Well, my time in Ak is winding down, I go back to Seattle Mon. morninng, which is my b-day(bummer), and have a dr. appt. tues. morning. I will start Chemo on tuesday also. I talked to my Dr. and he said that instead of me going all the way to N. Carolina @ Duke he will try to talk to the Docs there and see what they say! so hopefully that will save me a trip. I am still planning on going to U of W even though I don't have an appt as of yet, Im going to wait till I get there and just walk in and see what they say. Anyways, If I dont get back online this weekend, I will as soon as I get back to Seattle. Peace out!
1/04/2008 6:53 PM
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You have reached Erica's Blog. This is a place where her friends and family can go to get updates on her and her treatments. Thanks to all the generous donations received Erica has had financial support to pay for: vitamin infusions, special dietary needs, adaptive aids after her surgery, living expenses while she is unable to work, cancer vaccine therapy and travel to Alaska and California to visit family and friends. Erica remains positive and strong.
Erica
Earrings for Erica
Thank you to all the great businesses who sold earrings to benefit Erica. We will continue to sell earrings to benefit other young women in our community going through similar situations. Look for more information on where and when we will be selling. We will also post information about who will benefit from monies raised. Earrings for Erica will be available at the Quota bazaar at Alaskaland on Nov 21st.
Contacting Erica
- Erica email: Tomsha_7@yahoo.com
- Mark & Anita email: grizzlylodge@acsalaska.net
- Erica 805-458-0643 or 907-799-7982
- Anita 488-0293
- Mark 378-9747
- Erica's mailing address: 1470 Westmoreland Ave. Fairbanks, Alaska 99712
Ways to help in addition to your thoughts and prayers
- Help make earrings to sell, contact Robyn 322-5086
- Donate money to Denali State Bank - Erica Tomsha Benefit Fund - account #9013806, transfer money with routing number 125200921, send check to Bank @ PO Box 74568, Fbks, AK 99707
- Donate air miles - Alaska Airlines #000858060
- Fundraising Ideas - contact Robyn 490-6485 or email davrobyn@hotmail.com
Donate with a credit card through PayPal
Account was set up by Darcy (Davies) Etcheverry, so her email is listed at the top.
Blog Archive
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2008
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January
(15)
- Hi All. I am in the RAINY city again. I just had c...
- No title
- Hi all. Well im heading back to Seattle in the am....
- Erica and German, her fiance, last Thanksgiving,
- Today I scheduled my next Chemo appt. Tues. the 29...
- Jan 9th (old post)
- 1/22/2008 8:28 PMYummy Juice! My dad and i just fi...
- out of the hospital
- in the hospital
- Well, Im feeling better day by day...If this is th...
- Hi All! I had another great day today. I shoveled ...
- Hey all out there in computer land! I’m In Spokane...
- Im back in Seattle now, I had a Dr. appt today plu...
- Well, my time in Ak is winding down, I go back to ...
- 12/31/2007 10:46 AMericatomsha said... Hey, Ive be...
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January
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Interesting links
A little history
23 year old Erica Tomsha was born and raised in Fairbanks. Parents Mark and Anita are also long time Alaskans. Anita’s grandparents (Carlson) moved to Kodiak in the 40’s to work on WWII construction projects. From there the lure of gold drew them to Fairbanks. Anita’s dad followed and opened up Music Mart in Fairbanks 60 years ago. Mark moved to Fairbanks in the early 70’s.
From an early age Erica shared her mothers passion for horses. Learning to ride when she was 4 she quickly figured out she had to make sure her pony knew she was the boss. In elementary school she joined the Golden Heart 4-H club to continue to learn. As she got older she expanded her perspective to include IHA, ACTA, IHC, Pony Club, 4-H community service and leadership activities. She was an active member of the Tanana Whirlwinds 4-H group in high school and helped to advocate for and pass the limited liability for livestock bill which helps to insure personal responsibility for accidents occurring around livestock animals. That exposure to politics led her to an internship with Senator Stevens.
After attending UAF for a couple of years she decided to move to California where she could pursue her dream of working with horses. She has been actively training horses and riders and enjoying being around magnificent Grand Prix horses.
Although Erica had to move to Seattle for her cancer treatment she has continued to work and learn, giving riding lessons and training horses. She moved into an apartment of her own. Her father has been able to stay with her through most of her chemotherapy. Erica has lost her hair from her treatments but does not try to hide it. She encourages people to ask her about her cancer and is anxious to share her experience in the hope of teaching or providing comfort to others.Erica remains positive and upbeat. She appreciates all the concern and well wishes from her friends.
From Erica on December 6th
I want people to know that I found a lump last December that was about the size of a pencil eraser. I went to the clinic the next day and the nurse told me it was probably nothing, and because of my age it was very unlikely that it was serious. So naturally i believed her, and I continued on with my life as usual. However, 6 months later the pencil eraser grew to be the size of a golf ball in a week! So I went back to that clinic and the same nurse agreed that I probably needed a biopsy! DUH! 2 days later the same nurse told me I had Invasive Ductile Carcinoma, (I found out later that I was a stage 3a, 4 is terminal), and she told me this while crying. 2 days after that I came to Seattle because not having insurance limits my care options in California, and plus Seattle has better cancer hospitals, unless you go to UCLA or SanFran and being 300 miles away is just as hard as being 1500 miles away from home.
