 |
Home of Dinah Zike's
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dinah's Health UpdateDear Friends in Education, On Sept. 1st of this year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Needless to say, the diagnosis was totally unexpected, very shocking, and completely life-changing, but as hundreds of thousands of women have experienced before me, it is surmountable! My husband, Ignacio, has been by my side and continues to help me daily as he does his architectural work from home, and Cecile (who has been with me 18 years) and all the employees of my company are keeping things moving forward as my energy level is greatly reduced. I had a mastectomy on Sept. 20th, and I am doing very well. The cancer had spread to three lymph nodes, but they removed 14 to be safe. I am slowly recovering a wider range of arm movement on my left side, but still experience great discomfort from nerve ending damage. I hear this, too, will subside with time. The cancer was a Grade 3 cell (very deformed and fast growing), and I started chemotherapy on Oct. 19. I will have six months of chemo and then 5-6 weeks of radiation. I was neither estrogen nor progesterone positive, so I will not be able to take the new oral cancer medications, but will take an IV drug called Herceptin for a year instead. I've had a port/cath implanted in my upper right chest to receive the next 16 months of IV treatments. They say I will lose my hair within the next few weeks, and I'm definitely going to be thinner! Ignacio says he is going to shave his head when I lose my hair, but I'm not sure I want him to. I think at least one of us should have hair. I'm going to get a very short hair cut the end of this week; I've always been afraid to try it - now is the time! My cancer was NOT detectable by self examination, and it could not be felt once the mammogram showed its exact location. Please stress the importance of mammograms to those you love. I want to share my experiences with breast cancer in hope that other women will be encouraged to go for regular tests. I was scheduled to go in May, but postponed it until Sept. I am so fortunate we found it when we did, what if I had waited another year? Don't wait! I am enjoying my time at home immensely, and I'm able to write and design! I'm currently working on and supervising the production of new Foldable Math manipulatives, my long overdue World History book (which is nearly ready!) and four new language arts books for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling. I am looking forward to being home with my family this fall and holiday season. My workshops have been canceled until late Spring '07(hopefully I'll be doing short conference presentations by late Spring, too). We will also continue Dinah Zike Academy trainer-of-trainer sessions in February '07. As many of you know, my Academy is held in historic Comfort, Texas, in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and I look forward to working with visiting teachers just a few blocks from our home. Check the DZAcademy website www.dzacademy.com for dates and classes offered. I thank you for your support through the years, and ask you to help me continue to share my Foldables and three-dimensional interactive graphic organizers with students and teachers. My husband and I are blessed. We thank you deeply for your prayers and best wishes, and I look forward to seeing you at workshops and conferences in the near future. Dinah Zike |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
