on my way home...

Leaving the hospital in a few minutes...YEAH!!!

See you all soon...so HAPPY...

I may go home today...

I may be able to go home late this afternoon...although the xrays are still showing a significant partial small bowel obstruction...it's possible that this will always be the case and the only option now is to always be on a strict diet for that ...I have done some research and it's confusing because each research suggests either high fiber or low fiber...I will come up with the right plan for me and just maybe I can help prevent another episode...if I do have to be here again for the same thing I will most likely have to have bypass surgery and that's not what I want to happen...so....it's totally out of my control if it's only tumor related...even if the tumors are shrinking which it looks like they are...there are still adhesions pulling and tugging and causing constriction and twisting and so on...if my diet is aggravating it ...even with my best intentions...then I need more research to help me help myself...it's so counter intuitive to the diet I wish to have...oh well...it's about staying alive with a good quality of life...I feel fantastic...I'm soooooooooooooooooo ready to come home and resume work...I'm not tired...I have had good rest here due to the room I'm in...what a difference...each experience here is so different...

I watched 2 people die here ....one a few days ago and one last night...I walked the halls and sent love into the room and love to the person transitioning...I feel sensitive but not depressed...I feel even more fortunate that I'm alive and with that gift I have a responsibility to connect people ..including myself to the idea that we can all connect to love...connect to kindness...extend ourselves as compassionate warriors in the world...ready to do whatever it takes that is useful and helpful...I will live the best life possible no matter how long I'm given...as I look around me...it's clear to me that this choice of facing life head on with love in my heart ...it's the only way to feel uplifted...cheerful and joyful....grateful for all experiences....even when and especially when those experiences really do SUCK...hee hee....oh well....onward....not a moment to waste...I should be seeing you back in my group classes starting tomorrow...Monday night yoga at vista at 6pm and so on...check my schedule to the right and join me when you can...those of you training with me...unless something happens today to prevent me from going home today...whatever your schedule has been with me...were back on normal hours this coming week!

Love to everyone...may all beings feel that love and my wish is that we really care about that!
Summer

still in hospital

still running tests to check my bowel obstruction...it's moving slowly with regards to not being in danger...the pain is now mild without meds so that is comforting...my blood levels as a result of the 3 full cycles of chemo are dropping ...white and red counts are extremely low and I may need a transfusion...I also may need surgery if my bowel doesn't respond soon...hopefully everything will correct on it's own and I will be home soon..if I can eat without pain...I can go home...maybe sunday afternoon if all goes well...if not...I'll know soon...I feel great...I'm walking the halls like an athlete and I have a great room with an amazing view...so all in good...just flowing with what is...much love to everyone and see you soon!

back in the hospital...

Dear Friends,

Wednesday ...a few days ago...about 1am I woke up with bowel pain that was minor cramping...I got up and went downstairs to the sofa to try to sit up more and rest by using all of my meditation tools for relaxing...I knew this was a familar place and yet...I have been able to bypass these more serious symptoms by stopping all eating...taking sips of water and not eating or drinking much for a few days...taking pain meds and anti nausea when needed...a few weeks ago this happened...progressed to more intense pain with vomiting and then after a day or so ...I was improving on my own...

This time was different...at 2am...the pain started to increase like before...I still thought I could work with it ...I told myself to just breathe and relax and I waited until the pain went to another level...at 5am I took pain meds and anti nauesa and within 30 min it became unbearable pain...the pain you feel when screaming is your only option...I went upstairs and woke up Jim and told him I was in trouble and that I better go to the hospital...I threw up on the way there and the pain got worse and worse...I got to the ER and they were great...got on daladid (sp?) and anti nausea and actually needed to have several rounds of daladid ...around noon...I was given 2 choices...get admitted for pain control until the bowel obstruction relieved itself or go home and see if my own meds would work...of course I wanted to go home and try...I got home...went to sleep and at 2pm woke up to the screaming pain again...my friend Theresa came and took me back to the ER and it took much longer to get the care that I got the first time...the triage nurse was not helpful ...actually rude and the staff were not as caring...finally I got the medicine...the pain was so bad I thought I was going to pass out just to bear it...I had to have a lot of pain meds...more tests were run and it showed a more progressed bowel obstruction...more serious than earlier thought...so after several hours in the ER ...I was admitted to the 7th floor at Scripps Memorial in La Jolla...I got to my room around 10 pm or later...more pain medicine at midnight which got me through the night...I finally felt a little better...
I have a wonderful room with wonderful care and after talking to one of my Doctors about WHY do I get these bowel obstructions and is there anything I can do to prevent them? I was told that the Cancer tumors are causing constriction on the bowel...even if the tumors are shrinking...the adhesions have caused a narrowing in one particular area and it's random as to when or if I get an obstruction...It's very frustrating but from what I understand...part of the chronic disease obstacles that one can expect from time to time...I know this to be true from my own personal experience and also from what I have seen my friends go through who had similar challenges.

