A small deposit of information......

O.K., I am trying to break this all down into bite-sized chunks because I met soooo many people who each had their own amazing stories. I will try to tell you a few background stories about a few people, but they are just a sampling of the many ladies I met. There were over 800 ladies there from everywhere from Germany, to Tanzia and everywhere in between. I tried to remember everyone's name that I met, but bombed that pretty fast. I just recognized everyone by their smiles and their amazing spirit shinning through.

 This lovely lady tours the United States giving seminars about fighting cancer and she was dressed up in all her fighting glory.

 These amazing people were friends I met along the way that went out to dinner with me. We were fast friends because we all have metastatic breast cancer, which basically means that our cancer has spread, and we will be dealing with this disease forever. But we learned so much from each other and took home many tidbits from each other about coping.

 This was just one example of the amazing couples that I met there. Linda was diagnosed at age 24 and then her cancer came back 4 1/2 years later in her liver. They have been through a lot together and they were a really great couple. I think they live in New Jersey now, (don't quote me on that), and he has a PhD from Cornell. She had a quiet, enduring strenth about her. And for all you Johnson's out there, Mike, her husband, looked a lot like a Haglund... am I right???

 This was an entrace to one of the areas where we gathered, but we were pretty much spread out across a huge area. It all depended on what class you were attending, which doctors, exhibitors, etc., you were meeting with. If you didn't keep track of your own schedule, you got left in the dust. I tried really hard to sponge everything in, but I still feel like I missed a lot of great information that I am tracking down now that I am home.

 One of the other great things offered there was a make-over session for anyone who was interested. I have never had a real make-over before and it was really fun to learn all the tips and tricks from Randal, my make up artist.

 Here I am getting excited about my make-over.

 And here is the end result. A very made up mommy!! It was a lot of fun and I felt very beautiful when it was over. It was an amazing feeling!!!

 Yup, more pictures of me all made up. He gave me a catalog and circled all the products he used on me and I am too scared to look them up online, I am sure they cost a fortune! Oh well, the make-over was fun!

 This is a picture of me and the "Good Health Fairy". This is a crazy picture because I was asking her if her magic wand could cure my cancer.

 Here we are again, this time looking at the camera.... good health and all.

 Here is Dusty or Rusty or something. He was giving tours through the bayou or somthing to see alligators and such. My roomate and I (pictured here), just thought he looked silly in his pink bra. All for a good cause, I suppose!!! And I will tell you more about my roommate later, she was simply AMAZING!!!

 This is another lady I met at the hot tub, who has stage 4 cancer just like me and we were fast friends.

 Here is a bunch of us at the pajama party for all the ladies. I wore my pink and black jammies to help in the cause. We had many laughs at a lot of fun at our jammie party. And a girl in the elevator said, "Are you wearing your pajamas?" I responded that I was because I was going to a special pajama party. She looked up at her mom and said, "I want to go to a pajama party too mommy!!"

 And I did get a chance to bring back a bit of the Florida spirit. This is Lund with the alligator head I brought back for him. He told me that it is scary and cool, which was exactly what I thought when I saw it!! I brought back things for the other kids as well, but nothing as scary and cool as this alligator head.

He has already taken it to school and scared all the girls in his class. I think he is really enjoying this!!

Next post will include some things that I learned from doctors and geneticists while there. Sorry to leave you in the lurch, but I can only get done a little at a time, Scooby Doo only lasts for so long. he he he