I spent my five year cancer-versary in Costa Rica with Jeff and the girls. It was the perfect way to commemorate the day. It's not a celebration, exactly. It's more like a reminder to have gratitude that I'm still here, while at the same time, to not get complacent, because 10 years isn't guaranteed. If there's something I want to do, I better get started. But as a mom, that's hard. How am I supposed to seize the day when there's so much laundry to be done?   On Friday, I had my biannual appointment at my oncologist's office. I could see the words "primary malignant neoplasm" on m ..read more

Lesson learned: Never broadcast to the world that your family is healthy and COVID-free. The day after my last blog post, I received an email from the school notifying me of five COVID cases in Julia's class of nineteen students. As soon as she got home from school, I gave her an at-home test, and it took about four seconds to register as positive. Thus began our family quarantine. Claire tested positive two days later. Jeff tested positive on day six, despite his best efforts at avoiding the children. I held strong and cleaned up their messes and left vegetables outside their bedroom doors ..read more

Happy New Year! It's been wonderful not having anything to write on this blog. I sometimes forget this blog even exists. (Blogging? That's so 2005!) But then January rolls around and I start having flashbacks of dimly lit ultrasound rooms and straight faced radiologists, and that means it's time for another blog post! I had my usual recurrence scan in November along with a virtual doctor visit to review my bloodwork and the images from my scan. At the start of the call, the nurse practitioner mentioned a spot on my lung, and I freaked out and yelled, "What?! No one told me I was metastatic ..read more

A couple weeks ago, I used a printing service to turn this entire blog into a lovely hardcover book, a souvenir from my cancer treatment years.  When it was delivered, I flipped through the whole book, smirking at my drollery.  Then I closed the cover and placed it on my bookshelf.  Done.  Finito.  The End. Almost immediately, as if I had jinxed myself, I started experiencing vertigo. Whenever I moved my head, it felt like I'd just stepped off a tilt-a-whirl. It was mild, not enough to make me lose my balance or my lunch, so I ignored it for a few days. When it didn't ..read more

It's been two years since I finished chemo. Here I am with my favorite nurse, who I hope to never see again. I still have regular checkups with my oncologist. Typically, I see the nurse practitioner instead because my oncologist is off publishing in medical journals or testifying before Congress or working with recently diagnosed patients. First I get blood drawn to test for tumor markers – evidence of cancer activity in my body. Then I get to fill out my favorite survey form: on a scale of 1 to 10, how hopeless do I feel? Then the nurse records my vitals. Finally, the nurse practitioner come ..read more

Yesterday, I drove two hours to an H-E-B grocery store in El Campo to get my first dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine.   Texas is currently vaccinating Phase 1B, which includes "individuals with a chronic medical condition [such as] cancer."  I find the definition confusing since cancer is a broad term for diseases with wide-ranging characteristics.  Is it still considered a chronic condition if scans indicate remission?  Given that I recently had aggressive cancer and a slew of cancerous lymph nodes, I thought I was probably eligible, but I didn't want to be like the s ..read more

Happy New Year! This time of year – packing away the Christmas decorations, trading treats for salads, and getting back on the school schedule – brings on a feeling of impending doom.  Early January makes me anxious, and not just because of the protesters storming our Capitol or the fact that our hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.  January 9th is also my diagnosis anniversary.  Bad memories coupled with a CT scan scheduled for next week to check for recurrence.     Instead of making and breaking New Year's resolutions, I've been thinking about how ..read more

In response to my last blog post, my friend's husband remarked that I was "done."  And my friend responded, "No.  Just wait.  Something weird will happen."  That night, I tripped over my wedge pillow on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night and fell backwards into my vanity table.  Jeff's snore app captured the sound of my head smashing into the vanity.  I'm pretty sure I gave myself a mild concussion, although I never lost consciousness.  I probably should've gotten checked out by a medical professional, but I didn't want to be the old lady at th ..read more

I had my oophorectomy yesterday.  No big deal.  I'm a surgery pro.  COVID test, pre-admission forms, bloodwork, fasting, showering with Hibiclens, arrive two hours prior...  Yeah,  yeah, I know the drill. As usual, the worst part was getting my IV placed.  Chemotherapy toughened my veins, so it always takes at least 3 tries and several minutes of digging around.  Interestingly, the person who finally did it was the anesthesiologist.     The surgery went smoothly.  The robot did an excellent job.  They were able to reuse my DIEP s ..read more

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween.  The girls did socially distant trick-or-treating only to houses with outdoor setups.   After eating way too many Reeses cups, we woke up to a new month and a new time (daylight savings).  The next thing on my calendar is my oophorectomy surgery on the 12th.  Should be easy compared to flap reconstruction.  The surgery is laparoscopic and takes about ten minutes, and I go home the same day.  I get to do a mild bowel prep beforehand.  I feel like you're not really over-the-hill until you do your first bowel prep ..read more