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Post surgery day 2

Yesterday was rough. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t get up and walk around. Every time I tried with the nurse’s help I almost fainted. Getting me to this chair was a big deal.

I also had this guy come in and play me a song on his dulcimer. It was really nice, but similar to when Christmas carolers come to your door.

This duplicate photo is on here because I can’t figure out how to delete.

This next picture is from the first night. You can see the pain killlers were workimg

Today is going better. Still can’t get up but I’m in less pain.

Cancer no more in ’24

That’s my new slogan

Surgery is tomorrow!

I’m super ready and happy surgery is tomorrow. Yesterday I had to go to UCSF for a pre-surgery blood test. They gave me this “patient locator.”

It’s a big place and I did get a bit lost, but not so bad they needed this pager thing. After, we met up with my sister Laura which was so great.

Today was a liquid diet and some meds which I am not a fan of.

Tomorrow we have to be at the hospital at 5:30am. Without coffee Jeff may need to carry me into the hospital.

Surgery is at 7:30am. Jeff will update the blog tomorrow. It will be a long day so it may be later in the afternoon before there are updates.

Thank you all for reading and supporting us. By this time tomorrow I should be recovering and cancer – free!

Surgery countdown with Sven

We are flying to San Francisco today (Monday). Packing took longer than expected when I told Sven he had to go in my suitcase.

He was expecting to walk on the plane.

When I told him he had to go in my suitcase he said he had anxiety. Luckily I had just the thing.

This calmed him down as did some sloth yoga.

He calls this pose Downward Facing Sloth.

Finally he agreed and we were able to go to the airport.

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.