Julianne Ward Nelson packed her 45 years with beauty, generosity and joy.

Julianne died Wednesday, February 5th, 2014 after five years striving to create as full a life as possible for her family while courageously managing cancer. She defined herself not as a patient, but rather by her devotion as a wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend – and especially as the mother of Adam (8) and Matthew (5) whose care she put before all else.

Born in Oslo, Norway on July 15, 1968, Julianne grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from UCSD and received her Juris Doctorate Degree from California Western School of Law. An avid equestrian, world traveller and savvy shopper, Julianne married Marchus Nelson of Napa in 2005. A member of the California Bar Association, Julianne worked most recently as a Planner for the City of Napa, where she helped craft the long-range plan for downtown redevelopment. She was active in her neighborhood association, her children’s school, and charities raising money for cancer research. Her friendships – many of which spanned over decades and continents – flourished from her warmth and grace.

Her life will be honored at a funeral service at 1:00 Tuesday at First Christian Church, 2659 First Street, in Napa. The service will be followed by an inurnment and reception at Tulocay Cemetery, 411 Coombsville Road.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to assist her family can be made payable to UBS Financial Services, 703 Trancas Street, Napa, CA 94558, with a memo reading “Julianne’s Memorial Fund.” Donations also can be made to her sons' school, Blue Oak, 1436 Polk Street, Napa, CA 94559, noting that they are, “In Memory of Julianne Ward Nelson.”

Her family is tremendously grateful for the care and support shown by the many people who knew and loved Julianne.

Brave, brilliant, beautiful Julianne passed away peacefully this morning.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Next Installment

So, the reason it has taken me so long to post again is that I’ve bounced back and have been feeling amazingly good!!! So, I've been busy living! It is truly incredible to witness and feel the body’s ability to regain strength after feeling so awful. I feel so blessed to have had the last few months to recover and enjoy my health.

However, as can be the case, my PET/CT scan last week had some good news and some not so great news. The good news is that there was some stability in some areas and some areas have gone away or are being super quiet. Yay! The not so great news is that the liver spots are still living it up in there and adding a few friends, while trying to inflate themselves. This is not so good. I need those guys to quiet down or get OUT!

So, today I have my first infusion of a chemotherapy called Abraxane. It’s a relative of Taxol, which was my very first chemo almost 4 years ago. It’s considered to be easier for the body to process because it is connected to a protein, rather than a solvent (which is the case with Taxol). The good thing is that there are no premedications (Taxol requires Benadryl, Dexamethazone, and Zofran for nausea). Abraxane isn’t supposed to cause nausea (yay!). So, I am hoping that with this chemo, I will get the benefits of how brilliantly Taxol worked, without the unpleasant part. They do expect that I will lose my hair yet again. But hey, the third time is the charm, right?

I’m not really concerned about my hair leaving except that it is really hard on my kids. They don’t like it at all. So, that part is hard. And I don’t know if I’ll do hats or a wig this time. I’ve done both and wigs kind of let you get by in public without people knowing, but they are less comfortable than just throwing on a hat. So, we'll see.

I mentioned in my last post about my Chinese herbs. I’ve been doing them for almost two months now and have to say that I love them. It’s a bit of work to boil them up just about every day, but it feels healing and it is a nice way to do something for myself that way since I am not at all culinary. My oncologist was amazed at how quickly and how well I bounced back. I think she thought I felt badly because of the disease, but that isn’t at all the case. I have no pain and no issues related to the disease. It’s the treatment that causes me problems! I think the Chinese herbs contributed to my ability to bounce back. I mean I walked over three miles just a few days ago. Not bad!

This whole process is an emotional roller coaster. I am still learning to live in the moment, to appreciate the small stuff, to love the people in my life so dearly that it brings tears to my eyes, and to know in my heart that life is such a tremendous gift.

My plan (planner that I am) is to be here a long, long time. As my Chinese herbs doctor says, this is a chronic disease and getting it under control is the key. I’m working on getting it under control with many prayers, western medicine, Chinese herbs, acupuncture, reiki, counseling, green juice (thank you Monika!!) lots of walking out in the fresh air, music, inspirations, positive thinking, and most of all, the love of my dear family and friends. I am blessed to have you all in my life. Again, when you think of me, envision me in perfect health. Thank you for all your support. This thanksgiving, I am deeply, deeply thankful for all that I am blessed with.
I hope you are as well. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Following Up

Sorry it has taken awhile for me to post again. It's been a bit of a whirlwind.

Let's start with the good news first: the brain MRI showed that my brain is doing great! So, that was a giant relief!

On the other hand, the PET/CT did not have such good news. Again, there was some progression and some new little spots. Argh! My family and I were so disappointed. At first, my doctor was talking about switching me back to another chemo I'd had in the beginning. However, after talking with her, she also recommended I switch to hormone therapy and a biologic. This would be the oral drugs Aromasin and Afinitor. I'd taken these early this year for less than a week when all that craziness happened with spots in my lungs that turned out to be related to my having the flu. Anyway, I've been happily taking Aromasin and Afinitor for about a week now and each day am gaining some strength back and feeling more human again.