I am monitored daily with tests and the bowel obstruction has only improved slightly...I have lighter pain now...very bearable without meds...

My blood just came back with my white count too low and I now have to wear a mask to be outside my room...I can't be around anyone who may be sick and I have to get a shot to raise my white count any minute now...this happened before a few years ago...I am now on Nuetropenic precautions...a sign outside my door alerting people to be extra cautious when coming into my room and to NOT come with any symptoms at all...

I feel strong and ready to come home and get back to my life...another small blip that can happen now and then...I just have to keep my spirits up when these things happen...I'm so grateful for every moment I get to stay here...even though there are so many challenges in life...sometimes it's depressing for some to even deal with what is happening in the world ...from day to day challenges...I feel all of those things as real and important but I would rather be here than to run away and check out...I really am fighting to live and I feel strong even though this is happening right now.

I still can't have any food or fluids by mouth...just IV fluids ...I have to be able to eat without pain before I can go home...I don't feel sick ...so the moment I can go home I'm ready to work and get back to it...

I don't want to waste one moment ...I have a longer break from chemo...a few weeks...probably a good thing since my blood is showing signs of  the chemo...I will be working again very soon...hopefully by Monday teaching my Monday night class...I could be going home by saturday if I can tolerate liquids today. If not ...most likely Sunday.

Love to all,
Summer

beautiful class at vista

I feel so good and feel so much love...class at yoga vista tonight was full of love and warmth and true heart-felt appreciation...thank you Sherry for creating such a special place for me to teach and share the love of yoga...so many people were there that mean so much to me as well as meeting new friends...

I also had a breast MRI today..not too worried...just something important to keep track of...ovarian cancer patients often get breast cancer and breast cancer patients often get ovarian cancer...just part of the processing of this path that I'm on...

Yoga has become more and more meaningful to me ...my experiences and appreciation for the time I'm given is more than love for me..deep deep appreciation for every moment and every experience...

I know of many who have more on their plate than I do...I'm ok...I'll be ok no matter what...I'm ok ...

Love to all,
Summer

heart warming class last night

Thank you to all of the wonderful yogi love last night at soul! A heart opening class with beautiful energy and and vunlnerable participation!

We were silly...playful...serious...tearful...intense and light...what a real and meaningful experience...thank you for your bravery !

Off to chemo this morning ...number three of the third cycle...possibly a little break...and then in a few weeks...ready for cycle 4...

cleansing rain

let this beautiful rain cleanse me of whatever may be holding me back from fully loving and engaging in this amazing life...I welcome each moment...each day with love and compassion for all! Thank you for being a part of my experience! Love to all,

Summer

REcovering

Hanging in there from this last chemo...have been feeling some bowel symptoms so I'll be back on the special diet ...even stricter ...allowing the bowel to relax again...pain and vomiting yesterday...improving today...taking each moment as it comes...it's the only way...I'm doing laundry so you know I must be feeling good...that's my good sign...Laundry...organizing ...cleaning...love it...

one of my favorite teacher's, Erich Shiffmann

                                                                      

thankful buddha

feeling great!!!

Today was a faster recovery day from treatment...often times on Sunday I don't feel well enough to move about until late in the afternoon...today was a much easier transition...

Sending lots of love out to everyone...come join me for classes this week...check schedule to the right of the blog entries...

Celebrating the energy of 10/10/10

Join me for training ...email or call for availability!

another marker to celebrate!!!

My appointment with Dr. Bahahdor yesterday was another day to celebrate the continued drop in the ca-125 blood marker for Ovarian Cancer...it was 8500 to start ...dropped to 3200 after just one cycle and now is 2461 at the end of the second cycle of treatment!!! It shows that my body is responding to this chemo regimen!!! Tomorrow I begin the third cycle of treatment!!!

Much love to everyone supporting me and showing continuous love!!!

