Vocational Rehabilitation Update

Fabulous day with UW Voc Rehab department.  I now feel a sense of hope and confidence that there may be work I CAN do.  I met with a wonderful woman who was kind and sincere.  She took some time to warm up the conversation with nice holiday talk and then proceeded to discuss WITH me my needs and wants.

After at least an hour of talking about my vocational history, medical history, and potential hurdles we created a workable plan of action.  First thing being first, I have nothing to wear to an interview.  She will reconnect me with the state DVR to assist with wardrobe and possible free computer training.  I am going to spend some time on my own laptop to get re-familiar with the basics.  I'll probably need to be re-tested on my computer skills...ugh.  I've never really been a computer "expert", but I do learn new tasks fairly easily (maybe I need a little more time now than in the past).

The ideal scene is for me to first land a part time job that has afternoon hours, that's not sales and in a low-stress setting.  I expressed that because of my fears of recurrence and difficulty working under high stress levels, it was really important that I work with/for people who actually like me.  It sounds so "grade school" but at the end of the day we spend 30% to 50% of our time on job related activities.  That being said, why would I want to spend my last few years in an environment that's really stressful or around negative people who don't like me.  I just don't want any part of it.

I am not going to compete with anyone for a CEO job, not now.  In the past, I had dreams of owning my own company and having a stable retirement.  I could still start a non-profit group that helps women with ovarian cancer, and I'm sure I will, but I can't do that without first being stable myself.  I am not planning on using my job to fulfill my social needs, I just don't want to work around a bunch of sharks.  I want to have the chance to enjoy work for once in my life  ;-)

When it's determined that I can handle part-time work, the goal is to progress to full-time work.  That could be either growing the current part-time to a full time, or getting a new full-time altogether.

All this will depend on how or when a cancer recurrence appears.

I let her know that ideally I want a job where I work from home. If I work from home and have flexibility with my projects, then if I have a recurrence, I can restructure my workload around chemo, etc.

If I don't get the ability to work from home, then I run the likelihood of losing my job every time I get a recurrence.  That I cannot bear, I just don't want to do that.  Can you imagine?  Our economy is really not in the best of health, as everyone knows, so the last thing I need is to have to find a new job every time I finish a chemo program.

Here's where I find myself wondering why I never got married. I always wanted to be married, but no guy ever wanted me that much, so I'm alone.  I have my mom, dad, sister, brother and aunt.  I have a few good friends.  But I am alone, for the sake of my personal life.  It would be so wonderful if I had a hubby who took care of me, but I don't.  So I will forge ahead and do the best I can.

That's a whole new area of depression, that I don't want to talk about right now.

Anyway, I'm on the right track.

Be Love

Avastin may help Ovarian Cancer Patients

http://www.cancernetwork.com/ovarian-cancer/content/article/10165/1739232?GUID=F465BF3C-0BD5-404E-A2A8-C0BF422F4322&rememberme=1

Oncology NEWS International. Vol. 19 No. 11

 

Bevacizumab offers new hope to ovarian cancer patients

By FRAN LOWRY | December 4, 2010

---

Results of ICON7 trial will influence discussion of treatment options between oncologists and patients.

Early results from the ICON7 trial suggest that adding bevacizumab (Avastin) to standard chemotherapy in women with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer reduces the risk of disease progression during the first year of treatment.

The findings from the large, multicenter, phase III trial were announced at ESMO 2010 by ICON7 lead investigator Timothy J. Perren, MD, a consultant medical oncologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.

Ovarian cancer initially responds very well to surgical treatment and chemotherapy, but the benefit is short lived, Dr. Perren said. "More than half of the patients go on to develop recurrent disease from which they will eventually die, despite our best current treatment," he explained. "For the women we have included in the ICON7 trial, the average time to development of recurrent disease is about 18 months and the average survival time is about three and a half years."

Bevacizumab has been shown to improve outcomes in breast and colon cancer. To see whether it worked in ovarian cancer, the ICON7 investigators randomized 1,528 women (median age, 57 years) with high-risk early- or advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, or fallopian tube cancer to one of two treatment regimens after their surgery.

