A few photos from the weekend

Garrett and Kevin spent a little time wrestling on the floor.

My sister Susan and her grandson Sam

My grand niece Anna loved her new hat from Nancy. Anna called this her cowboy hat.

The two best dogs in the world - Kramer with his head on Pearl.


Baby Sam

This photo is from the birthday luau at Leadership Studies. We celebrate staff birthdays once a month and usually have a theme for the party - this month was Hawaiian. Left to right: Alicia, Amanda, HB, Nick, Susan, and Careem.

Happy Birthday Karsen

Nancy's Surprise

She did it, she really did it. Nancy has been saying that she was going to get her hair cut short - as you can see, she did it today. It looks adorable!! I think this is Nancy's retirement haircut. Don't you think she looks ready to enjoy life as a retired person? By the way, June 14 is her official retirement date. I hope you are ready for a party to celebrate with her. Oh, did I mention how cute she looks?

Oh Canada!

Nancy and I have enjoyed the company of our friends Adrienne and Blair and their children Mattie and River for the last couple of days. As many of you know, they moved back to Winnipeg about a year ago so that Adrienne could start her job as Director of Sport Psychology at the Canadian Sport Centre of Manitoba. One of the reasons Nancy and I chose our current house was to have the space to entertain and have lots of company. So please make plans to visit us! Of course, we don't cook much or clean much, but we do enjoy good conversations and lots of laughs.

Happy Anniversary to Tim and Jody - It's not their baby!

Tim and Jody are the godparents to Joey and Kelly's son, Sam. This photo was taken in late January when Sam was baptized. I was a little worried that some of you might think that Jody and Tim had a baby without telling us! Well they didn't, so don't worry. Some of you might be unaware of two interesting facts about Jody and Tim: 1) I am Jody's favorite aunt, and 2) Tim has switched his allegiance from the St Louis Cardinals to the Kansas City Royals. Tim, do you already have a new powder blue Royals shirt?

Happy Birthday Shout Out to Susan Scott

I love this photo of Susan and her daughter Lilly because it epitomizes the 'wonder' of how Susan sees life. Susan has the unique gift of seeing how things might be and sharing that with others - that is why I love this photo. It shows Susan's visionary side as well as how she communicates her ideas. Susan is the director and co-founder of Leadership Studies and Programs and a good friend and mentor to me. This photo was taken as she announced to the LSP staff and students that we had enough money to move forward on a building for Leadership Studies. Happy Birthday dear friend!


Candi, Susan and I have been friends and colleagues for several years. It just seemed appropriate to post a photo of the three of us on Susan's birthday. This photo was taken last July when I still had eyebrows, but had lost the hair on my head.

Historic Day for Leadership Studies and Programs

We celebrated the groundbreaking today for the NEW Leadership Studies building at K-State. Can you believe it? A new building at K-State and it is for a minor - it truly is a miracle that we will have a brand new building two years from now. For those of you who don't know much about Leadership Studies and Programs (LSP), we offer an academic minor in leadership studies as well as leadership development through programming efforts. The minor was established in 1997 with 13 students, now we have approximately 1400 students enrolled in our program. We have been housed in two houses - literally houses - on the edge of campus as well as in the Foundation Building on Anderson Avenue. For you oldtimers, the Foundation is the old Farm Bureau building. The NEW building will be located just north of King Hall or just east of Schellenburger Hall. And for those of you with a good memory of campus, it will be located just north of the big fork. The building spot is now a parking lot - before you go crazy about that - we did not get to pick the location. It was assigned to us by a university committee!! Many of you know the issue of parking on a college campus is always a challenge and K-State is no different. I can't wait to see a beautiful new building in that spot.

Susan Scott introduced Mary Lynn and Warren Staley as the lead donors for the building.

When the K-State band played the fight song, we all stood in honor of the purple and the white! Mary Lynn Staley, Matt Wagner (LSP student and former student body president), and Ruth Ann Wefald felt the K-State spirit.

