Things I Took for Granted

Ran around Charleston today completing lots of errands and at some point I stopped to think about how nice it is to:

1. Walk around with normal-looking hair, eyelashes, etc. and no one looks twice at me, and certainly doesn't give me looks of pity.

2. Push a loaded grocery cart all around the supermarket without help.

3. Run to catch up with Willie G.

4. Eat anything and everything I want.

5. Enjoy my new "perky" hairdo and hair color. I really do like it.

6. Make plans for the future without regard to a chemo schedule.

So, if I'd never had the big surgery and 4 months of chemotherapy, I'd never be appreciating these little things. Now I know.

Another month clear

Drove through snow to have my labs done and meet with the oncologist. Everything continues to be stable. In fact, my tumor markers have dropped a bit. So, the doctor wanted to know what I was comfortable with in regard to how often to test. It was interesting that he brought up this topic since my first question for him was, "What if we want to travel and skip a month of labs?" It seems it's largely up to me to determine the pace of surveillance as well as when to resume treatment if the markers rise. So, it's back to the internet for me to continue stalking all the sites with Ovarian cancer info, clinical trials, discussion boards, etc. I should just go ahead and get the dang medical degree...except those who are expert in this disease don't seem to have many definite answers either!
Pfffft! Time for a beer and a couple of hours with a good novel.

Over the holidays

It's coming up time for the next labs and doctor visit. Sometimes I feel "lah-di-dah" about it. Everything's  normal, get a list of questions together to manage those pesky side effects. But at other times, well, I'm scared and anxious. I know remission is often short-lived, but I want to be the exception, and I want to BELIEVE that I'm the exception. I guess it'll take a few more months before I can begin to take things for granted, if ever.
But the holidays were great. Our family made the effort to have togetherness the reason for our joy, and it was all of that. When I was first diagnosed I thought I had three months, that's all. To have been alive, HEALTHY, and happy all the way to Christmas was a real blessing. Here's to more chances for all of us to be together in the future. Kompai! (a Japanese toast)