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

PET Scan to be scheduled

On my way home from the oncology visit I decided to stop at the store, and met a homeless man eating samples from the deli soup cart.  He stopped me in my tracks with questions about movie characters, he was stuck on "Ghostbusters" and couldn't remember one of the actors.  Well, he was talking to the wrong person, because I can't remember stuff like that, so we had a heck of a time.

What caught me was that he was so engaging, polite, and outwardly interested.  He told me he was a veteran and had PTSD, and that the government gives him $500 a month.  He carries with him a bucket, his backpack and a squeegee.  He washes windows on cars to make extra money.  My mind flashed back to a time during college when a few of us drove to Mexico, and in the shanty towns children would surround the car, each with a squeegee, asking to wash your window for a quarter.

This man was tall, african american, handsome in a sense, but skinny as a rail.  He had on lots of layers but when I saw his waist I gasped.  It is heartbreaking.  He talked and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked.  He was well read, and put me to shame.

I gave him $10.  On my way out of the store, he stole a flower from the floral department and handed it to me.  He also kept asking for my phone number, but of course that wasn't going to give it to him, ha ha.  But he did give me a slight kiss on the back of my hand.  I can't believe I let that happen, but I wasn't afraid.

I drove away and he disappeared, probably went back into the store for more soup. I had not mentioned the obvious yesterday, but please keep this fellow in your prayers too.  What he must endure, I can't imagine.

Today my oncologist called to say my CT scan showed a few things and she wants to do a PET Scan.  I guess there is a small lesion in my lower pelvis and the one on my liver seems to be a concern.  She is being cautious and wants to check for activity levels in these areas.  They are small though, about half an inch or so.  My CA125 is 15, so that is good.  She said that if it were 100, then she would think I was in a recurrence.

So for now I await the nurse's call to schedule the PET Scan.  sigh

I scheduled a flight to Colorado the end of April, and I want to not be on chemo.....ugh....can't think about that I guess..........can't worry about that......if it looks like I need treatment then I'll take a short flight out early before I start treatment.  It took me over a year after I finished chemo the first time to be able to travel...........sigh.  This is the life of cancer, it comes and goes, it never completely goes away.

I feel nothing right now.  I have no control over this and ...................I don't know.  Anyway, I just pray that it's nothing to be worried about.  I was blessed to meet such an interesting person yesterday and I have a loving family, and am so grateful to God that my doctor is amazing.

Peace and Love,
Denise

CT scan and CA 125 on Tuesday

I have a follow-up with my gyoc-onc tomorrow.  Ct scan, Ca-125 test, and probably exam.  Usually I don't tell people much any more because the visits have been going great.  I'm going to attribute my severe fatigue to arthritis flare for now.  I'm confident all will be well.  Just putting it out there.  I'll post the results.

Yesterday for the first time I really visualized the size of the tumors that were removed during the initial surgery. 10 cm each, plus many more.  That's the perfect size of a grapefruit. Wow....

The first week in February I'm excited because I'll get to talk with some medical students and share with them what it was like to not be diagnosed, how cancer got missed and the goal is to help them be more aware of the subtleties of OC.  I'll let you know how that goes.  Had a great evening!!!!!  Got to see my nieces.....yay and spent dinner with my sister, her husband and the kids.  I'm smiling.