Hey everyone, here are some more photos from Disney World!! Go to the link, its the Disney Photopass website. When at the different parks, photographers take your photo and they post them on a website, for others to see and for you to spend money. Anyway, here they are!
https://disneyphotopass.go.com/DPI/0/0/.TOP.System.Guest.SlideShow.aspx?sub=83496&iId=347547405
I had such a great time in DisneyWorld!! We went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdon, Epcot, MGM Studios, Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Quest!! My friends Anne,(Annes son)James, Collette and Stacy came to visit for a night from Miami. Scotts dad, Garrett, came up from Naples for a day as well. We kept very busy and had a blast. On January 3 we head to Acapulco, Im hoping that a couple friends from Colorado will meet me there, Liz, Jodi and Rachel. We will see!! Looking forward to the sun and beach and cliff divers, Scott and I are talking about going to see the Ruins too!! Ill send photos and tell you all about it when Im back!!
Christmas & Hanakah were and are GREAT!! Scott got me a beautiful Platinum etched ring!! Its gorgeous!!! A symbol of our love, how corny. Nothing official in the legal sense, just for us. We are going to have a little ceremony in Acapulco. Just us, on the beach, watching the sunrise! Hee Hee. Itll be great!! Cant wait to show everyone the ring!!
So for the new UPDATE:
I have a PET/CT scan on Jan 19, surgery (to have a port put in) on Jan 20. Thats so they dont have to keep going into my arm for chemo. And on Jan 23 I start my next round of chemo. Hopefully it will slow things down and I can start travelling again in May or June when Im done! Europe is next I think!! So Ill be hanging around the house for the rest of the winter and for most of spring. Your always welcome to come visit!!
Hope everyones Holiday was great and hope that the New Year is even better!!! HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!
Love, Melissa Stanley Cohen - Scott & Gracie too!!

DISNEY WORLD

Okay, so I had a blast....I met up with friends from Miami, Anne, Colette and Stacy, and dont forget beautiful JAMES, Annes baby boy!! Then Scotts dad came in to visit from Naples!! More fun.. I havent had a chance to deal with photos yet..I was suppose to return on Wed and extended the trip to today..Just got back a couple of hours ago.. I already miss the Magic Kingdom!! Crazy! We had so much fun! As soon as I have the pics, I will post an address on the next update. I start work on Monday, a commercial, Ill do that until Dec 23...THEN, off to ACAPULCO!!!! Jan 3 through Jan 17... Then Ill start treatments.. Had to get all the fun in first! Gracie is doing well and very happy that we are home and shes not at the kennel anymore.. I got to do: Downtown Disney, Cirque de Soliel, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, MGM, Typhoon Lagoon (its warm there, its a water park) and Disney Quest... Saw a Lual (how do you spell that??) and stayed at a wonderful hotel! Colette has already posted pics, you can see them at -

Heres the link to the pics:

http://homepage.mac.com/colettehailey/Disneyworld!/PhotoAlbum19.html

Here they are to get a quick glance! Mine will be out there soon! I had an amazing time and wish I could have stayed longer. Happy Holidays!!!

Melissa Stanley Cohen

TO DISNEYWORLD I GO!!

