Fearless Blog

To be fearless is to face life head on, to embrace each moment without worrying about what the next one will bring.   The people who spoke at Jen’s service honored Jen's fearless spirit by emulating it– speaking honestly, with raw emotion and without hesitation or fear.  The eulogies from that day offered heartfelt words to help us all celebrate the beauty of Jen’s life and the lessons she taught us, lessons we will all hopefully carry with us as we too aspire to be maybe just a little more fearless.
Some people have asked to spend time with those words, and so we offer them here.  Below you will find links to the eulogies that were offered by people who so clearly loved Jen. In addition, there are also links to obituaries written about Jen in various print and online media.
Whether you were at the service to hear the words in person or you read them here, it is clear that the emotions behind them are powerful.  One over-arching theme is …

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As you are all aware, Jen's funeral is tomorrow and we wanted to give you some insight into Jen's last wishes regarding honoring her memory. Jen believed "life was for the living." She wanted her funeral and any other memorials to be as much of a celebration of her life as possible. In fact, she even wrote of possibly wanting a "dance party!" In that vein, please feel free to smile and laugh as you recall special memories of Jen and please dress however you like. Jen would have loved there to be some color in the room and not have everyone dressed in all black! 
As much as Jen wanted her memorial to be upbeat, she was respectful, however, that everyone mourns in their own way and that there was no "right" way to do so. Please help us honor Jen and her legacy in whatever way you see fit. 
We have cherished reading the tributes written here and on Facebook. Please continue to contribute memories, thoughts and wishes. Those who …

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It is with great sadness that we want to inform all of you who have supported and loved Jen throughout the years that she passed away earlier this morning. As tough as a fighter as Jen was, her death was peaceful and she did not seem to be suffering; she was surrounded by loved ones.  Obviously this is tragic and heartbreaking for all of us, but we are grateful that she is no longer in pain.
Jen’s funeral will be held at Riverside Memorial Chapel, located at 180 West 76th Street (near Amsterdam Avenue) at 11:45 a.m., Friday, July 22nd, 2011. In lieu of flowers, Jen preferred that you please consider donations to Cycle for Survival (www.cycleforsurvival.org) to keep alive her determined fight to eradicate rare cancers.

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The last 10 days or so have been extremely busy and tiring so I apologize for the lack of correspondence. The blog is THE first place we go to in order to update info so if you don’t hear from us, chances are we are overwhelmed with all that is going on. So, please don’t email us to ask us what’s going on since you haven’t heard anything on the blog. There is likely a reason and we will get to you as soon as we can.
The overview is that medically I am having a tough time but we are doing all that we can to keep our heads high and make my pain and discomfort as manageable as possible.
We knew the Switzerland treatment would be toxic to my body and it has been. Nothing to be alarmed about but my platelets are extremely low and I needed to get a transfusion the other day (a HUGE thank you to Kat for taking me to my appointments for the …

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Wow, has it been a week.
I am going through so many feelings and emotions that there are many times that I wish I had time to sit down and write this earlier. First, let me address two things that my “avid” fan base has been asking about!

Dave was NOT naked as he floated down the Rhine (maybe I should be asking why so many of you are curious!?!?). Many people show up wearing bathing suits or athletic shorts and just put the rest of their clothing in the orange bag. Dave did however see two 70-year old men have a merry old time sunbathing naked on the way down so I guess anything goes!

Although my diet restricted me from indulging, the chocolate in Switzerland looked fantastic and Dave served as a good taste tester to many of the flavors. Many brands were those you have seen in the states like Toblerone or Lindt but Dave and I did find this store called Laderach that sold over 20 different …

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It’s hard to believe that in less than 36 hours from receiving the call that the University Hospital in Basel could take us for this radioactive treatment, Dave and I were on a plane packed and ready to go (with all of my medications and snacks just in case 
We were able to use mileage credit and fly business class which made a huge difference given my swelling. We had a short 90-minute layover in Heathrow, which was fine, and we arrived on time.
Although the flight was uneventful, it was one of the toughest things I had to manage physically and mentally since this past winter. We were so concerned about a serious blood clot from the pressure of the plane that we made sure that I walked around every 45 minutes and constantly elevated my legs. This was made MUCH easier having the luxury of flying business class but it meant that I got little to no sleep. I also didn’t take off my sneakers the entire flight because I …

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This week has been a very challenging one for me physically. The swelling continues to intensify and I am having a very hard time getting around. I have gained about 18 pounds of water weight in the last two weeks. I am in a fair amount of discomfort and have started on a pain management plan that is helping out a lot.
While we were really hoping that this Boston trial was going to do wonders, and we also understood that it might take at least a few weeks to see any results, Dave and I were having a hard time believing that it was helping at all given my debilitated state.
We spoke with my doctor in Boston and visited MSKCC yesterday and everyone confirmed that we needed to try something else rather than continue with this trial (at least for now).
For a while we have been optimistic about a treatment therapy in Switzerland and the Netherlands that is only available in trial form in the United States. Given that the …

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Hi Everyone! The last week has been a long, trying one but there were definitely some highlights to make me smile.

I finished the chemo infusion last Saturday and felt good enough on Sunday to go watch Dave play in the NY State Cup for his soccer division. It was a huge accomplishment for Dave’s team to make it to the final game. Although he doesn’t like to admit it, Dave is the “old guy” on the team so even more impressive that he played the full 90 minutes for many of the games leading up to the Championship. We were able to get a great crowd of dear friends (the Rippergers, Matt Adam and Jamie Spielman, Todd and Zack Kristol and Janet Balis) to come watch the game. We had a great time watching Dave’s Team, The Manhattan Celtic, win 2-0!

So, beyond the fact that I was swelling a lot, I was feeling pretty good.

Then, I woke up on Monday and felt like a train had hit …

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Dave and I decided to start the clinical trial in Boston through Dana Farber Cancer Center. We went up on Tuesday and just returned late last night. I was very concerned leading up to our trip because my bloodwork had to hit certain criteria and it was borderline. Given how few options we have left to try, I would have been devastated if we were not able to take advantage of this trial. Thankfully, they got back in line by the time we arrived in Boston and we were approved for the trial on Wednesday morning. I will still need to be approved every 3 weeks but I was thrilled to be able to start on the earliest day possible (3 weeks post my last regimen).

Dana Farber is a beautiful cancer facility and although it’s a bit inconvenient to travel the 4 hours every 3 weeks, it is a small price to pay if this drug works. The trial I am on is a 24 hour chemo infusion. They …

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Whenever I get very sad about my medical situation, I always try to take myself to a place of gratitude.

I think about the wonderfully rich life I have been privileged to have. I think about my beautiful husband, wonderful family, my large group of friends and all of the amazing experiences I have been given. When I think about these things, nothing seems too bad. It makes me even more committed to help myself get better so I can continue adding on to this life of mine that I love.

Being in touch with my gratitude was definitely a big part of the past week. Despite dealing with really frustrating medical news and having a lot of “highs and lows” as we spoke with Dr’s and got rejected from studies etc., Dave and I managed to get to Chicago for 36 hours to attend a family Bar Mitzvah. It was really good medicine to see Dave’s family and take our mind off of my medical issues.

And there were a …

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