CDC Symptom Diary Card

Thursday, October 30, 2014

St. Peregrine Pray For Us

I have prayed many times for the intercession of St. Peregrine, the Patron Saint for those ailing with cancer and other very serious illnesses.

It is exceptionally difficult to convey the depth of emotion, faith and hope in prayer via my little blog.

I have prayed to St. Peregrine for myself, for people that I love and for my cancer bearing sisters and brothers.  I believe.

One evening, after nine days of praying the Novena to St. Peregrine, I knew I was sent a message.  I was in a hospital and a physician, who went by the name of Dr. Peregrino, stepped on the elevator.  I knew his name only because a nurse called out to him just before he stepped inside. 

The doctor looked right into my eyes as if he knew me. This happened directly after receiving exciting news that someone I love did not have cancer after all, it was ruled out.  Because of the intense way this man looked at me, his name, and the feeling I had at right at that moment, I knew St. Peregrine had heard me.

A prayer to St. Peregrine
Dear St. Peregrine, I need your help. I feel so uncertain of my life right now. This serious illness makes me long for a sign of God’s love. Help me to imitate your enduring faith when you faced the challenge of cancer. Allow me to trust the Lord the way you did in this moment of distress. I want to be cured, but right now I ask God for the strength to bear the cross in my life. I seek the power to proclaim God’s presence in my life despite hardship, anguish, and fear I now experience. O glorious St. Peregrine, be an inspiration to me and petitioner of these needed graces from our loving father. 

Amen.

If you visit this website, you will see many more prayers to St. Peregrine and learn about his history.

We need LOTS of prayers, especially with respect to the cost of chemotherapy.

I just read a very disturbing article on Times.com that Genentech is unnecessarily altering its distribution channels for Avastin and two other critical cancer medications, forcing the prices to go higher. This is a prime example as to why medical care must not operate via supply and demand frame of reference. 


Peace and blessings,
Servivorgirl

Monday, October 20, 2014

Ovariancancer101.org, What A Wonderful Group

Now back to the core of the reason I started this blog, to raise awareness for ovarian cancer.  I want to introduce you to an organization started by a womderful woman who sadly lost her mom to late stage ovarian cancer.  How it was discovered will shock you.

Ovarian cancer is very tricky indeed.  Scary tricky.  Please visit this site to learn about her history and also about a beautiful treasure being promoted to raise funds.  I personally do not raise money, but periodically will write about others who do.

This Christmas tree comes with gifts!


Decorated-Christmas-Tree-And-All-The-Presents-Current-Value-$7-400-Drawing-To-Be-Held-Saturday-December-13th-@7-45pm-Tree-shown-is-our-2013-tree/p/29213750/category=0


I would love to have a beautifully decorated Teal Christmas tree in my apartment this year.  Time to buy a ticket.

Please visit  Ovarian Cancer 101.org for more information.

My next post will be about one of my favorite Saints,  Saint Peregrine.

Peace and Blessings,
Servivorgirl


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Ebola Protocol Manual

chttp://www.voanews.com/content/ebola-september-3/2436904.html


If you are reading this post in real time you are probably aware that most hospitals in the United States are not prepared to properly treat patients with Ebola virus and congruently keep healthcare workers safe.

I cannot imagine why this is a problem.  We have had plenty of warning and there are links that provide detailed protocol on how to meticulously protect both the patient, other patients and anyone who comes into contact with the patient and patient fluids.

Here is a very detailed link that is designed for healthcare administrators to understand fully the scale of supplies, type of personal protective equipment and how to donn and doff the equipment.

Although this is written for field hospitals, our US based hospitals need to follow the core elements exaxtly as written.  It seems to me that training would be based on this kind of manual.  

That nurses and other employees at the hospital in Dallas did not have this information as part of a required training is criminal.

This link advises on two pairs of gloves!  Head to toe coverage and a separate changing area.  It is 209 pages.  There is no excuse for any hospital administrator's lack of preparedness.

We as individuals also need to take personal responsibility as well.  No matter what the situation, we must at all times be aware of personal risk and safety, either as a patient or caregiver.  We need to speak up right away and if nobody is listening, keep talking until someon does. It can literally be a matter of life or death.

People with cancer just need to be minful that it is beneficial to us to always keep protective gear on hand, especially when travelling.  Items such as masks and gloves are very important because we cannot predict when or where we will encounter a situation wherein someone else is sick.  Keep these supplies in a sealed bag, such as a ziplock bag, along with alcohol swabs and antibacterial gel.

CDC Manual     The Pdf link is at the bottom.

I hope someone finds this manual useful, as it is very thorough.

Peace and blessings,
Servivorgirl







Saturday, October 04, 2014

The Male Side Of Breast Cancer

The colors on the wheel go round and round......round and round......round and round.

Before I begin my posts for October I want to thank "Curves" of Crown Hill, in Seattle Washington.  The owner of this franchise graciously allowed me to bring in gynecological awareness handouts created by the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.  "Curves" was hosting an open house and I had some table time with many members while distributing valuable information about gynecological cancer awareness, and my story with ovarian cancer.

We utilized the information found on the CDC "Inside Knowledge" Campaign and I am pleased to report that many women stated that this information was very helpful.  This way they not only learned about ovarian cancer, but all the major potential symptoms of gynecological cancers.

I was pleased to do this and hopefullly a few more women will be able to work more effectively with their physicians, should they have a concern in the future.  It also brought to the surface an opportunity for several women to talk about either their own or another's battle with some form of cancer.  

Thank you "Curves".  I also decided to become a member.  The program is not hard on my smaller joints (currently in a bit of trouble due to RA) and I really need the extra support.  I am finding this program comfortable, adaptable and most of all, FUN!  I will post progress, if it's good.  Ha!

Now to Men's Breast Health:

To start October off I thought it would be important to incorporate some information about hereditary breast cancer, in men.  My search landed me on a very thorough and educational article written in Medical News Today. 

Men are not likely to see themselves as potential breast cancer patients.  They can and do get breast cancer.  We can see that men all over the country do support this cause. Most men probably never considered that wearing pink can help them too.  Please share......

Quote from Medical News Today....

'It is vital for everyone to be breast aware'

"Women are encouraged to frequently check their breasts for any abnormalities, such as lumps, discharge from the nipple or changes in appearance or texture. And although many men may not be aware of it, they should do the same.
The most common signs of breast cancer in men are lumps or swelling in the breast or lymph node areas, dimpling or puckering of the skin, nipple retraction, nipple discharge and scaling or redness of the nipple or surrounding skin."


Peace and blessings,
Servivorgirl