The finale to the ceremonial groundbreaking festivities was the turning of the first shovel of dirt. Of course, we had to import dirt because of the asphalt in the parking lot. Left to right: Casey Carlson (she represented the first LSP class), Ella Todd (current LSP ambassador president), Susan Scott (director and EVERYTHING that is LSP), Mary Lynn Staley (lead donor for the building and inspiration), Warren Staley (husband to Mary Lynn and former CEO of Cargill), and Bob Shoop (senior scholar and everything else that is LSP). There were others who turned dirt, but they didn't make it in my camera s hot.

Warren and Mary Lynn Staley (former K-Staters and lead donors) and Ruth Ann (wonderful woman and great K-Stater) and Jon Wefald (president of K-State)

Cancer Update - Actually there isn't much to update

Nancy and I met with Dr Sharma at the Cancer Center in Kansas City on Wednesday. It was a fairly uneventful appointment - of course, that is good news. My blood work was good with the exception of vitamin D deficiency. I have taken mega doses of vitamin D, but I am still needing to work on getting that level up a little more. The other issue is that I have been having neck/upper back pain. Dr Sharma thinks that is one of the side effects of Femara, it can cause joint pain. It has been significant enough in the last several weeks that I am taking ibuprofen daily and a pain pill several times a week. Of course, that neck pain is also my reason to get in the hot tub daily, if not more. Have I said lately how much I love that hot tub?

Dr Sharma also wants me to start exercising regularly and too loose weight. Imagine that! She suggested any form of exercise that I can do regularly. Nancy and I have been walking the dogs at the local dog park. We usually walk 30 - 45 minutes and it is up and down hills. I will probably start going to a fitness center to do weight bearing exercises as well. I guess lugging my body around is not weight bearing enough!

My next appointment will be a bone mineral density test because Femara can cause bone density issues. Then on July 16 I will have a bone scan and ct scan of my chest and abdomen. I would have loved to had the scans today - I think we all want reassurance that the cancer has not returned. So now I will have to wait a little longer for that assurance. This is something I will have to live with - the fear or thought that the cancer will return.

BIG NEWS - I have not had a pop in three days. Why? I am trying to feel better, so I thought that might be a way I could contribute to my overall health. Those of you who know me well, know that giving up pop is a huge step for me. The cravings have been significant, but so far I have survived on drinking tea to get my caffeine buzz.

Love to all,
Mary Kay

K-State's Relay for Life

The Leadership Studies and Programs' ambassadors (LSPA) participated in the K-State version of Relay for Life on Friday night. The event had to be moved from outside at Memorial Stadium to inside at Ahearn Fieldhouse because of the cold temperatures and high winds. The students were spelling the letters LSPA in this team photo. Thank you ambassadors for participating in this important event. You can 'click' on any photo to see a larger version.

My friend, and former Russell Countian, Todd Wells is the faculty adviser to the LSPA group. Todd is wearing his Team Mary Kay shirt that the ambassadors had made in December. The back of the shirt reads - Beat Cancer. Now you know why Leadership Studies and Programs is such a great place to work.

K-State students Brett and Eric posed with me and my luminary sack.

My friends, Candi and Bernard, are both cancer survivors and walked the survivor lap together.

Nancy has been with me for each and every step of this cancer journey - and she was there Friday night to support me.

We have had our share of cancer at Leadership Studies in the past few years. I documented the evening with a video camera - I hope to create a short video of the event after I get a little training in movie making.

Happy Birthday Rebecca

I want to send my best birthday wishes (I am sending wishes and no present) to Rebecky - as she is sometimes known in the Siefers' family.
I am definitely Rebecca's favorite aunt!

The Family Fager

The Fager Sisters - Becky, Nancy, Barbara, and Jane.

The four Fager sisters (Barbara, Jane, Becky and Nancy) and Becky's husband Jim gathered at our house in Manhattan for a family get-together Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. They shared lots of family stories as well as lots of love and laughter. The visits with all four sisters present are far and few between so this truly was a special time for them. Becky and Jim live in Cut Bank, Montana; Jane lives in Lincoln, Nebraska; and Barbara and Nancy live in Manhattan.

Happy Birthday Lori

Lori and husband Matt - I decided I should add this photo so that people don't think Matt always acts out - as in the photo below.

