Monthly Archives: March 2014

health, ovarian cancer fighter blog, Uncategorized

25 days

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I am contemplating things that I would want to do for 25 days straight (minus weekends) and radiation was not one of them.  Things I would definitely want to do for 25 days: walk, teach, read, play Scrabble, watch Scandal, eat Twizzlers, and drink Diet Coke.  Instead, I will begin my journey with radiation treatments on April 8.  The nurse warned me that even if I was sick, or had a flat tire (is this a common problem in Hawaii, because it’s happened to me recently?), or fill-in-any-other-excuse, I am to come every day.  I wanted to ask her if she was willing to help me get the flat tire changed, but she didn’t seem like that type.

Right now, it’s the calm before the storm.  I am feeling better post surgery, tooling around my block without gasping for breath, and I made it through three seasons of HBO’s Girls.  I have one more week before the 25 days start.  I finished my last Arixtra shot, but I still have more painkillers left.  So, for now, it’s one day at a time….

What are you thinking about for your 25 days?

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health, ovarian cancer fighter blog, Uncategorized

“Loaded for Bear”

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The Urban Dictionary defines “Loaded for Bear” as to be prepared mentally and physically for extreme opposition; typically used in reference to an aggressive or potentially violent situation. Yesterday, as I prepared for my blistering .71 mile walk, my mother-in-law used this phrase-Loaded for Bear- to describe me (…except she said “ready for bear”).  This devolved into a family discussion about whether this phrase actually exists.   It does, and I am.  (I also spent most of the evening using the phrase in various sentences until I’m pretty sure everyone was tired of hearing it.) Which leads to the activities of this morning.  Today, I bent the needle taking the cap off my daily Arixtra shot and just went ahead and gave it to myself anyway-Loaded for Bear.

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cancer, health

Fighting-Again

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It is official. Ovarian Cancer has reared its ugly head once again. I have to give it credit for being persistent. I really thought we had kicked it to the curb the first time. Today was my first tattoo in my life. Pretty uneventful in the scheme of things. One nice thing about getting radiation at a military hospital is that they do have reserved parking for radiation patients. There are so many people being treated for various conditions, that I am slightly surprised they would have specific parking spots for radiation. Evidently, we rate. All of this follows on the heels of successful treatment that ended 14 months ago. The first go round, I worked every minute that I wasn’t getting chemo, but this time, daily radiation makes that look unlikely. I feel like a pro at chemo already, but radiation is uncharted water.