There is no place like home.

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've last posted.

The surgery went well. Unfortunately, they did find ovarian cancer again in my right ovary. The surgery was very thorough and included full staging procedures. I now have no reproductive organs which is very sad. But I can't spend too much time sad about it, looking on the bright side, I don't have a cancerous tumor inside me either.

I was in the hospital for three days and then recovered quickly at home. Ten days after surgery I was walking around my neighborhood and really feeling like I could do almost anything (with lots of naps in between.) My plan was to spend the next week working on getting things together before I start chemo on 10/14. Unfortunately, that plan didn't work out too well.

Since I was feeling good, I decided to cook dinner on Monday night. The doctor's all had told me to eat normally when they released me from the hospital ten days earlier. Sadly, they didn't explain to me that my idea normal and their idea of normal were two different things. That Monday, I made roasted cauliflower as a main dish, roasted carrots as a side dish and we had zucchini bread for dessert. I had no idea these are some of the hardest foods for a person to digest. I had no idea I should be eating more mild foods.

Apparently, during the staging process in surgery they inspected my intestines very carefully. This means that they took them out of my body and ran them (think like you are flaking a climbing rope to see if there are any kinks, knots, or soft spots-- they doing that to my intestines as they looked for tumors). No one told me that this can cause adhesions, obstructions, swelling and a general rebellion of the intestines. No one told me that I should be mindful of my sensitive intestine when I chose foods to eat.

I became violently ill and spent the past four days in the hospital getting re-hydrated.

The experience was nothing short of awful. I am not used to being so sick for so long. The worst part was that each day, they thought I'd be able to go home but then I couldn't. I'd get my hopes up and then become very sad. The time in the hospital was very dark for me. Fortunately, they finally let me home today. Already, I'm feeling so much better. I can do things like cook myself rice rather than have a plate of spaghetti and meatballs put in front of me as my first meal in 36 hours. (Was the hospital trying to kill me?) Plus, just breathing fresh air is helpful. Yes, I know it is Philadelphia air, but at least it isn't a controlled climate!

The best part is that I'm going to be able to attend my brother's family's going away party tomorrow night. They are moving to Belgium at the end of November so they are having a huge blow out. They expect 140 people to attend. The party is at their house. They got a band (bluegrass), a moon bounce for the kids (and adults) and a mobile bathroom! There will be a ton of relatives who I hardly ever get to see. During my lengthy stay in the hospital I was envisioning having relatives from out of town stop by to see me in the hospital on their way to my brother's. This thought depressed me so much. But the good news is, I'll be at the party! I probably won't have a beer and will pack my own dinner, but I can still be at the party!
Then on Sunday, I get to go to my friend Anj and Sue's wedding. This is something I'd been looking forward to for nearly a year. I'm so glad I don't have to miss it.

So, it's been an exciting week of sitting in the hospital bed watching the hours slip away. I'm exhausted from the experience so I'll close here saying there is no place like home.

Soon I will post about my prognosis and treatment plan for the cancer. As far as cancer goes, I couldn't have a better situation. So it is good news.

Climb 4 Life - HERA FOUNDATION 2008.

I raised $10,076 dollars!

For photos please go here...

A few days after I heard that I needed surgery I left for Utah to participate in the 7th annual HERA Foundation's Climb 4 Life event.

The HERA Foundation is dedicated to raising money for funding cutting edge research, awareness campaigns and community patient programs for ovarian cancer. I've been an Ambassador for the HERA Foundation for the past year or so.

And so it began ...again.

Earlier in the summer I started to have symptoms of cancer recurrence. Mostly the symptoms were bloating and feeling full and pains in my side. I went to the doctor. Turns out my CA125s went up to 33.

You probably never heard of a CA125 test. It isn’t a good test and it is not used for the general public. It could go up for benign conditions (such as pms) and conversely it could fall within the ‘normal’ range while someone has stage four cancer. That said, in my past experience with ovarian cancer back in 2005, the marker seemed to be a good indicator. It was 3904 before I had my surgery, it was 75 before I started chemo and hovered in the 20s for the next three years.

When it jumped to 33, my doctor wasn’t “particularly concerned” but it was worth an ultrasound since it had never gone that high before. The ultrasound showed two small cysts that looked normal. The bigger one was 2.5 cm. It is normal for women to get cysts regularly. Cysts become concerning when they are complex (blood flow, threads of tissue) vs. simple (clear). These small cysts weren’t “particularly concerning.” The doctor said to come back in two months.

Two weeks later I called the doctor’s office and complained of more symptoms. She told me that everything came back normal and to give it two months as the doctor said.

I thought about what she said. I thought about my diet. Could my recent problems be indigestion? I had been eating nuts every day. Every time I get a little nervous about recurrence, I start eating healthy food. I wondered if this change in diet maybe caused more symptoms that I confused with cancer?

About a week after that, I decided I was crazy to put my instincts on the back burner. I had an old photocopy of a blood work order and decided I’d use it. What was the worst that could happen? The insurance would refuse to pay for it since the doctor didn’t order it?? Well if that was the case I decided I could deal with the $350. I consulted with one of my mentors, Sean Patrick, the founder of the HERA Foundation. I came to the conclusion that I needed to listen to the advice I so often give women in my work with the HERA. I took that old bloodwork order and went for my CA125.

It came back at 55. It had gone up 22 points in four weeks. 22 is a normal level for me. It doubled from my normal level. I dropped the phone when the nurse called. I hated that number. 55. Even worse, I couldn’t get that annoying Sammy Hagar song out of my head... “Gonna write me up for 125, Post my face Wanted Dead or Alive. Take my license and all that jive... I can’t drive 55!” It was an awful day.

The nurse sent me for a CT scan and an appointment with the gyn-oncologist the following week.

The CT scan revealed that the mass on my right ovary had grown to 6cm. It looks contained. It could very well be a benign condition. No one will know for sure until surgery.

Surgery is scheduled for September 24th 2008.