





This month is Breast Cancer Awareness and last month was Ovarian Cancer Awareness!

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness and last month was Ovarian Cancer Awareness!
Before you find your Halloween costume…
Before you get out the fall decorations…
Talk about Teal!
September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month….
They call Ovarian Cancer the “whispering” cancer. The symptoms are quiet but persistent.
Wear your Teal on Tuesday! Open a dialog. If someone you know has persistent digestive troubles, nausea, bloating, bowel, or bladder issues, be persistent in getting them to see a doctor! Ovarian Cancer often presents as vague tummy trouble. Ask your doctor for a CA 125 test. CA 125 is the Cancer Antigen marker in your blood that indicates something may be awry.
I recently met with Nina Wu….
…author at the Honolulu Star Advertiser and told her my story. One of the questions she asked was, “What instigated you to start your blog?” Honestly, the first time I battled in 2012 and won, I thought it was one and done. I thought I could walk away from cancer.
Turns out I thought wrong.
In 2014, when it came back again, I realized that I needed to share my information with others fighting the disease and anyone who wanted to understand the battle against cancer-plain and simple. I chose to share my experience so others could learn from it.
So tomorrow, wear your teal.
At one time, not too long ago, I was actually able to walk up Koko Head Crater-it was challenging, yet not impossible. The popular Oahu hike was approximately 1 mile…straight up…1048 stairs/railroad ties up the side of a enormous cinder cone. The view from the top was spectacularly breathtaking. These days, I think I could only walk from the parking lot to the trail head. However, even when I was able to successfully complete the hike, there were a few other folks that passed me like I was standing still. On the way down, still others were barely making it up. My challenge was a cake-walk for some and an impossible dream for others. Food for thought as I refocus my efforts toward getting healthy.
Now, I’m trying to get up the hill of recovery! What’s the plan? It’s a work in progress, a multi-pronged work in progress. Exercise-check. Ableit, in a much smaller fashion than BC (before cancer). My immediate goal is to walk up the hill in the neighborhood (all the way to the top). Healthy eating-check. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, but for now, it’s plenty of veggies/protein and bags of spinach (they say it’s washed, but I am suspicious, therefore doing that hard salad spinning myself). I am re-acquainting myself with plain Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of Grape Nuts and fruit on top. It’s not as terrible as it sounds…really. Reading-check. On order from Amazon:
This Thursday marks my second maintenance treatment along with a Doc appointment on Monday. I haven’t been to Tripler Army Medical Center in three whole weeks (3.3 weeks). I am focused on getting myself sussed each day and up by 5:17 am and back into bed by 9:36 pm (this has something vaguely to do with sleep cycles and a sleep calculator). Still a long way to go, but the view on the way back up again is pretty rewarding. Plus, I am enjoying the lack of vomitting more than you can possibly imagine.
In a reflective mood? Maybe a little, but I’m looking backward and forward simultaneously. Musically, maybe some 4 Non Blondes will help you start your day with What’s Up?
Don’t forget to check out the sunsets on the way!
The writing guide for visual artists
nutrition that works
Discovering the Gift
Sowing Seeds for the Kingdom
A great WordPress.com site
Fighting the battle-Round Two!
4 out of 5 dentists recommend this WordPress.com site
The greatest WordPress.com site in all the land!
For lovers of reading, writing, travel, humanity
Coaching, Support and Resources for Women with Cancer
"Be a human BEING, not a human doing!"