Editor's Note: NewsChannel 2 anchor Wendy Chioji is grateful to all of the viewers who have expressed their best wishes as she wages her fight against breast cancer.

Chioji has chosen to use NewsChannel2000.com as her way of keeping the public updated on her health. New diary entries will be posted every Friday.

I'm back! Covering the Olympics for WESH NewsChannel 2 and the rest of the Hearst-Argyle stations was a blast.

BREAST CANCER INFORMATION Four Steps Promote Early Detection WENDY'S DIARY Oct. 31: Ride For The Roses Oct. 24: Another Cycling Weekend Oct. 18: An Emotional Finish Oct. 17: Singin' In The Rain Oct 16: Rally In Indianapolis Oct. 15: Chilling In Arkansas Oct. 14: Monster Crosswinds Oct. 13: Tailwind To Texas Oct. 12: An Uphill Climb Oct. 11: The Race Begins Previous Diary Entries WEB LINKS Florida Hospital mammography locations Complete Guide For Breast Cancer Breast Cancer Decision Guide Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation National Breast Cancer Coalition American Cancer Society National Breast Cancer Coalition INTERACTIVE Breast Cancer Survivors: Share Your Experiences Meet Other Breast Cancer Survivors

It was long hours, 10- to 16-hour days, but it was a lot of fun. There were three teams of reporter-photographers that went out and covered stories, then did live shots for stations from Sacramento, Calif., to Burlington, Vt., to well, Orlando.

It meant that, for our live shots, we were standing in our live location for up to five hours. Those California live shots made for long days. Still, I love being a reporter. I got to interview gold and silver medal-winning speedskater Derek Parra twice. He's moving to Orlando.

I felt great the whole two weeks in Salt Lake City. All my strength seems to be back. I got to run and downhill ski and cross-country ski and never had to slow down. I think life and health has finally returned back to normal for me.

Now for the hair update: It's growing quickly and curly. Michael, my pal and hairdresser, promises that it seems to be coming in straighter in the back. He cut it short this week and seemed to cut most of the curl out (and the damaged part, from when I bleached it). We'll see how it grows back from there.

I do have to admit that it is very easy short like this. I got an extra 20 minutes or so of sleep every day in Salt Lake City since I didn't have to mess with it.

I'm now in the 7th week of Tamoxifen, and not a side effect to be seen, so far. (I'm knocking on wood.) I'm finding that the hardest part is remembering to take it every day. A couple of days, I couldn't remember whether I'd forgotten to take them or just couldn't remember taking them. I've got to come up with a system.

Wendy
March 1, 2002

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