PET Scan Feb 14th.....sigh

Paul

A few days ago I was out with my mom, up in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.  She was in an appointment and I was doing my WALC, for my walking study, and passed by a pet store. I turned around because I felt like I needed to go inside, just had a gut feeling.  I entered the little shop, and was delighted with the homey feel, the wooden floors, organic foods and friendly employees.

In the front corner of the shop stood a crowd of people and I could tell they were looking at a little cutie that needed adopting.  I walked around for a bit waiting for them to leave.  When they left, I went over and found a cute little itty bitty black kitty.  It was soooooooooooooooooo cute.  Her sister was adopted earlier in the week, I was told, and there she was, all alone.

I reached in to touch the kitty's little nose and when her nose touched my fingertip, I felt a rush of energy.  It was amazing.  It was as if life was infused into my body for just a moment.  I have been thinking about adopting a cat from a shelter......oh boy oh boy oh boy.  This experience tells me so many things.........

Paul, the cat in the photo, is raised by my lovely nieces, sister and her husband.  I love Paul.  He gives me so much joy when I see him.  When I was living with mom, I so enjoyed the parade of dogs and their owners, and the kitty cats that roamed the area.  Each house around hers has a pet, and almost all have a cat, and two have dogs.  One of the cats always came over to say hello to me when I was outside.  I miss him too.  I really do.

So my PET scan is set for Feb 14th, Happy Valentine Day....oh well.  I am really staying positive.  Our eyes are in the front of our heads for a reason.  Each breath is a new breath.

On Monday I am going through something called leukapheresis to donate white blood cells for a study.  The group is called http://depts.washington.edu/tumorvac/.

Anything I can do to fight ovarian cancer, I will do.

On Wednesday I will also have an opportunity to participate in a presentation to gynecology students that teaches them about ovarian cancer.  I hope to be sharing my story so that they are more aware of how subtle the signs are and that  really the signs are still not fully known.  It's called Survivors Teaching Students.  It will be my first time, so I'm not sure how much I get to share.  I hope to send an update on that too.

The other thing going on is that it's time to re-invigorate the cause I started last year, turning Facebook Teal in September!  I know this may not necessarily be unique, in that everyone seems to have a cause these days. Every color in the rainbow is now linked to something, but ovarian cancer needs more awareness.

I created a "Cause" page that is a little more user friendly to promote this cause.  We'll probably need a million supporters to do this. http://www.causes.com/causes/651059-teal-to-heal-turn-facebook-teal-in-september/actions?recruiter_id=123458534

Everyone knows pink stands for breast cancer.....and for raising money and for raising awareness, that is a great thing.

Those of us effected by ovarian cancer can achieve the same results.  If it were up to me, all cancers would fall into the same color, and all cancers would get equal funding, equal research and equal support.  THAT is a topic for another day.  I'll never forget the call I had with the American Cancer Society and I was told I had the wrong cancer to get the resources I needed.  Just awful.

Anyway, all my best, peace and love!

Denise