Hey everyone. So it looks like Im headed for new chemo starting in January, I have asked the doctor if I could wait until after the Holidays and he seems comfortable with that. Ill be taking two different chemo drugs, Abraxen (sp?) and Avastin. Abraxen is the chemo and Avastin is a newer drug used for Collectoral & Rectum Cancer patients but doctors have been starting to use it in Lung and Breast Cancer patients. Hopefully it will do alittle better than the last. Maybe my body will respond better this time around. The cancer has spread to my liver, but its a small spot, it will take awhile for me to become symptomatic, so the situation has only changed since I have to start chemo again. My beautiful short hair that most of you havent even seen yet, will be gone again very soon and my beautiful bald head will be shining again!!
Scott and I are leaving on Friday to go to DisneyWorld! YEAH!!! So that should be fun and full of physical activity. Im trying to get it out of my system before chemo. Although this round should be easier than last, I want to get some physical activity in before I start. We will be there from DEC 2 TO DEC 7. So, FOR THE FLORIDIANS, if anyone is around the Orlando area within that time call me on my cell so we can hook up while Im down there!!! I think that the following week I will be headed to New Mexico to visit my friend Tina and her kids, Russia and Ian. I think Ill be there for a week or something like that and then I have to figure out if I can get a trip in to Colorado as well. Im still trying to figure out where else to go. Scott is working a lot this season, so he can only join me here and there. I would also like to take a trip to the Carribean at some point, Im hoping I can fit that in too before chemo, but if not then after the first treatment. For relaxing beach stuff!!
Thats the newest update! Keep in touch and have a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON!!!
Love to all!! Melissa Stanley Cohen

NEW UPDATE

Hey everyone! Its Wedneday 11/23/05.. I just got back to the house after
my new PET/CT Scan. No longer in remission, I have multiple lymphnodes that
the cancer is back and a new spot in my liver. Fun for the Holidays! so that means I need to start chemo again, just deciding on whether I want to start now before the Holidays or wait until January and start the New Year bald again. I meet with the doctor next week to go over the options. There is a chemo pill I can take at home everyday with less side effects, but doesnt do what the normal chemo does, but it could help.. Im not in any pain or anything except for the awful cold Ive had this week. Just finished doing the Christmas shopping for the kids in my life. Now I have to work on the adults.. I guess its time to start travelling around alittle. Maybe I can fit it in before the new chemo round. Thats the update for now, sorry it wasnt amazingly great news, but thats okay! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! Eat lots of turkey and make sure to put on a couple of pounds!! Nothing wrong with that. Have fun, stay happy, and start shopping for the Holidays! Ill write again soon.
Melissa Stanley Cohen

HELLO ALL!!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know that my test on Wednesday went swimmingly!! No sight of active malignancy or metastatic disease! YEAH! I get another 3 month break, still one treatment once a month for the bone and my next test 3 months from now, BUT YEAH!! Another three months. Working on a Wal Mart commercial right now and taking piano lessons. Yes I bought a Piano, and I love it, Im practicing a lot. For all who have donated or signed up for the Race for the Cure, THANK YOU!!!! Would still love a whole bunch more people to walk with, havent even got the 60 I had last year, but oh well. Im looking forward to a wonderful fall and I hope to see everyone soon! My web address changed, there is a link at he blog though.. So you can get there by the link at the blogger! You can also get to the race sign up page from my blogg! Well hope everyone is as well as me!! On my website there is now a place to sign in at a GUEST BOOK, theres nothing to view yet, I just started it, so sign in! KEEP IN TOUCH AND HAVE A GREAT LABOR DAY WEEKEND!! Melissa Stanley Cohen

AUGUST 24 UPDATE

Hey there everyone! Ill be back in Baltimore on Saturday. Work is work is work. It was a lot of hours, but I hung in there. It was nice to get back to work. It was craziness. Whats new. I have a treatment next week, blood tests and a PET/CT Scan. That will let me know how Im doing and whats next on the agenda, hopefully nothing, It would be nice to get a few more months without surgeries and treatments. I got a piano and start my lessons on Monday, Im very excited!! I also joined the YMCA, went today for the first time and got set up. Did 20 minutes of swimming and then did the machines. Cant do much with my arm, but I guess alittle is better than nothing. The "Race for the Cure" is coming up on October 1st and I would love to have 100 people walk with me this year. Im up to 17 people on my team. Last year there were 60. Im hoping its still early and a lot of people havent signed up yet, so HURRRRRY UUPPPPP!! My competative nature is getting the best of me!! I hope to see you all at the race!! You can sign up at www.komenmd.org - Go to Find your team! - Then go to RACE FOR MELISSA - You can join the team there or make a donation!! ALSO, my website is down for now, itll be up and going soon enough, little changes here and there, so the Blogger is all thats there now. Scott and Gracie are doing good and say hello to everyone as well!! Hope everyone is happy, healthy and well!! So far so good this summer! Talk to all soon, Melissa Stanley Cohen