I want to send love out to my friend Tori who is also going through this treatment!!! She is also receiving the loving support that I am and her friends are also creating a fundraiser donation for her...it's incredible to witness such kindness and generosity!!!

important message from Ellen

Exclusively for You…
Last week I decided that I couldn’t be silent anymore about the  sudden flood of stories about bullying and suicide. I shared my thoughts, and you listened. My video was shared over 50,000 times  on Facebook --  thank you! You are helping me spread  the message that the bullying needs to end. Now, we need to act. There are some amazing organizations working hard to educate students,  teachers and parents about the importance of this  issue. I hope you will support them by donating  today. It’s easy; you can just text the word “KIND” to 85944 and reply “YES” to donate $5. You can learn about who you are helping --  it’s all on my website. I’m not the only one who is standing up; other celebrities have been making videos to support  people who have been bullied.  You can see them here. If you’ve been affected by bullying ,please write in and tell me. I am hopeful that we can finally make a change. --Ellen

Happy Birthday Shea

26 years ago I gave birth to my beautiful son Shea...Happy Birthday Shea!!!
May you learn to believe in yourself the way I have always believed in you...

I LOVE YOU!!!

saving wildlife

'Saving wildlife and wilderness is the responsibility of all thinking people. Greed and personal gain must not be permitted to decimate, despoil and destroy the earth's irreplaceable treasure for its existence is essential to the human spirit and the well-being of the earth as a whole. All life has just one home - the earth - and we as the dominant species must take care of it.'   

Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick

http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

This is a link for information to adopt elehants and more!!!

Amazing...thank you Laura for sharing this with me!!!

I sold my water unit!!!

Thank you Steve from Herbs and More in Encinitas for helping me sell my water unit!!! I appreciate it so much!!!

Have a beautiful day everyone!!!

letter to Coast News editor from a person who read the story and sent me a letter

I wanted to add the following as a prelude to the letter just submitted but accidently hit the Send button prematurely. I wanted to acknowledge that the word count is not quite the 500 words that you may or may not choose to enforce for this particular cause, because of the unquestionable merits of giving the plight of Summer Autio the maximum exposure to your readers, which will increase the bottom-line goal of contributions before it is too late. Personally, I can't remember a cause that touched me more than this one does. I could easily pad my letter to get it up to 500 words but the standards I have to work to after more than 50 years of living to them professionally will not allow that. The reason I would like to see my letter run as Community Commentary should be obvious: the far greater visibilility of Community Commentaries compared to just a letter from the editor. But that, of course, is entirely up to you. I (and I know Summer) appreciate what you did in running the story that you did a couple of weeks ago. In a very real sense, that and therefore you, could very well deserve the initiating credit for saving her life!

Your heart-tugging story about the plight of Summer Autio, "Local yoga teacher gets support in cancer battle" (date), was a notable service not only to the lady but, projecting my own perceptions, to all of your readers.

I read the story not knowing the lady or anything about her, but after I did her many years of inspiring others, her present plight and the accompanying photo of her beaming face haunted me until it occurred to me why I couldn't get her out of my mind. Yet I'll never know why it took two days for me to realize what I had to do, which was to make a contribution to the fund that has been set up expressly for Summer Autio.

Having done so, I'm finding that it wasn't enough. I must do whatever more I can, starting with this letter so that hopefully hundreds more like me will do all that they can do, and that Coast News will do follow-up stories on a continuing basis until one of the most inspiring and resultful stories ever chronicled in its pages has the happy ending that it more than deserves to have.

I salute you for bringing the story of Summer Autio to the attention of the community, but most of all I salute Summer Autio for all that she has done for so many and especially for what she is continuing to do with undiminished passion and enthusiasm despite the extreme difficulty of her present situation, which is more than physical because the bills are mounting to staggering and ever-greater proportions by the day.

The aptly named Summer has been inspiring thousands of appreciative others to be all that they can be for more than 20 years, but I submit that it is now  our turn, regardless of whether we ever knew her or even heard of her, to be the best that we can be.

By making a tax deductible contribution to the Soul of Yoga Foundation, 627 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas, CA 92024. Your readers can also call (760) 943-7685 for info or e-mail info@soulofyoga.com. Or they can e-mail Summer direct by visiting her informative website at www.theinnerhouse.us.

From my own experience I can assure everyone reading this: it will be one of the most rewarding investments you ever made, if not the most.

Carpe diem!

Jim Donovan
Del Mar

feeling great!!!

Last Monday I started walking again...waking up my body and from that moment on...I have felt fantastic...I have almost walked every day and even started doing Pilates reformer again as well as many yoga sessions...WOW...so much can happen in one week...I feel energetic and ready to resume my private training and classes in full force!!! EVery Friday is chemo with one week off...the weekend following chemo is a weekend to rest and recover and restore...then by Monday...I'm back...love to all of you and thank you for your ongoing support and well wishes!!!

thank you for such an amazing class last night

Sometimes you just can't plan a class that leaves you speechless and so happy...thank you to my students at Soul of Yoga last night for sharing such a beautiful experience...I'm still bathing in the wonderful effects!!!