Women in the control arm were randomized to six cycles of standard chemotherapy (carboplatin AUC 6 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2) alone given once every three weeks. Women in the research arm of the trial were randomized to the same chemotherapy regimen given concurrently with bevacizumab (7.5 mg/kg) for six cycles, followed by maintenance bevacizumab for 12 additional cycles (abstract LBA4).

At 12 months, the risk of developing further progression of ovarian cancer was reduced by 15% when compared with the risk of progression seen with chemotherapy treatment alone. The effect of bevacizumab was strongest at 12 months, but then fell over time. Overall, the median progression-free survival in the control arm was 17.3 months vs 19 months in the research arm (P = .0041), Dr. Perren reported. Bevacizumab appeared to have a stronger effect in patients with a particularly poor prognosis, he added.

Dr. Perren also noted that the drug was well tolerated by the patients, with high blood pressure as the most common adverse event related to bevacizumab. Eighteen percent of the patients required antihypertensive medication. In comparison, 2% of women in the standard chemotherapy arm developed high blood pressure necessitating treatment.

The results from ICON7 support the findings of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG 218) trial that were announced in June at the 2010 American Society of Clinical Oncologymeeting, Dr. Perren said (ASCO abstract LBA1).

"This is the first new drug in first-line treatment since the mid-1990s to show an improvement in outcome for ovarian cancer so it is a very big step forward," he said. "The results of ICON7 and GOG 218 will undoubtedly influence the discussions patients have with their oncologists, but probably more than that, it is going to influence the next generation of clinical trials. It is not possible to ignore these data."

Psychologist moved me to January...Christmas thoughts

Feeling sleepy literally right now, so I hope I don't bore anyone.  Good day to you.

My psychologist cancelled today because she is ill, and they won't let her work in that condition.  The cancer center has high infection control procedures, so I'm just hoping she gets better soon.  This though has thrown me a bit of a curve ball.

My next appointment is Jan 5th 2011.  I'll be paying full price for the consult, and I really didn't want to do that.  My deductible is $2500, so I'll be spending money no matter what until I reach that number, it's just a downer.

I'm not sure yet if I need regular visits, or if a free local support group will suffice.  So I may just skip the psychologist altogether and see how things go with voc rehab.

Part of my depression is that I have no job waiting for me.  The down economy scares me so I am relying heavily on help from voc rehab.  I don't even have a dress or suit to wear to an interview.

I stick to my beliefs that there are no accidents and need to keep my faith clear and strong.  I just need a little help, a little nudge, a little more energy, and the right place to work.

I did my 20 minutes of quick exercise activity, felt good.  I just ran in place and did some aerobic movements to get the blood pumping.  My arthritis is acting up, the soles of my feet hurt..............but can't let that stop me.

I'm so excited for Christmas, still need a special gift for mom.

I'M TRYING TO  LIVE AS IF THIS IS MY LAST CHRISTMAS.  So I'm wanting to get out the cards, and presents to special people.  I guarantee you members of my family are frustrated because they don't want me to spend any money, they just want me to save my change.  I am so grateful to have such a protective family and they are right, I should save all my money.

But this Christmas was not too expensive, really.  I have total faith that God is taking care of me.  It's going to be OK.  I will not be a drain on my family and will be able to take care of myself.............

But at the same time, what if this is my last Christmas?  I could have a relapse before next Christmas and it's possible treatment won't work.  So today is the day to give, not waiting until I'm earning more money.

That's the problem living in NED land.  Nobody can give me any solid answers so I can't make any solid plans or decisions.

Christmas is the most special holiday for me.  I love Christmas.  Easter is hard for me, I just really get emotional, and it's just not the same.  It's a greater joy, on Easter, but the week before Easter and Lent is a lot of work and inner soul searching.

So Christmas is just joyous and a time for freely giving.  I just want to give what I can.

Love you.

Merry Christmas