<p>Just checking in, hoping your week is going well. Enjoy your Mother’s day.</p>
<p>Yes! Have a WONDERFUL Mother’s Day, sunrise! :)</p>
<p>Just thinking about you and dropping in to wish you a very HAPPY MOTHERS DAY<3</p>
<p>Happy Mother’s Day! :)</p>
<p>Happy Mother’s Day, sunrise and everyone!</p>
<p>Happy Mother’s Day sunrise and to all of the wonderful moms here!!</p>
<p>thank you all! I have one of my two son’s around for the mother’s day. The other one goes to a school in Chicago on a quarter schedule so not out of the school yet.</p>
<p>Today was a bitter sweet day. I did not tell you about the the latest cockamamie thing I have been hatching. I applied to a law school this spring. Given what I have been dealing with, I felt that I am done scheming for one fortune 100 company to steal 2% market share from another global fortune 100 company. That’s not how I wanted to spend my time anymore. I had my glory days as a senior executive fortune 100 companies. Been there. Done that. I wanted to become a public advocacy lawyer (according to my answer to S2’ question regarding what this means – public advocacy law means my clients have no money to pay me. To that he said Pee Yew - working for free?). I feel that that’s how I want to use my intellect and my passion going forward. </p>
<p>I came to this country when I was 21 with nothing but a big suitcase and dream of becoming something far more than what my own culture prescribed to me: that of a life of a mother and wife, nothing more. I felt enormously grateful that this society gave me a Ph.D., an exciting career, and a life I wanted to live. The fact that I survived this long given my initial diagnosis owes to the fact that I have been very privileged: the access to the world class medical team, the financial resources, the dedicated network of friends, etc. Time to give back now with whatever time I have left - hopefully A LOT.</p>
<p>Well, today, I got a notification that I got in. The original game plan is for me to be in remission by now, recover from all these crazy treatment and start a new life as a law student this fall.</p>
<p>Well, this is not to be. Cancer is coming back. I am no way near remission, and if anything, I am looking at a heavy duty treatment commencing this summer (unless the latest cockamamie off label drug somehow works miraculously for me – another subject matter all together). </p>
<p>I even thought about starting my law school training any way cancer treatment or not, and had a very tense discussion (to put it EXTREMELY MIDLY) about this with my H: he thinks I am going to literally kill myself in the process of doing it. To his credit, this is the first time he said “NO” to any crazy plan I concocted. He supported me when I decided to go get an MBA (at company expense) while I was working, which means I disappeared on a regular basis leaving him with two small kids. He supported me when I took the executive position at a fortune 100 company with $200B annual revenue at their global HQ in Asia, and “commuted” to and from NJ, and spent more than three weeks out of a month on the road all over the world while he quit his job and became a stay home parent for the kids.</p>
<p>Well, given where I am, in the end, I ended up agreeing with him. Even by my crazy standard, it did sound a bit too much. If my cancer does not respond to next couple of options, I may have to go for an exotic clinical trial – which all tends to be very intense in terms of time commitment……</p>
<p>I am happy that I got in, but I am really bummed out – it’s hard for me to admit to myself that I have to watch the door closing, rather than opening new ones……</p>
<p>Well, I will try to get a year extension. Perhaps, next year, I will be well enough that I can start a new life.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I am looking at the pill box: these new off label drugs - tons and tons of pills to take. Just looking them feel defeated… My days are dictated by the pill schedule on top of the schedule for doctors, treatment, scans… I try to “live” in between somehow…</p>
<p>I visited the Yosemite last week when I accompanied my H on his business trip. I realized that 17 months of near non stop chemo is taking its toll on me. Only a few years back, I hiked around the Everest Base camp. This time, I was huffing and puffing at 7000 ft elevation…</p>
<p>That said, I really, really have no reason to complain. Most women with this kind of non stop treatment can hardly get out of bed, let alone traveling and complaining about not doing well enough on a hike…</p>
<p>sunriseast–cancer nothwithstanding, you are probably in better shape than most of us!</p>
<p>Congratulations on getting into law school! But…I think it is very wise to put law school on hold and take care of yourself for a while. Hopefully, you can someday do what you dream of doing.</p>
<p>First, congratulations on your law school acceptance! That’s very exciting. I’m not the least bit surprised you got in. I hope you are very proud of yourself. </p>
<p>Secondly, I’m so sorry you need to delay your matriculation. But, I think you’ve made the right decision. A year from now you can put your cockamamie plan into action and be the best law student in the school. </p>
<p>{{hugs}} to you. I can tell you’re in need of some good news. Alas, all I can offer is my cyber support and long-distance encouragement. I’ll send it whenever you want it. Just say the word.</p>
<p>upon learning about this latest turn, a good friend of mine who is a physician sent me email that contained the following phrase.</p>
<p>
[quote]
</p>
<p>Have to admit I side with with you H here- you see rows of eager fellow students. I see millions of unfettered microbes waiting to find a compromised host. At least now it won’t be you. </p>
<p>[unquote]</p>
<p>An interesting perspective, heh? I had a good laugh out of it ;)</p>
<p>sunriseeast,
I hope you’ll contact the law school that was smart enough to accept you and ask to defer your enrollment for a year. What you were planning was not “cockamamie.” It was/is a noble endeavor, but put it on hold to concentrate on getting better.</p>
<p>Best to you sunrise. Congratulations on your law school acceptance. Timing is everything and hopefully they will work with yours.