Hello All

Hi there all. I just finished Producing a Training Video this past week and I just started on Failure to Launch. I will be headed to Easton Maryland on Monday July 18 to open up the office there and begin prepping for the shoot. I should be back home in the middle of August. I am feeling good and had a mammogram today and it was good to go. I meet the radiologist for a follow up visit tomorrow, Im sure that will go well too. I have been going to physical therapy for my leg and arm. I have Lymphodema, have I told you guys that yet? Anyway, so its sore and I cant really pick up stuff or carry stuff or move stuff, but oh well, just a pain in the behind, but no biggie. The Race for the Cure is October 1, 2005, I have sent most of you guys the link via email, but if I havent you can click on the link to the right named "RACE FOR MELISSA", I would love for you to join me there. I am doing the 1k walk with family and friends, if you are interested in doing the 5k run, you can still sign up with my team and run. Ill be walking but feel free to run... If you cant come, maybe you can join in next year, if your out of town, and would like to donate, you can do a general donation, or click on my name Melissa Cohen and donate there. If you cant donate, once again, no biggie, but I would love to be able to beat last years amount of money raised which was in the $13k range, and also beat the amount of people I had walk with me, 60 last year. So I guess you could say Im a little competative... Whats new.. So, I hope to see everyone at the race, or sometime soon!!! And I am sure I will be bugging everyone over and over before the race in the hopes that I have more of you guys sign up!! Hope all is well with everyone out there and I hope that your summer is as great as mine!! Love to all. Melissa Stanley Cohen

NEW UPDATE

Hi everyone! The last test I had went pretty well, not a PET/CT, but just bloodwork.. It showed my numbers staying the same or getting lower, which is good. The next bloodwork is in the beginning of July, so wish me luck! I have been working alittle on "Failure to Launch", a feature shooting in New Orleans. So I headed to New Orleans to touch base with everyone in the office and planned on going to Florida to coordinate that unit, but Florida was pushed, so they asked me to go and prep Alabama for them. So I drove from New Orleans to Destin Florida to check out the hotels and vendors there then flew home to Baltimore over Memorial Day weekend for my montly treatment (bone infusion and blood work). Then flew to Alabama to start prepping, They came and I left and went to Destin Florida, but the lovely Tropical Storm cancelled the shoot, so back to Baltimore I went. I am working as a Producer / UPM on an industrial thanks to Matt Craven and its going great. We shoot two days next week. Then comes the middle of July and Ill be working on "Failure to Launch" again. We are shooting in Easton / Oxford area and will be there around three weeks. Then the big test in the beginning of August.. A new PET/CT scan. This will let us know if I am truley in remission or not. So,hopefully it will be IF NOT CLEAR, a very slow moving growth.. In general, I feel good, my leg and arm hurt constantly, but Im going to see the physical therapist tomorrow in the hopes that there is a quick fix.. My leg (from the surgery when the put a rod through my femur and screws in my hip) is keeping me from running around and its pretty much sore and stiff all the time, in between jobs Im hoping to get some physical therapy in. I have been swimming three times a week and trying out laps. It feels good right after laps, but an hour or so later, I can hardly move. My left arm where they removed the lymphnodes, way back when 8/11/04, is starting to swell some and I cant really extend my arm all the way out, but once again Im hoping that the physical therapy works. Nothing too debilitating, just a pain in the butt. My hair is coming back in quickly, my eyebrows are completely back and my hair is coming in, not black though, its kind of a mix of brown, blonde and silvery grey. So we will see what it is soon enough!! I figure it will be nice to try and different sort of color, and Im assuming I can say goodbye to my curly hair.. My love, Scott, is doing good, working at The Breadery as the baker and my sweet Gracie Lou (my dog) is doing great too!! Thats the newest update for now, I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you can have as much fun this summer as I will!!!! Ill be updating again soon!! Love to all! Melissa / Stanley

From Lani

If you have some pictures of Melissa/Stanley or of you with Melissa/Stanley please send them to me with your name, the date and where you are. I'll add them to the site.

