Survivors Dinner/Six Months

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from the Relay for Life chairwoman.  She told me that she had just received the information that I was listed as a survivor.  I had registered for my friend Susan's Relay for Life team, just like I did last year.  But this time, I was registered as a survivor.  She told me she didn't know I was even listed as one, since I wasn't one last year.  Well no, I tell her, I wasn't one last year, because I had just gotten diagnosed in late August.  She tells me that every year, the Relay for Life holds a survivors celebration dinner, and she really wanted me to go.  So of course I agree to go.  And I'm glad I did.  I most certainly enjoyed the food, which was good.  I also heard a motivational speaker give a powerful speech about the gift of living.  He tells us that we inspire him as a group, and that we are fighters.  Well, I don't know about that whole thing about being an inspiration to others, but it was nice to hear that someone appreciates us.  :-)
I looked at the calendar yesterday morning, and I had barely noticed that the 24th day of the month had already passed.  Wow, six months have flown by since my diagnosis.  Go figure.  And I had barely acknowledged it.  I take this as a sign that I'm slowly moving on in my life.  Cancer has not defeated me.  Quite the opposite, actually.  It's made me stronger.  :-)
*kathy*

Researching Cancer

I've been doing plenty of research on uterine cancer ever since I got diagnosed way back in August.  Whoo...so much information, and not enough people know about it or know what it means.  I was at work the other day when I was talking to one of my co-workers, one that had started after I came back from my surgery.  I had to explain to him what type of cancer I had, because he didn't know what it was.  I'm telling you, not enough research is done, and not enough people know what it is.  People need to be better educated about uterine cancer, like they are about breast cancer and cervical cancer.  But that's just me.

*kathy*

Peaches

It has been said that dogs are very smart and very perceptive animals.  I firmly believe this to be true.  Allow me to explain why I have come to change my mind about these precious creatures.

            When I was a little girl (and my family can tell you this), I couldn’t stand dogs of any type.  I was absolutely, deathly afraid of them.  I would refuse to be in the same room as a dog.  I used to refuse to go outside whenever I was at my sister’s house because I knew her dog was there in the yard.  I could never figure out where this unnatural fear of canines came from.  I had never been attacked by a dog before in my life.  Cats, yes, but I never feared them.  Go figure.

            As I got older, my unnatural fear of dogs subsided, and I have grown to respect them.  I still don’t really feel all that comfortable around them, but at least I can be near them and not totally freak out.  Now I think they’re wonderful.

            Anyhow, I saw a story on “Unsolved Mysteries” once where they profiled some dogs who could detect cancer in humans just by going up to them and sniffing them.  Their trainers would place several lumpgs of human tissue (or something like that) close together, and would inject one of the lumps with cancerous cells.  The dogs would sniff the air, and every single time they did the test, the dogs would calmly walk toward the lump with the cancer cells, and would not move from that spot.  The trainers would even move the cancer lumps to different spots.  Never fooled the dogs.  Not once.  I thought this was simply amazing, but I didn’t think this could actually happen in real life.  But that was before Peaches came along.

            Peaches is a wonderful, wonderful Chihuahua owned by my friends Richard and Tipton.  She is a precious, precious dog, but she can be a little diva sometimes.  That dog is about 13 years old—she is most definitely temperamental!  Every time I would go over to Richard and Tip’s house, I would see Peaches roaming around, barking at something or somebody.  She’s getting up there in years, as I said, so she’s gone deaf, poor thing, and won’t hear you call out to her.  She always seemed to like to bark at me, but she never tried to do anything to me.  Then one day, her attitude toward me seemed to change.

            My friend Boston and I have birthdays that are close together, so we decided to have a joint birthday party at Richard and Tip’s house. Of course, you know Peaches had to be roaming around.  I didn’t see her right away.  But after walking around for a few minutes, I felt a tiny ball of fur at my feet.  I looked down and I saw two big brown eyes staring back up at me.  “There you are, Peaches,” I said to her.

            I figured Peaches would start barking at me again and be on her way.  But this canine diva surprised me.  Everywhere I walked, whether it was inside or outside, Peaches was hot on my trail.  She kept sniffing me and licking my legs.  And if I sat down, she kept trying to jump in my lap.  “What is up with this dog?”  I asked.  “I don’t know,” someone would say.  “Maybe she’s in heat or something.”  And she was possessive, too.  Anytime someone got near me, she would growl.  Not a high growl, but a low-pitched one, one you could barely hear.  Wow, Peaches.  Wow.  She was like my personal guard dog that night.  She never, ever left my side and never tried to stop sniffing me.  What an amazing dog.

