Teal Sister- Ellen

Last Wednesday I wrote a post about the passing of C ( Carl) the husband of E (Ellen) . The photo is of Carl, Ellen with NJ Senator Leonard Lance this past August at the Somerset Patriots game to raise awareness of Ovarian Cancer. This was the second year that Carl and Ellen helped to organize the event. I learned last night that Ellen lost her battle with ovarian cancer. What a sad week this has been. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Santaniello family and her Northern NJ NOCC friends.

These losses only make me more motivated to spread the word about ovarian cancer's symptoms, to support survivors and to raise funds for ovarian cancer research. We need to find an early detection test and a CURE!

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

A Teal Friend- Courtney 1982-2011

Earlier this morning I learned that my friend Courtney Clifford had lost her battle with ovarian cancer. I knew Court was in hospice and had received updates through our mutual friend Crissy. But you know what - it still hurts. Badly.

Now my thoughts are a jumble as a remember snippets of a short but wonderful friendship.

Both Court and I attended the first LiveSTRONG Survivors Summit in Austin , Texas in 2006. Even before the event an LAF message board allowed us to reach out to other survivors with the same diagnosis. So I actually corresponded with Court even before we meet in person in October. We were both diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer and had surgery in 2005. Mine in July and hers in November. We both had made an ER visit due to pain on the left side of our abdomen which lead to our diagnosis. We both had had thyroid issues earlier in our lives.

We really hit it off- even with the big age difference. She was the same age as my daughter and son- in law. After the Summit we stayed in touch through e-mail and Facebook. I learned she loved college football - like I do. She was a Cincinnati and The Ohio State Fan- how she loved her Buck-eye necklace. While I am a Rutgers and VT Fan - more about that later. She loved to travel- me too. So I would send her post cards from places I visited. I was so thrilled when she told me she was traveling to Australia. That would be my dream vacation too. I loved the photo she put up of her and a Koala bear. I wish I could have been there with her.

Then in 2008 I learned that they were holding another LiveSTRONG Summit in of all places Ohio- Court's home state. I couldn't wait to meet up with her again. I flew off to Columbus with my nephew Kevin. I'm glad he got a chance to meet Court too. What fun we had! I remember the trip to the zoo where I was lucky to meet her Mom, Mary and see her green van decorated for the event by our friends. Then of course there was her chance meeting with Lance in the coffee shop. The photo of the two of them is precious. Our get-together after the leader's meeting was great too. She would always tell me the it is not Ohio State but rather THE Ohio State. I couldn't wait to tell her when we walked over to THE Ohio State football stadium and actually got inside.

Court was one of the first people to call me when I recurred in Oct 2008. She told me about her trip to MD Andersen and her Avastin treatment. In January of 2009 our football rivalry began again when VT played Cincinnati in the Orange bowl game. I was so glad she could be there with her family. We even texted after the game. (I still have them on my phone.)

There were a few e-mails back and forth in 2009 and early 2010. I was so happy when she got to throw out the first ball at minor league baseball game in September - Ovarian Cancer awareness month. These last few months I've send cards, postcards and posted to her Facebook page. And I prayed. I wish that I could have gone and given her a hug in person and see her smile.

Thank you Courtney for being my friend.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing! Courtney was a blessing.

Every Ache and Pain

© 2009 Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.

When I was first diagnosed I had a pain on the left side of my abdomen by my hip. It was my mentioning of this pain to my gynecologist during my annual physical that prompted a series of tests and the surgery that let to my stage III ovarian cancer diagnosis. I never felt any pain or symptoms when I recurred on my liver and spleen back in 2008.

Even with two different scenarios for a diagnosis it seems when I have a consistent ache or pain I begin to worry about what might be causing it. I admit that if my wrist hurts my mind does not necessarily jump to cancer. But if I have a new ache or pain in my back, abdomen or pelvis the thought of recurrence still pops into my head.

For the past two weeks I have had pain in my lower back on the right side and in my right hip. There were days the pain was at a 7 ( on a scale of 1-10). Ouch! Lucky for me that yesterday I had an appointment to see my PCP for a blood pressure check. We survivors still need to stay on top of all aspects of our health.

After a blood pressure check - it was perfect- I mentioned this back pain to my doctor. He examined me pinpointing exactly where the pain was focused.He told me he thought it was a problem in the sacroiliac joint. Then he looked at me and asked when my last CT scan was. When I told him September he said " In light of you history I would like to check this out. Would you mind going for an x-ray". I said "no problem". Since I have been his patient years I think he read my concern about this pain and also wanted to insure we were treating it the correct way.

