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Cancer 2.0 Countdown to Surgery

So good news/bad new. The bad news is that my cancer came back in February of this year 2024.

But, the good news is that I can have surgery to remove it. The surgery will be Sept 26, so a week away. It will be in San Francisco as UCSF. I was treated there three years ago when this all started and feel really good about the care I will get there.

We are currently in Panama but Jeff and I will fly to San Fran next week. I’ll be in the hospital for a few days and then in an Air BnB to recover. My sister Laura lives there and my parents and my other sister Jenny will come up. And of course Jeff will be with me.

Here is the other good news. I know this doesn’t sound like good news, but in the cancer world it it is.

  1. I was cancer free for one year and nine months. That means (according to the doctors) the first chemo worked. This still sounds weird to me. If it worked why did it coome back? But anything over six months is considered working.
  2. I had more chemo this last year and it also worked. Again how did it work if the tumor is still there? The chemo did shrunk it, so that is good news.
  3. They can do surgery. When I was rediagnosed in February, the tumor was too close to the ureter (tube connecting the kidney to the bladder). But, thanks to chemo it can be safely removed now.
  4. Chemo wasn’t that bad. I decided not to blog about it this time because it was pretty similar to last time and frankly, I was lazy. But it was about the same, maybe even a little easier this time.
  5. After surgery I can go on a maitenance drug that should keep it away. The drug Avastin is something they can only give you if you reoccur which is why I didn’t get it the first time. But, it’s supposed to help keep it from coming back. I have been on it waiting for this surgery. It’s not bad, I don’t have any side effects.
  6. Sven is still my support sloth so he will be there to help with recovery.
  7. I know all of you reading this will be there virually with me cheering me on.

One Year Cancer Free!

It’s been one year since I had the hysterectomy. Not only was the surgery where they found cancer, it was also where they removed it which means I’m a year cancer free!! I still have a year of close monitoring to make sure it’s gone forever, but I’m feeling good and getting back to normal.

As I took this picture, Sven noticed I was wearing my sloth tank top and socks. He said he should be the sloth with the most pictures on this blog and asked me to post his vacation photos from our trip to Colombia.

Sven and I hanging out on Medellin.
He loved the bright colors of Jardin. So different than the rainforest where it’s mostly just green.
He wasn’t interested in the coffee farm we toured. He said he grew up in some trees by a coffee farm. But he did like the Colombian coffee.
His favorite AirBnB was the one with the wall of bamboo.
He loved the lake in Guatape.
He slept on the top bunk in our hotel in Guatape.
He was super happy to meet this Colombian sloth that lived in a park in Cartajena.
He also really liked the beach in Cartajena

Sven had a great vacation but is happy to be back in Panama.

Getting back to normal

We’ve spent the last two weeks settling back into normal life. It feels great to not be thinking about Wasabi or upcoming medical stuff.

My hair is back to its normal color thanks to Jeff’s hair coloring expertise. I’ve also learned to embrace my waves vs fighting them thanks to curl coaching from my friend Julie.

I finally wore one of my wigs when Rolf and Samuel hosted a murder mystery party.

I was the murderer.

This is the last week at my job and then we take off for a two week vacation in Colombia.

Excited to have more things to blog about soon.

Sloth friends forever

Sven had his friend Stanley visiting this week. They are friends from way back in the rain forest.

Due to covid it’s been a few years since they saw each other so they had a lot to catch up on.

But, being sloths. They talked for awhile but then took naps.

They have spent the last few days hanging out, watching movies and enjoying the view.

They did some yoga.

Their form needs work.

They were better with meditation.

Sven spent time cooking Stanley’s favorite leaf casserole.

We weren’t crazy about him using our stove because we feared he would fall asleep.

He offered us some but we declined.

Fancy leaf casserole.

We weren’t sure where Stanley would sleep since our apartment is small, but they made bunk beds.

Stanley had such a good time he’s decided to look for work in the city, so hopefully he will visit again soon.

Coconuts, sushi and edible flowers.

Jeff and I had a great weekend. I’m still a bit tired but taking lots of naps.

On Saturday we walked/ran around Parque Omar. Jeff ran, I walked. Not sure it if was the humidity or just being tired but it really wore me out.

Drinking coconut water directly out of the coconut helped revive me.

We still had to sit and dry off before calling an uber to go home. We were so sweaty it looked like we were caught in the rain.

Later that night Rolf and Samuel made us sushi rolls with fresh tuna, a fish Jeff is not allergic too.

much rather eat the real thing vs as a code name.

Today we went to the old part of town for lunch.

I had ceviche which included these edible flowers.

It was a good mix of fun things and resting.

Chickens, church and bird poop

Jeff and I took advantage of the day off yesterday to go to Taboga Island.

It’s a small island only a 30 minute boat ride from Panama City

There is a beach but it was rainy so we saw it but didn’t hang out there. Instead we walked around town and I took a lot of photos of doors. There were a ton of chickens as well which I also took photos of.

Jeff tried to interview these chickens on why they were crossing the road.

they wouldn’t tell him.

Lunch was a pork chop and fried plantains. In an effort to have something American for the 4th of July, we had light beer.

After lunch we went to the church of San Pedro which is the second oldest church in the America Pacific or possibly the western hemisphere, or continent. Google has varying accounts of what exactly its the 2nd oldest of. Just know it was old.

The church was founded in 1550. I’m assuming the basketball net is slightly newer.

On the boat ride back we watched these birds. They flew right in front of the boat and seemed to be surfing on the wind.

As we watched we saw something leave the birds butt. Before we could register what it was we were splattered with bird poo.

Didn’t catch a photo of that.

Luckily we had kleenex with us and were in our way back home. Once home we washed our clothes…twice and took very long showers.

I hope everyone has a good 4th of July. The sad news about the parade shooting made the news out here. We were relieved to know our friends there were all safe.

Silver Mama

This is the face of a woman who just got a senior citizen discount! Women who are residents and over 55 get a jubliada (retired person) discount on many things in Panama. One being entrance into forest preserves.

It did include wearing this bright yellow wristband. Non jubliados like Jeff just got white ones. I’d like to believe in a natural disaster they use the bright yellow to know who to rescue first.

My discount was an entire dollar. Yes one dollar off. Jeff is not a senior citizen yet. Even though we are the same age men don’t get the discount until age 60. This is why I’m Jeff’s silver mama. Not able to support him like a sugar mama but at least can save us money.

Jeff’s pretty happy about that discount.

At this rate only need to go a few thousand times to get this residency visa to pay for itself.

I was super tired on this hike. It made me realize I’m getting stronger everyday but still regaining strength.

The only wildlife we saw were catapillers.

When we got home we realized why we didn’t see any sloths. Sven was on a conference call with all the Panamanian sloths. They were planning their next meet up.

Bad Hair Day

I am thrilled to still have hair, and happy with my new haircut. But, it is not a get up and go hairdo.

This is what my hair looks like every morning, after brushing it.

Today Sven asked to style it for me. He still is considering a new career as a hair stylist.

He started by straightening it. As a sloth he really took his time and worked slowly.

He suggested some sloth fur products but agreed to use some of my hair products.

He was surprised I had so many. After much time styling and a few naps since he is a sloth he was finished.