            I never really thought about that night, until I was at a party a few months later.  People started talking about their dogs and about how the dogs were very perceptive.  It suddenly dawned on me—this party and Peaches’ antics occurred on the 19^th of August—a full five days before I had received my cancer diagnosis.  Holy crap.  Peaches was able to detect the cancer and knew I had it before I did.  Wow, that’s all I could say.  Told you Peaches was an amazing dog.

*kathy*

Valentine's Day

As I write this, I am laying in bed in a hotel room in Oklahoma City.  A few hours ago, I had another checkup with Dr. Moxley.  It went incredibly well, I think.  She did her normal exams and said I am still free of uterine cancer.  Yippee!!!  I can't tell you how excited I am.  Most people don't know how nervous you get before these visits, and don't understand why I get so elated when you receive good news.  You only know if you have been through it.

It's been almost six months now since I got diagnosed with this terrible disease.  I'm so glad I don't have to deal with any more treatments, and all I have to do is travel every 3 months.  :-)  Happy Valentine's Day, indeed.

*kathy*

Jeremy

Jeremy is my wonderful, beautiful 25-year-old nephew.  He's my only brother's oldest son, so he (as well as his two siblings April and Aaron) is very special to me.  So imagine my heartbreak when I found out he had been diagnosed with leukemia.  :'(

When I found out about his disease, I immediately made the decision to go visit him in the hospital.  He was my brother's child; how could I not go?  I wanted to see how he was doing, so off to Wichita Falls I went.

I went to see him on Super Bowl Sunday, to be exact.  I had taken a gift with me:  two framed pictures of his dad as a child.  He enjoyed looking at the frame, that was for sure.  And he was certainly pleased to see me.  :-)

He told me how he found out he had leukemia (it started with a dentist appointment and the dentist telling he needed to go to the ER asap).  He also said doctors found it early and he has an excellent prognosis, which was fantastic to hear.  Back in the 1950's, this disease had a 100% mortality rate.  But thanks to the advancements in technology, not to mention his age and overall health (he had never been sick or in the hospital in his life), he says he should be okay.  Whew!!  :-)

I have to tell you, I admire Jeremy so much for having a positive attitude, despite what he's going through.  He's got strength and determination.  Doesn't surprise me, though.  He's got a bit of my mom in him, after all.

*kathy*

Low Immune Systems

I don't think anyone told me that once you got cancer, you had to be really careful when it came to getting sick or being around sick people.  Well, I kinda knew, but I didn't think about it all that much.

I got diagnosed in August and had my surgery in September.  I didn't really get sick until November, when I was on light duty at work.  At Dr. Moxley's urging, I got my flu shot, and I ended up getting a slight case of the sniffles, but that was nothing major and it's usually expected.  After that, every time someone at work got sick, I did my absolute best to stay away from them.  One poor soul got sick, and I think I might have hurt his feelings when I told him to please stay the hell away from me.  Bless him, he did his absolute best to keep away from me because he knew my immune system was wrecked from the cancer and surgery, but I still caught a slight cold from him a few days later.  He felt bad, but I told him not to worry about it.  I think he was okay with it eventually.

I got sick again late last month.  I don't know how I got sick, but there had been a stomach bug going around town.  I didn't have those symptoms, thankfully, but I did have a high fever, sore throat, stuffy and runny nose, and a bad cough.  Yup, my cold was bad.  But I eventually got over it, and I went about my business.

I got sick again this week.  I thought I was gonna die, I felt that bad.  My head was killing me, I couldn't smell with my nose, my eyes were burning so bad, my fever wouldn't go below 102°, and my throat was so swollen I had trouble speaking.  It turns out that I have a throat infection that could've easily been strep throat.  Whew, I'm glad it wasn't that serious.  I am currently on antibiotics, and it's starting to clear up a bit.  But I do have to miss a total of five days of work, which sucks.  At least I'm getting better, and doctors are keeping a closer eye on me.  Thank goodness.  I still hate that cancer has messed with my health, though.

*kathy*