How compelling it is to see you looking so far beyond yourself at a time when most people tend to let their world shrink a bit to accommodate a new set of challenges.
Thanks for posting.</p>
<p>I would think there would be a legal clinic near you that would welcome the volunteer help you are able to provide now, at a paralegal level.</p>
<p>For example, the New York Legal Assistance Group has volunteer opportunities for non-lawyers. Their website explains their multi-faceted mission, but one part that might interest you is ensuring access to health care for low-income patients.</p>
<p>Is it possible to do law school part-time? Even if you were to do an online course, just one step in the door, might be entirely do-able. I was looking into certificate coursework to refresh whatever my MBA credential gets me in the workforce after being out for 10 yrs, ok it’s now 11 yrs. Alot of online options out there actually, more than just Univ. of Phoenix types. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Several people heartily congratulated me for my “achievement” in getting into the law schools. Well, in the spirit of truth in advertising, I must confess that it’s really no biggie. I applied to only two schools, and both accepted me. There were the right schools for my needs: they do not require relocation on my part and they are #1 and #3 in public advocacy law (the field I am pursuing). However, Harvard Law, they ain’t. They are not really hard to get in. </p>
<p>That said, being a competitive person that I am, even with my own two kids, I would say, the recent admission records give me the edge over my own kids. S1 was rejected by Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. S2 applied to one top 20-30ish school (early decision - a full ride scholarship deal), and got in. I applied to two schools and both accepted me. So, I have a better record. (OK, quantity over quality. The law schools that accepted me are in nowhere near in relative rankings of the schools my kids are attending. But still, I relish the small triumph 
;)</p>
<p>I try to get credit wherever I can :)</p>
<p>PS: I told my good doctor at MSKCC about this: getting into law school, and having to delay given that I am still in treatment, and will start probably a heavy duty treatment soon now that stuff is showing up on the scan finally after months of cancer antigen blood marker rising. And, his response was: when does it start? Fall? Ummmmmmmmmm, don’t finalize the delayed entrance yet… I JUST LOVE THIS MAN!!! I have communicated with women on the exact same trajectory as mine, and some of them were told by their doctors to start putting their affairs in order!</p>
<p>Always put your affairs in order, and THEN move on. It is a big, wide, wonderful world for how long we have. No one ever knows and we that have been given a heads up, well, enjoy.</p>
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<p>Like, like, and triple like!!</p>
<p>several people asked me if I could start part time or start in the spring. Neither program allows spring admission. Regarding part time, if I end up joining a clinical trial for my treatment, it means a very intense schedule. It may even mean doing it in a different city.</p>
<p>Besides, the reality is, if the next series of treatments continue to not work, I am looking at a real possibility of having only a short while before I exit the stage. </p>
<p>Macabre thoughts? Objective assessment of the reality! I am optimistic and hopeful, but I can also assess my situation with a cold passion of an actuarial profession.</p>
<p>As such, I need to see whether I can go into remission and stay there for a while, or at least whether I can manage to find a way to get it stable and have a realistic chance of maintaining it as a stable, chronic condition.</p>
<p>sunriseeast, I am a law school administrator as well as an admissions consultant. Please PM me if you’d like any free advice about your options, what to expect during law school, etc.</p>
<p>I love your doctor too!</p>