It's Not Just About Me

I am sorry I have been MIA for so long, but since starting radiation and going back to work I have little to no extra energy to do even the simplest of things including writing.  I will do my best to do a weekly entry but I offer no promises. 

This weeks post really has nothing to do with me or my treatments, but rather about 3 lovely women who all have inspired me to embrace life, seek my passions, discover new things and love to the fullest: 

1.       Last weekend, I lost my wonderful friend, Amy.   Amy passed on her 39^th birthday from complications with blood clots.  She is survived by her 2 wonderful children, husband, mother, father, family and a shit load of friends.  She was kind, talented and generous.  In fact, her generosity has provided life to others through organ donation. 

Amy’s passing was completely unexpected. From what I have been told Amy had high blood pressure which was being controlled by medication.  In addition, she was taking birth control pills.  Ladies, I beg you PLEASE do not take birth control pills. BC is filled with hormones that can cause strokes, tumors and a variety of other complications. I am not a doctor, I am not an expert, but Amy is the 3^rd woman (including myself) I know who has had a tragic result do to birth control pills.    

Off the top of my head, I know of 2 non hormonal birth control options, condoms and the IUD, ParaGard which provides 10 years of protections and has NO, I repeat NO hormones.   http://www.paragard.com/. 

It has been years since I have seen Amy in person, but thanks to social media, Amy and I were able to keep in touch and share lifes special moments through photos and posts.  I will miss Amy’s funny whit but I am eternally grateful to have known her.

2.       My colleague and friend, Diane went into the hospital a few weeks ago for a scheduled hip replacement.  During her recovery she developed blood clots.  While treating her with blood thinners, Diane began to have complications with her treatment and sadly they discovered she had cancer which has spread and now we are left praying for a miracle.   

Diane is a true city girl, she did not own a car she rode the train, took taxis and walked everywhere.  To be honest, I am not quite sure she even knew how to drive.

Diane is a very talented writer.  She is a charming lady who is greatly respected for her many accomplishments including her monthly column in Food Processing and her blog on FoodProssing.com, Toops Scopes-http://community.foodprocessing.com/toops_scoops

It has been about 6 months since I have seen Diane and I now wish that I would have kept in better contact with her.

3.       A fellow Desmoidians, Tanya passed away last week at the tender (young) age of 30.  I did not personally know Tanya but rather we found one another on the DTRF Facebook page.   Tanya was an amazing woman who embraced and enjoyed life to the fullest.     

Folks, never be to busy to pick up the phone and say hi to a friend.  Always find time to join your family for dinner.  Save up and take that dream vacation, stop and smell the flowers.  Life is to short, never take it for granted and enjoy every day as if it is your last.    

xoxo,
Faith

Since We Last Spoke

It has been 3 weeks and 5 days since my surgery and I would love to tell you all that I am off the pain meds and the pain is gone, but sadly I cannot.  On the upside when I take the pain meds the pain goes away for hours verses’ making the pain bearable. 

I started physical therapy and that is helping and today, Monday, October 08, 2012  I will begin 5-6 weeks of daily (excluding Saturday and Sunday) radiation therapy.

My surgery on the September 19^th went good, he removed Shirley who was about the same size as my 8 ½ shoe and even though I had positive margin, we are considering this surgery to be a success.  You see, my first surgery I had negative margins and the stupid tumor came back, so this time Dr. Getty said he was going to go in and remove as much as he can without taking too much of my muscle since we (and by we, I mean me) are going to do radiation anyhow. 

Doc did a fantastic job in fact he removed the big ugly scar from my first surgery on September 14^, 2011(I would tell people that I got my scare from a knife fight. That’s how big and ugly it was, but I digress) and replaced it with a beautiful new scare. At bottom of this post you will find a picture of 2011 scar.  Warning it's kinda gross.      

I spent a lovely 2 nights in the hospital this time on floor 6 of University Hospital’s newly revamped orthopedic floor where every room is a private room, THANK G-D!!!!  I am sorry but when you are recovering you should not be subjected to sharing a room with anyone else!!!!  And when I run for president this will be my platform; that and free ice cream for everyone.  Sorry, I digress again but I live in a swing state (Ohio) and we are subjected to this crap of false promises all day everyday….

Back to my hospital stay, University Hospital was very nice, but I have to say Seidman wins hands down for patient care.  The care at Seidman is like sitting in first class and while UH does a great job (every nurse I had was fantastic) I had one nursing assistant who clearly needs retraining and a new sensitivity chip installed.  But overall, everyone took superb care of me.  I did not have to wait very long for someone to attend to me when I requested assistance and the nurses absolutely were concerned about my recovery, not to mention, the food was pretty good. 

Seriously, one awesome benefit that the hospital provides is extending food service to patient’s family and friends at a very reasonable cost.  On my second night in the hospital my husband and daughter joined me for dinner and at just $6 ea. they could order off the same menu as me (and as much as they wanted).  My daughter loved it, and I loved it because it made the experience less scary for her.

When I got home the outpour of support was amazing.  My neighbor and beastie had a welcome wagon for us including balloons and dinner, another friend made us dinner which included my daughter’s favorites, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.   My employer sent a wonderful care package from Harry and Davids and everyone, I mean everyone contacted me in some form (phone, email, text, Facebook, etc.) sending their best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.  And for that I SAY THANK YOU!!! 

I would like to send a special THANK YOU to my husband, daughter, mom, dad, sisters, nephews and brother in laws who have supported me with their unconditional love and willingness to be there whenever I need them no matter what.  THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU ALL more than you can imagine.  Your kindness and support means everything to me and I don’t know how I would manage without you. 

xoxo,

Faith