Being here has really changed my life; it has forced me to live in a different way (I have learned a lot about myself), it has forced me to DRAMATICALLY change my diet (which is the most important thing a cancer patient can do). I have had to watch my spending, it's hard to work when you're getting chemo once a week. I am working a little, and in return my boss (whose ex husband I live with) pays my rent. But there are so many things that the charity care program at Swedish Hospital does not cover, such as supplements and alternative treatments like acupuncture, vitamin infusions, and the cancer vaccine. It also doesn't pay for things like reconstructive surgery (which unless I want to be the one boobed wonder I will need to get). I don't have the price for this yet but i will get it as soon as I can. I have also definitely learned who my real friends are, the ones who care.
From an early age Erica shared her mothers passion for horses. Learning to ride when she was 4 she quickly figured out she had to make sure her pony knew she was the boss. In elementary school she joined the Golden Heart 4-H club to continue to learn. As she got older she expanded her perspective to include IHA, ACTA, IHC, Pony Club, 4-H community service and leadership activities. She was an active member of the Tanana Whirlwinds 4-H group in high school and helped to advocate for and pass the limited liability for livestock bill which helps to insure personal responsibility for accidents occurring around livestock animals. That exposure to politics led her to an internship with Senator Stevens.
After attending UAF for a couple of years she decided to move to California where she could pursue her dream of working with horses. She has been actively training horses and riders and enjoying being around magnificent Grand Prix horses.
Although Erica had to move to Seattle for her cancer treatment she has continued to work and learn, giving riding lessons and training horses. She moved into an apartment of her own. Her father has been able to stay with her through most of her chemotherapy. Erica has lost her hair from her treatments but does not try to hide it. She encourages people to ask her about her cancer and is anxious to share her experience in the hope of teaching or providing comfort to others.Erica remains positive and upbeat. She appreciates all the concern and well wishes from her friends.
From Erica on December 6th
I want people to know that I found a lump last December that was about the size of a pencil eraser. I went to the clinic the next day and the nurse told me it was probably nothing, and because of my age it was very unlikely that it was serious. So naturally i believed her, and I continued on with my life as usual. However, 6 months later the pencil eraser grew to be the size of a golf ball in a week! So I went back to that clinic and the same nurse agreed that I probably needed a biopsy! DUH! 2 days later the same nurse told me I had Invasive Ductile Carcinoma, (I found out later that I was a stage 3a, 4 is terminal), and she told me this while crying. 2 days after that I came to Seattle because not having insurance limits my care options in California, and plus Seattle has better cancer hospitals, unless you go to UCLA or SanFran and being 300 miles away is just as hard as being 1500 miles away from home.
Being here has really changed my life; it has forced me to live in a different way (I have learned a lot about myself), it has forced me to DRAMATICALLY change my diet (which is the most important thing a cancer patient can do). I have had to watch my spending, it's hard to work when you're getting chemo once a week. I am working a little, and in return my boss (whose ex husband I live with) pays my rent. But there are so many things that the charity care program at Swedish Hospital does not cover, such as supplements and alternative treatments like acupuncture, vitamin infusions, and the cancer vaccine. It also doesn't pay for things like reconstructive surgery (which unless I want to be the one boobed wonder I will need to get). I don't have the price for this yet but i will get it as soon as I can. I have also definitely learned who my real friends are, the ones who care.
3 comments:
Happy Birthday! Sure hope something special & really good happens Monday. Too bad you have to leave. Will that be 24?
I enjoyed having lunch with you and look forward to seeing you the next time you are up here. Your attitude condinues to inspire me.
Stay positive and strong. Robyn
Im back in Seattle now, I had a Dr. appt today plus I had Chemo. The Doc said that this round will be much tougher than the last round. I think im up for it. We also talked about Duke and he said that he was going to look into it for me. I also mentioned University of Wash and he thought it was a great idea. he evan gave me the name of a Dr. that he has heard great things about. That gives me hope....Well, Im not working for the horse trainer down here anymore. I probobly wont be very reliable, so I decided it was prob best not to put that stress on her.
Have a good night everyone!
Well, today was filled with dr. appointments all day! I had an appt with a shrink this am...I didnt really want to go, but it wasnt so bad...she was very nice and said that I didnt need to see her on a regular basis, but I can call her anytime...so thats nice, Its good to have some of that kind of support in my corner. After that I had to get a shot and than I had to get an echo of my heart, because apparently this new Chemo can dammage your heart muscles. Say a little prayer for me! And I wrapped my day up by going to get a bra prostise. Those things are expensive!!! I spent $330! On a Bra!!!! oh well, I guess I needed it. Did you know that if I didnt get the fake boob, because of the uneven weight your spine can curve? I just learned that fun fact today... anyways, good night all!
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