That last chemo really took a lot out of me. I was pretty much in bed full time and was struggling to even eat. It was pretty brutal for me, though I hear that some people just sail through. Everyone is different and so treatment experiences really vary. It was really, really hard and I am SO happy to be on a treatment that is not debilitating anymore. My family and friends have been tremendous support during this really difficult time and there are no words to express how grateful I am and how much I appreciate them.

In the last week or so, I also met with a doctor of Chinese Herbal Medicine. I'll report more on that once I get going on my herbs, which I am expecting to be delivered today.

I'm also getting my tumor tissue analyzed by a company that will look at the cells and be able to recommend biological therapies that are consistent with the receptors of those cells. Let's hope there is a big list of possibilities.

Again, I am so thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers.
I hope that when you think of me, you imagine me completely healthy, active and happy. That's what I pray for in my future. I can't say thank you enough for all of your support. The cards, texts, email, voicemails and phone calls are always a bright part of my day. I am so grateful for my incredible support system and feel so very blessed to be here every day!!!

Scanxiety

Tomorrow is a double day. On the one hand it is Marchus' and my wedding anniversary. I feel so blessed to be married to such an loving and supportive husband, and that is definitely worth celebrating. O. The other hard, tomorrow morning, I will have a brain MRI, as well as a PET/CT scan. After the last one, I can't help but have some fear and anxiety going on. At the same time, I have been praying and praying for my health and future. I hope that you will pray for me too - for scan results that show my health and well being. I will post again when we have results. But for now, prayers for perfect health are welcome and appreciated.
Thank you so very much.

Jumping in... Again...

So, we met with my oncologist and discussed a whole load of choices. Who knew there were so many treatment options?! She said that we wouldn't run out of options, it's more what each person's body can handle - which was good news to me cuz I'm planning on keeping my body healthy and strong!

So, after much discussion, I began on a clinical trial of Eribulin (which is fairly new and comes from sea sponges) and Cytoxan (which has been around for decades). Basically, I get both one week, Eribulin only the next week and then a week off. Then repeat. I'll have a scan in early September to check on how it's going (around the same time as my brain MRI. We started last Tuesday, and it knocked me down a bit for a few days, but my strength is gradually rebounding and I'm happy about that - elated actually! The fear and anxiety of how any new treatment will affect me is probably almost as bad as the treatment itself. Maybe someday I'll get used to it and be more able to roll with all the unknowns, but for now it makes me into a total stress case.

I'm lucky to be treated at UCSF and be involved in clinical trials. These are not the trials where they just throw stuff at you and see if it works. These are more set up for data collection for drugs or drug combinations that they have shown to be effective, but just need a broader statistical basis to qualify for FDA approval, which is a long, arduous process. So, it's great to have the opportunity to participate in cutting edge medical treatment. I'm banking on being a further reflection of their prior success. :)

Otherwise, we had an incredible celebration of my sister-in-law's and my birthday, as well as my in-laws 50th anniversary last weekend. It felt amazing to me to be surrounded by the love of my family and my dearest friends. It truly buoyed my spirits in a way I didn't expect. I can't thank everyone enough for such an incredible experience. I haven't danced that much since our wedding!!

After chemo this week, I'll get to spend some time with my mom, sister, niece and nephew and road trip it down to Southern California, where the boys and I will spend some time at the beach with my dad and Beth, my cousin and her family. Should be a great way to round out the summer with some relaxing family time.

Despite the roller coaster of the last two weeks (which feels like years), I know every day that I am so fortunate to live the life I live... I am learning more and more how to appreciate each moment, and as cliche as all this may sound, I am blessed to have my eyes opened to the beauty and love that greets us with each new day. Enjoy it!!!

Scan Results

Well, sometimes you get the results you want and, sometimes you don’t. This was one of those times when the scan results were disappointing, surprising, shocking and a whole lot of other things. Definitely NOT what I wanted to hear.

I was just so enjoying this summer with my family. We’ve fallen into a good groove together enjoying each other’s company and doing fun things. And now, we have to shift gears again and move into heavy duty fighting mode.

The scan showed some progression of spots that were already there, reawakening of spots that showed up previously but had disappeared, and then a few new ones just to round it out. Nothing is very big or is threatening an important organ or anything, it’s just that they are there and that there are more of them and they are active that is really upsetting.

Marchus has been wonderful – truly could not be more supportive. He’s amazing that he always knows the right thing to say. I’m really thankful for him.

So, I will post again once I know what’s going on with my treatment. I am so thankful for everyone’s prayers and positive thoughts. Please keep them coming since my fight is gearing up once again. Thank you.