Thanks,
Lani
EMAIL PHOTOS HERE

Email 5/28/05

I am still working on my new webstie, if you dont know about it, the address is:

www.stanlissa.webpageone.org

My best friend Lani is creating a website, and since i know nothing about it, it might take awhile, because she is creating them and letting me look and change it around. Shes changing it around not me...

Right now there are some pictures on the site, not much to say though. There is a link at the bottom of the page that goes to a blogger that has little updates and comments. Im really bad at this computer stuff, so I write in the wrong places a lot. You can leave a comment there too.

I am doing fine. I had a treatment (not chemo, bone stuff) yesterday, Friday 5/27 and my cancer markers are holding or are still going down alittle, so thats good news..And Ive gone back to work..

I am working on "Failure to Launch" (romantic comedy), so Im on my way down to Gadsden Alabama on Sunday 5/29 and will head off to Destin Florida after that if the weather is good. So Ill be out of town until sometime in June, just depending. I stopped in New Orleans at their main production office last week to start work and then headed down to Destin Florida, then had to come back to Baltimore for my treatments and testing, fun fun... Some of you know what Im doing, some dont... Ill try to post more on the blogger when I figure it out, so that I can update people more often..

For those of you who I havent spoken to since chemo, it sucked, but its over for now and it seemed to do its job well, hopefully it will hold on for a really long time, so I have more than just this summer to work and play. Right now, no chemo or radiation needed anymore, until the next test in August...Then we will see. So Im crossing my fingers that all looks well in August..

My boyfriend Scott is great, my dog Gracie is great and so far this summer Im great!

No need to write back, just wanted to upate everyone with the latest and greatest.. If you go to the website, there are some pictures of my lovely mohawk that Scott for me back in Feb 2005 during chemo, its funny, there are also pictures of Scott and Gracie, my dog. I think she has put on their pictures of my New Years in Colorado last year. More pic's to come to the website. Eventually its gonna be great!!!!

HOPE EVERYONE GETS TO VISIT IT, AND HOPE EVERYONE IS HEALTHY HAPPY AND HAVING FUN!!!!!

Melissa Stanley Cohen

Anyway, Im feeling good and its great to put my energy into work rather than this crazy disease.

May 28, 2005

Hi All!! Heres the newest update. Its May 28 and Im in Baltimore for a day or two. I had a treatment (not chemo) yesterday. My cancer markers are still going down or staying the same which is good news. Thats what I need to hear each month. I am working right now on a movie called "Failure to Launch" its a romantic comedy. Ill be flying to Gadsden Alabama tomorrow 5/29 morning and working there for a week or alittle more, then Ill fly to Pensacola and drive down to Destin Florida to start prepping the same movie thats shooting there. Ill be there for a week or so, then Ill drive up to New Orleans to wrap out the show (finish paperwork). Then back to Baltimore. Then I have alittle break and start working on the Eastern Shore in the middle of July for a weeks. Back in Baltimore around the middle to end of August. Im SO GLAD TO HERE FROM MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL (or middle school) FRIENDS. Well I guess thats it for now. Im feeling good and keeping very busy. Next big test is in August.

Welcome!

Hello everyone!! Welcome to my blog! My best friend Lani has decided to create this wonderful website for me so that I can keep everyone updated without having to email everyone out there. Now I can post a message that everyone can read and check on. I hope you enjoy the website!! Love, Melissa Stanley Cohen

Welcome to Melissa's Blog

Started on May 7, 2005