It is hard to believe that on this day in 2007 I created this blog and wrote my very first blog post. I was inspired through friends I met at the LiveSTRONG Survivors Summit to write a blog as a way to share my story with other women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I also provided information on ovarian cancer awareness organizations in NJ and their local events.
Through the years I have covered many topics related to what I experienced as a patient and survivor. Some posts were about the physical aspects of being a survivor but I also shared the emotional aspects of treatment and survivorship. I wrote about my recurrence in 2008, from hearing my cancer had returned, to the surgery to remove my spleen and resection my liver, to the chemotherapy and the allergic reaction to carboplatin that required a hospital stay. I have written about dealing with "scanxiety" as I wait for test results, the sadness and guilt when my friends pass away from ovarian cancer, the frustration from chemo brain and the peripheral neuropathy in my toes.
I also shared the happy occasions, the graduations, weddings and births and wonderful family trips. Writing this blog also opened doors for many other advocacy avenues. Through my activities on the Twitter account of this blog, I co-founded the #gyncsm ( Gyn Cancer Social Media ) Community. I co-authoring the book "100 Questions and Answers about Ovarian Cancer", and wrote blogs posts for SGO, SHARE and Cancer Hope Network and my cancer center's newsletter.
As my advocacy work expanded to research advocacy, my blog posts evolved to be a way for me to explain in layman's terms the latest ovarian cancer research. Now I write about new clinical trials and trial results reported in peer reviewed journals. I blog and Tweet about the ovarian cancer research when I attended ASCO annual meetings in person.
I've never kept close track of the statistics for this blog. Usually once a year, on this blog's anniversary I look back at what I wrote during the previous year. In 2017, I wrote 54 posts including this one. I have published a total of 1060 posts in the past 10 years. Some years I wrote more blog posts than other years but I continued to blog. This blog's pages have been viewed 356,827 times.
My top five posts since 2010 (when Blogger started keeping track) are:
May 9, 2011
2209 views
Jun 5, 2015
1760 views
Jun 3, 2015
1635 views
Aug 17, 2011
1564 views
Sep 11, 2016
1406 views
I have enjoyed sharing my story and educating others about ovarian cancer through this blog. I hope that women diagnosed with ovarian cancer, their caregivers and others who follow this blog have found it helpful. I do believe - Every Day is a Blessing !
See you all in 2018!
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
PS : This blog may look different when you check back in January.
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