Hospital Stay

Okay, so I am the worst....

....at updating this blog.  I am soooooo sorry!  I have been asked over and over by both friends and family.  So here it is.  I have had news for quite a while, but just haven't felt up to writing about it all.  

I had a PET scan back a couple of weeks ago and it appears that all of the presence of cancer is shrinking.  This is with the hormone treatment I am doing.  Dr. Steffens said it was a free pass.  I get no side effects and it appears to be working.  It doesn't get any better than that!

My ribs started to hurt pretty badly.  Being the idiot I am, I fell down while chasing my parents dog.  He's a runner and I lost my footing.  It was awful.  So, I went in and had an x-ray.  It showed a new lesion.  UGH!  This was less than a week after the good news about the shrinkage.  What a bummer.  So, I went directly for a bone scan.  Dr. Steffens is not convinced that there is new disease, so we are going to use the bone scan as a baseline for future tests.  I will do PET and bone scans together to see what's going on in there.  Sometimes if there is disease in the bone and it is small the PET doesn't pick up on it.  So, as usual it's more wait and see.  I LOVE IT!!!

Tomorrow morning (or this morning) I am going in for surgery.  I will be having a rod put into my femur to fortify it.  This is good for two reasons.  I will be less likely to break that femur.  It is soooo weakened by the tumor and it was kind of inevitable that I would eventually break it, especially if I kept falling all the time.  The procedure will also mean drilling through my femur and it will get SOME of the tumor in the process.  So, other than being painful, it is the best alternative right now.  I think it will be a relatively quick recovery, so that's good!!!  I will have to spend at least one night in the hospital.  It will all depend on my pain management.  Dr. Ward is my orthopedic surgeon and he wants me to walk on that leg on Tuesday, so that should be interesting.  

Now for the fun.  Keep in mind that I have not personally put any of the stickers up, but that are popping up all over the place around here.  If you see any, snap a photo.  I think it would be awesome if they went viral.  There's nothing wrong with everyone representing.  And I have received 2 photos on Facebook of people enjoying themselves while wearing their Tara T-shirts!  I would love to see more.  And speaking of shirts, Gus has some in stock if you want to order.  Just email him at eengstrom@carolina.rr.com and he will get you going.  Let him know also if you need more stickers.  Steve from Contagious Graphics has made some new stickers with the blog address on there.  They're black and pink.  I dig 'em!  He's the best!  So, scroll down for photos of shirts and stickers!  Leave me some comments just to let me know you're reading this.  Or, if you have trouble with that, email me at: ikickcancersass@gmail.com

As always, 

Love and Gratitude,

Tara

Mary Keller with a beautiful rainbow

Sarah Probert representin'

Spotted at Target in Concord

Spotted at Mayflower in Concord

Spotted at Wal-Mart in Kannapolis (thanks for the photo, Gary!)

Spotted at Best Buy in Concord (Thanks for the photo, Gary)

Cranes and Ramseur Records

My beautiful crane tattoo!!!!

Well, I couldn't be happier with my tattoo! Thanks to Rodney @ Ace Custom Tattoos I think it's perfect and he did such a great job with the most important part of the tattoo....my uncle Doug's signature.

The interview with John Hancock went really well this week, also. It was nice to talk with him and Scott Avett made a surprise appearance to say hello. If you missed our little interview, you can download the podcast. Information in the previous post. Thanks again to everyone at the John Hancock show and Ramseur Records!!!

Tonight, Gus and I are going to be attending Ramseur Records Night at the Visualite Theatre in Charlotte. We will have t-shirts to sell and we will be supporting Dolph and his label's artists! If you're in the area, head out there and say HI!

Love and Gratitude,
Tara

this is my wrist with NO tattoo!

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well. Nothing much different going on here. I have no news about my health. I have now completed 2 rounds of the Zometa (bone strengthener) and Faslodex (hormone therapy). In a couple of weeks, I will have another scan to check on things going on in my body.

This weekend, Mom, Dad, Cameron and I flew to Chicago for my cousin Jeff's graduation from Northwestern Law School. Congrats to Jeff! Get your bar study on...

On Thursday, I am going to Kansas to spend some time with my family out there. It will be a nice long weekend.

Wednesday is a huge day! First, Gus and I are going to call in to the John Hancock Show on 1110am WBT. There is live streaming on the website: hancock.wbt.com just click on the listen tab and listen live. We are supposed to be on between the 8:00 and 9:00 hours, Eastern time. This will be very exciting for us. If you miss it live, you can always listen to the podcast.

