to keep up with the science of the disease. Hopefully, in the near future they will find more kind drugs like Xeloda, instead of the heavy duty chemo drugs.

ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF YOUR LIFE!

written by Gloria

This evening, I downloaded a video clip from the Today Show.  It was a Cancer question and answer session where people write in or call in and ask questions to a panel of cancer experts.  It was the most bizarre thing ever.  Every answer the Cancer experts gave was in and around the intersection of “WE DON’T KNOW” Road and “Insert Standard Cancer Info Here” Blvd.  I thought to myself, what a useless segment.  I for one am tired of “WE DON’T KNOW”. Billions of dollars have gone into “Cancer Research” and we still don’t know what causes it and we still don’t have a cure.

I felt sorry for those Cancer experts on the tube; they looked distressed.  Cancer is a wicked disease and I can’t imagine having to answer tough questions everyday and having to give half answers.  I am happy there are good scientists and doctors that want to take on this challenge…we need to support them so that they don’t lose hope.

written by Rick Dunetz

So I was shopping at Wegman’s with my wife the other day trying to pull together a father’s day brunch and as I approached the cucumbers I noticed something insane.  The organic Cucumbers were $1.99 each. EACH! The “GENETICALLY ENGINEERED” cucumbers were about 69 cents each.  Shocking to say the least.

We have no definitive proof that anything specific causes Cancer, but I think it is safe to say that all the “Genetically Engineered” produce is bad for us….nasty chemicals, pesticides, and preservatives all in the name of capitalism.  FRESH ORGANIC vegatables are good for our bodies and, at one time, were inexpensive and were in abundance.

Over the past 10 years our culture has become lazy; we took too many shortcuts and now we are paying the price. The world going is through tough times economically and ecologically.  Our government is working on contingency plans for these issues and there are tons of organizations/causes to assist.  In essence we are getting back to the basics.  And I guess that is a good thing.  Now maybe our farmers can go back to putting seeds in the dirt and watering them, instead of looking for shortcuts.

Find a farmers market in your area…refuse to pay premiums on organic produce and support your local farmers.

• http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/
• http://states.farmersmarket.com/

And if you are feeling really ambitious, start your own garden.  Seeds and water are cheap.

written by Rick Dunetz \\ tags: farmers market, health

Sorry I haven’t blogged for a while but I’ve been kinda coasting while I’m on Xeloda, my present drug, because I feel almost normal on this miracle drug. D-Day (decision day) is about to occur since I am seeing my doctor next week. If Xeloda is working I will definitely stay on it for as long as it works. We will find this out in the next couple of weeks when I will be getting my next PET scan which will either be good or not so good. This is what living with Metastatic Breast Cancer is like. We never know when the cancer cells become resistent to the current drug we’re on. The PET scan which I have every 3 months is the only way to tell what the Cancer is doing. We must have research to find out why the metastatic breast cancer cells change after a time and become “smart” and learn to resist the drug and start growing again.

I believe that Side-Out Foundation will be very instrumental in helping to find answers to questions that our Oncologists don’t understand yet. We may be very close and with a big push in research make the discovery that will make Metastatic Breast Cancer totally manageable. We, who deal with Metastatic Breast Cancer daily, treat our disease as a chronic disease rather than a death sentence. I have confidence that sometime in the near future, the prognosis for patients with this disease will improve dramatically. Just think, I had my first bout with Breast Cancer 12 years ago and there was no such thing as a PET scan. Xeloda, the drug I am currently on did not exist.

Our Mare gave birth to a bouncing 100 lb. baby foal last month. I couldn’t help but weep when I saw this miracle knowing that without past research in my disease I probably would not have lived long enough to see it. My fifth anniversary of living with Cancer is near and I am very hopeful that I will be lucky enough to live long enough to see the my son Rick’s vision for Side-Out. To be successful in funding more extensive research to find better treatment options for this epidemic disease and possibly eradicate Breast Cancer entirely.

written by Gloria \\ tags: Breast Cancer, metastatic, pet scan, Xeloda

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have decided to hang up my competitive bikini and retire from volleyball. I competed in indoor volleyball for 11 years and beach volleyball for almost 19. Volleyball is my passion and I was fortunate to be able to turn it into my job for along period of time. I will continue to promote indoor beach volleyball and train new players on the beach, see avp.com for the avp transition series, where I teach all american indoor players how to play beach. I will also continue to support breast cancer research and do all I can do to help find a cure. Thanks for all your support and I hope to see you on a volleyball court somewhere.

written by Holly McPeak \\ tags: Holly McPeak, Retriement, volleyball