"you have cancer" .... now what?

[Jo]

it's been forever since i've visited here. i'm not sure there is any reason to keep this journal going. i actually think the other admin, tom, just created the place so i'd have someplace to mess around and tinker with the admin panel.

at any rate:

this is what has happened since my last post. i've stopped eating red meat. not entirely but consumption has been severely cut. i'm still taking the Multi-Enzyme Probiotic Formula. both of these things really helped my system but i've had to go one step further. i started dosing myself with about a tablespoon +- of immodium every morning. those three things working together seem to have solved any issue i had.

i had to do something. i was not going to go through the rest of my life having the problem i was having. i don't know what my radiology oncologist will think of it [taking the immodium] but right now, i couldn't care less what he thinks. i'll see him in september and if he has a problem with it, he can tell me then.

[Jo]

it has been quite some time since i posted here. other work, another board kept me going. but i think i have some free time now so i'll try to keep a bit more current.

since my last visit, i had another ct scan. the one done in june of this year showed 'something', what was called a seroma. this is not so much a big deal in hindsight. just a pocket of fluid which collects where stuff used to be. the ct scan in sept. showed the seroma, or what my dr said is most likely lympacele, is shrinking. this was expected. the fluid is absorbed back into the body in most cases.

what was discovered though is that i now have gallstones. well, the fun never ends! i asked what is to be done about this and i was told basically nothing. unless i'm hurting, nothing will need to be done. not sure i believe that so i'll be checking for the facts of that.

since posting last time, i'm off the probiotic. the problems i have been having, what was called late side effects of my radiation, seem to have ceased. couldn't be happier about that! i'm still not eating much red meat for fear the problems could resurface and for now, i'm happy with that choice.

at the last ct scan, i sneezed 3 times [well, i've sneezed 3 times at all 3 scans] but this last time, you would have thought the world was ending. the technicians called my dr. said i had sneezed when the contrast was administered. on the previous scans, when the same thing happened, they just handed me a kleenex and said 'bless you!". now, because of this latest scan/sneeze event, before a scan, i'll have to have a prednisone tab the day before and the day of plus a benedryl. like i said, the fun never ends.

but all in all, i can live with the things that have surfaced. i'm still cancer free as of the last scan so i'm okay.

[Jo]

i'm doing well since my last post. there are actually time that i forget i had cancer. feelings and thoughts usually surface when i come here, have a dr appointment, get blood work done and so on.

my last blood work was fine. liver function good, kidney function good. here is a rundown of my lipid panel
blue indicates my test results from dec. 2007

LIPID PANEL
CHOLESTEROL TOTAL 254 222 [should fall between 125 - 200]
HDL 77 63 [should be >46]
TRIGLYCERIDES 75 88 [should be < 150]
LDL 162 141 [should be <130]

RATIO 3.3 3.5 [should be <5]
GLUCOSE 90 84 [should fall between 65 -99]

my doctor was very pleased with the HDL and Triclyceride numbers. because of those, he is not concerned about the total cholesterol nor the LDL numbers.


the important thing to me here is that i am eating low carb, keeping away from sugar [which cancer feeds on] and the numbers are an indication that things are going okay.

[Jo]

i have another dr. appointment next tuesday. as i plan for this, letting dh know so he can take off work, the old feelings resurface. what if they find something? do the problems i've had since the last visit mean anything? will he order another scan? i wonder sometimes, just how long these things creep back into play. do they ever really just go away so you don't think of them anymore?

[Jo]

my appointment went well. there was nothing new in exam, no visible sign of cancer.

[Jo]

there are things going on in my physical life. things are not the same pre cancer. when the dr. told me some things will change and quite possibly would never return to 'normal', meaning before the cancer, i was hoping with all i had the these things would, in time, return to 'normal'. i'm thinking at this time, this will not be the case.
after my last visit to the oncologist, i am believing this more and more and as time goes on, it only confirms things.

i chatted with my my bff the other day. she is a breast cancer survivor for 14 years now. 14 years! she is my hero when it comes to cancer survivorship.