Lori and Matt - Lori is the refined one in the family!

Thinking of my brother Bill and sister-in-law Julie

My heart goes out to Julie and Bill because of the death of Julie's 29 year-old son, Derek. There are no words that can possibly ease any pain that they are feeling right now. I just want to be with them to give them a hug and to share love with them.

Nancy's Big News!!

Health, Hair, Breasts and Blogs

Hello Friends,
How about a little health update? Well, there really isn't too much to share - And that is the good news. I am working on the no news is good news philosophy. The truth is that I feel better now than I have since surgery last October!! I am now working (or at least I am at work) full days and am starting to get my 'groove back' and passion back for teaching. I knew I did not feel well for the past five months, but I just didn't realize how much energy I lacked. Life is definitely easier now that I am feeling better. I now have a healthy respect for those who have gone through similar health challenges. So, I want to give a special 'shout out' to all who have dealt with their own or a loved one's illness. Until you have experienced it, I am not sure you understand the toll it takes on people.

Hair - I have chosen to keep my hair short for a while. Sharon and Nancy have been giving me haircuts with the clippers and a number 4 or 5 blade. Those of you who use clippers will know what that means. There is just something about having really short hair and the 'ease' of it. I wash it, towel dry it and go. Actually, some days I even put a little gel on it and spike it for a change of pace. As I have shared before, my hair has never been too important to me so this style fits my needs just fine. The short hair can also be a badge for cancer. When I was bald, I saw it as my badge and it gave me certain privileges. When people relate your baldness to cancer, they treat you differently - in a good way. I always received excellent treatment when I was bald. Now I am struggling with the transition from I have cancer TO I had cancer. I think the short hair is allowing me to dabble in the cancer badge just a little. Sometimes I want people to know that I have/had cancer, so the short hair does that for me. But then there are other times when I want to be as far away from cancer as I can get. I guess I want a cancer card that I can play when I want..... There is a life lesson wrapped up in this experience, but I am not sure what it is.

Breasts - or lack thereof. I don't miss my breasts and I definitely don't miss wearing a bra! There are a few issues that the lack of breasts have given me. The first is that my stomach now sticks out! That's right, since my bilateral mastectomy, my stomach has gotten much bigger. OR, since I no longer have breasts that 'hide' my stomach, it now appears much bigger. Anyway, I am more conscious of the size of my stomach than I have ever been. The second issue in not having breasts is the way certain blouses and shirts fit. Many of my shirts and jackets are fitted and have 'darts' (anyway that is what I called them in Mrs Kaufman's home ec classes in high school) to create a fitted look. Well, now I don't have anything to fill the space in the shirts so there is a pocket of material that sticks out with nothing in it. I have been wearing those shirts, but I always wear a jacket with them to draw attention away from the boobless area. I guess it is going to take time for ME to adjust my self image and feel comfortable with the new look Mary Kay.

Blog - What has this blog become? When I first started the blog, I intended to share my cancer journey with anyone who was interested. And for the most part, that is what I did with the blog. But it eventually morphed into a place for me to share photos and information about my family and friends. At times, I thought about starting a new blog for the family and friends update. And I thought I would save this blog for any 'cancer' updates. Of course, I hope there are very few updates about cancer except to say that everything is fine, I feel fine, and my tests are clean. But, the more I think about it, I realize that we can't separate cancer and family and friends. When this all started for me in May of 2007, I wanted to embrace the cancer and own it. Meaning I wanted to continue to live life even if cancer was going to be a part of my life. So, I guess it is ok to continue to post family and friend photos on the blog that is titled 'Mary Kay's Cancer Journey' because they are important parts of each other. I am sure that is another life lesson, but I can't seem to see it right now.

Love to all,
Mary Kay

Photos of the Day

I love this look of wonderment from Natalie.

Susan, Nancy, Debbie, and Jody with the KC skyline in the background.

Sam looked a little frazzled by the hug from his sister Anna.

Matt and his daughter Hallie. She seems to be looking at something very interesting.

This photo was taken after the last home game for the K-State women's team. As you can tell, it was very windy that day.