Off I went to my favorite radiology group in Metuchen. I waited over an hour since I was a walk-in but eventually I had my lower back x-rayed. The tech said that my doctor would have the results by later in the afternoon.

By the time I got home my doctor had left a phone message which said that there were no signs of cancer but I did have arthritis in the joint . He told me to take anti-inflammatory and pain pills for the next few days and to call him next week with how I feel.

What a relief - dodged another bullet. If I can deal with cancer I can deal with arthritis . The problem is that I always thought of arthritis as something that affected older people and I don't think of myself as old.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing! Blessed by a wonderful PCP.

Walking in another's shoes

Over the past five years I have met so many women diagnosed with ovarian cancer and other gynecological cancers. Many are still alive and cancer free, some are alive and battling recurrence, some are alive with stable disease, some are in hospice and some have passed on leaving a hole in their family's and community's world.

I have a friend E, an ovarian cancer survivor ,who has been in treatment for much of the past few years. I met her and her husband through an OC awareness organization in northern NJ. She is a sweet lady and her husband has been by her side through every test and treatment. He has always been on top of the latest ovarian cancer legislation and research for early detection and treatment. He helped to raise awareness of ovarian cancer in a number of creative ways.

Just about two weeks ago C. had a stroke. Three days ago he passed away.

For the past few days I keep thinking about E and putting myself in her shoes. I have a tendency of doing that - putting myself in other peoples shoes so that I can understand how they feel or why they react the way they do. Sometimes that is a good thing but sometimes not.

I know I can deal with whatever my health issues are going forward but when I think about doing it alone - without Nick by my side I admit I get scared. Would I find the strength to make the tough decisions on my own. I just don't know. I have children and other family members and friends who I know would jump in and help me. But I think there would still be a huge void. Nick is my soul-mate , he is the wind beneath my wings and I am thankful for every day we have together.

Dee

Every day is a Blessing!

June 18,2011 ~ Save the Date ~ Second Annual One Force to Make a Difference Ovarian Cancer Symposium

As I promised in yesterday's post, here is information on the 2nd Annual One Force To Make A Difference Symposium. The symposium is open to Obstetricians/gynecologists, family physicians, nurses, technicians , patients and their families.

I'll be sure to post updates as speakers etc. are finalized. It should be a informative day for New Jersey's doctors,nurses and ovarian cancer survivors.

See you all there!

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing! I am blessed by all the organizations in NJ who work so passionately to raise awareness of OC in NJ!

Teal Tea Event - Feb 8th

Click on the image above and then print out the flyer. Bring it to Alstarz and support The Teal Tea Foundation and their efforts to raise awareness of Ovarian cancer and fund research to find a cure.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!

Has it Really Been A Week?

I just noticed that I haven't posted to this blog in an entire week.

Let me think about what was happening .......

There was a haircut,

and a port flush

and another winter storm which lasted almost 2 days. I think that was #6 so far this year.

I spent time designing a Save-the-Date for the 2nd Annual One Force to Make a Difference Ovarian Cancer Symposium. BTW- It's June 18th in Princeton. I'll make sure to make the Save-the-Date my next post!( There are some other research and avastin news I promise to share too.)

On Thursday evening , I hosted Girls Night Out ( GNO). I couldn't wait to have everyone over to share a meal and see my new house. It was touch and go with the ice but almost everyone made it. I made antipasto and chicken cacciatore. The "Girls" brought dessert. The table was decorated for Valentine's Day and with Nick's helping prepping, serving and cleaning up everything went very well.

We "Girls" all had children in St Francis School's class of 1996. We get together for dinner on the first Thursday of the month. I began attending GNO with Terry, Kathy, Kathy, Linda, Joanne,Nancy and Joan almost 10 years ago. We've been through a lot these past 10 years- weddings, house renovations, moves, divorce, loss of loved ones, and serious illness. These ladies were there for me five years ago during chemo treatment and they bounced back into action during my recurrence. There were phone calls and cards aplenty. They even picked me up and drove me to GNO when I was too tired to drive myself. They made sure they picked restaurants where I could eat. Chemo time for me meant no sushi for us. What a great group of women.

My life has been blessed by their friendship.

Dee

Every Day is a Blessing!