Unremarkable Again

On the evening of October 1st I drank my first Readi-cat drink in preparation for the first CT scan in a year . I added some chocolate syrup to the rather thick, chalky drink to make it more palatable. Drinking through a straw helps and using a Minnie mouse glass just makes it a bit fun. I also try to imagine it is a chocolate shake not a barium sulfate drink.

The morning of October 2nd I drove to the radiology facility. The nurse there was great and gently started the IV for contrast. I was done in a short period of time and drove home. Later in the day my gynecologic oncologist's nurse called me to say the scan was clear. But you know I wasn't totally convinced I was a-ok I wouldn't feel that way until I saw my doctor and she did an exam. I was going to have to wait for that to happen though since my appointment wasn't until the 17th.

On Tuesday I went for a port flush and blood draw for the CA-125 test ( the tumor marker test for ovarian cancer). The nurse who did the flush was excellent and after saying hello to one of my favorite nurses I drove home.

Today( Oct 17th) I had my 4 month visit to my gyn-onc at the Rutgers Cancer Center of New Jersey. She did the internal exam, told me my CA-125 result and that my CT scan results were good. Then she asked me when I wanted to see her again. It is nice to finally be a part of the decision.  I'm not quite ready for going 6 months so she said another appointment in 4 months would be fine.

As I left her nurse handed me a copy of the CA-125 results and CT scan report.  I've gotten pretty good a reading those reports. I checked that they found my port in the chest CT, and didn't find my spleen in my abdominal CT.The report show no fluid or lesions. All three scans used the word-  Unremarkable. I like being unremarkable. I feel pretty wonderful.

If only I can get less anxious before scans and doctor visits. That would be remarkable.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!

Getting Around to Sharing Good News

Yesterday, NJ had a Nor'easter. They named this storm Athena. Athena is the the goddess of war and wisdom. She dropped about 7 inches in my town and 15 miles east of  me they had 13 inches. So I think she should be the goddess of Nor'easters too. Between Sandy and Athena these past eleven days sure have been interesting.

Interesting on the ovarian cancer front for me too. Sandy and Athena distracted me so much that I forgot to post  some good news.

The results of my CT came back the Thursday before the hurricane . There was no evidence of disease. Hurray! I am now 4 years out from my recurrence. Even though my CA125 was 17.6 , higher than it was when I recurred, I did not  have active disease. Boy that CA-125 bouncing around sure does make me anxious.

The Friday before the hurricane, I  had an appointment with a gastoenterologist/surgeon to try to figure out what was causing this uncomfortable feeling I was having in my abdomen. My internal organs have been moved around a lot twice and I know there is scar tissue but both my gyn-onc and I felt we should check it out further. After an exam the doctor said everything felt normal and recommended I increase my fiber intake. No more Rice Krispies or tea and toast in the morning for me I've started eating high fiber cereal. Those Fiber One cereals and All Bran are not too bad when you add fruit. I've even added the All Bran to yogurt for a snack.

The doctor also told me to loose weight. I gained over twenty pounds since my recurrence.  So I will need to get to work on that by walking a bit more and eating less and possibly signing up for Weight Watchers again. Lastly the doctor recommended a colonoscopy. It has been 5 years since my last one so I will have a colonoscopy in January. You know even cancer survivors need to do those routine tests too .

Last piece of good news is the response I got after responding to a tweet calling for bloggers for a redesigned Society of Gynecologic Oncologist website. I'm honored and thrilled to have been accepted to post a few times a month. I'll let you know when my first post appears.

Dee
Every Day is a Blessing. Blessed by all the repairmen, emergency workers from NJ and states beyond who are helping to restore power, cable, etc to the state.