At noon that same day, Gus and I will go to ACE Custom Tattoo to get our tattoos from Rodney Raines, the greatest tattoo artist in Charlotte, possibly the world! I can't wait! It's going to be great! So, take a good look at the photo of my wrist, you will never see such again. That wrist will be tatted up. I will update everything after my big day!

Love and Gratitude,
Tara

Lucky Girly!!!!!

So, this week has been pretty tough for me. I have had some really great days, but I have had some really bad days as well. Just trying to process all of this is overwhelming. I'm giving it all I have, but sometimes it just takes a little while.

When I forget how lucky I am, it seems that there is someone making me smile!!! I got a call, just minutes ago from my mom and she directed me to a website for the John Hancock Show and I hurried to check it out. He's a local radio personality and great friends with The Avett Brothers. There is audio of an interview he did with Scott Avett just before they opened the show for The Dave Matthews Band at Verizon Wireless Ampetheatre in Charlotte. Not only did they mention my t-shirts, but there is a link to my blog on John Hancock's home page. Talk about exciting!!! The amount of support and love that comes my way on a daily basis is awesome. Thank you ALL!

Make sure you continue to check out The Avett Brothers music and go see them when they come to your town. They are really great friends and already have done more for me than I can ever express in words!

Thanks once again to John Hancock and Dolph Ramseur for showing their support! And welcome to anyone new who found this through their outreach!!! I am honored!!!

Love and Gratitude,
Tara

Tara shirts and Tara stickers

Hey, what do you know....this image was spotted on http://theavettbrothers.com

It's so cool to feel the support! I thank everyone who has bought t-shirts thus far and as I have said before, it's not too late.... Because there is no clinical trial at this time that will help my situation, I think I have come up with a very worthy place to put the money. I will reveal my plans as they become more concrete.

The other fun thing is hearing the stories of TARA sticker sightings. The best part is....they all seem to see the same car. Mitch and Laurie Agnew are rocking that sticker on their black Element all over the state. 4 sightings so far. If you have a minute, snap a photo of your TARA sticker and send it to me @ ikickcancersass@gmail.com I'll stick your photos up here....same with your t-shirts.

Love and Gratitude!
Tara

a little info....

Doug Engstrom 2001

I will start with the T-shirts:
Those girly shirts are FAR too small. So, if you got one and it doesn't fit, let us know and we will make it right. Any shirts ordered from now on will only be in the men's sizes. You can continue to get in touch with Gus on that front: eengstrom@carolina.rr.com You can look back at the blog archives for a photo of the shirt. It's pretty cool....Although no longer fully true. I can't have my scooters anymore. But, it was a fact at the time.

Next, our friend, Dolph Ramseur, manager of The Avett Brothers sent out an email today that made my heart soar. It is so nice to have such great friends. I am going to copy the email here for any of you who weren't on the list:

>>>>>

April 18th was National Record Store Day and The Avett Brothers stopped by Grimey’s in Nashville, TN to perform a few songs and sign some autographs. Grimey’s is one of the best record stores in America and have always given The Avett Brothers a lot of support in the Music City. Over 1,000 people turned out to catch the Brothers sing a few songs. A few climbed trees and many climbed fences to join in on the celebration. At 2:22 of this video (link provided below) you will see the crowd helping the guys out. Pretty impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3-kGwYvigc

You will notice Scott Avett wearing a Tara Engstrom Has A Posse And I’m In It t-shirt while performing at Grimey’s. Tara is great friends with The Avett Brothers. She is putting up a great fight against breast cancer and is a huge inspiration to many. The Brothers were very honored to play a private party in February for Tara, her friends and family. It was a very special night and something that will never be forgotten. For more information on Tara and her battle against the big C please visit her blog at: http://illkickcancersass.blogspot.com/ To order a shirt please contact her brother - Gus Engstrom at: eengstrom@carolina.rr.com
Yours In Truth,
Dolph

<<<<<

Please go to www.theavettbrothers.com and buy their music. Available on their website, on itunes, various online retailers or your local record store. In addition, go check out Amy's pictures of the pep rally one more time and from there go to the flickr page to see all photos: 627photography.blogspot.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyhill627/sets/72157614351654861/

Thanks once again for reading and I will update as soon as there is something to tell you. I did fall down the stairs last night, that was NOT fun. But other than having a bruised butt and needing my cane again, I think I will be okay!!!!

The photo attached is one of my favorites of my uncle Doug and I thought anyone who knows him and reads this blog would appreciate it!!!

love and gratitude,
Tara