Two Year Anniversary for UPSC - Still NED

Kathy

jazzy1 said:

YAHOO!!

What a wonderful bit of information....you so deserve to enjoy life.....get out there and live it up as life is great!!

Hugs

Jan

Congratulations!! Here's to staying cancer free forever!

Congratulations on your 2 years!!!  I had changed my diet, then slid back recently.  Your post inspired me.

Enjoy life!

cheerful said:

 

Hi Sungranny:

  I read your post on the roll call.  I know you are in my age group 60 to 69 and I assume you live in North Carolina since you mentioned Duke Medical Center.

I live in PA in the suburbs of Delaware County.  I am 62 years old.  

  I want to thank you for your congratulatory wishes for my 2 year mark and I really appreciate it.  How are you doing since having been diagnosed with cancer? I hope you are doing well and enjoying each and every day.  Cancer for sure does change your outlook on life.

  I just saw my doctor last month in October and I am still without evidence of disease, however, my oncologist wants me to have my CA 125 blood work done in December and my cat scan done in February of 2014.  I always am concerned and worried when I see my oncologist as I just hope for the best.  It is scary for sure going to see your oncologist and you just pray for good news.

  I changed my diet for the better. Did not eat well at all before cancer diagnosis, had hot dogs, bacon, sausage, pork roll sandwiches, hamburgers, french fries, potato chips, steak, pork chops, gave all that up, now eat much healthier and better consisting of dinners - salad, baked potato, soup, pasta, egg whites and cheese on a roll (Weight Watchers).  I also have cereal for breakfast either Cheerios or Rice Squares and for lunch yogurt, 2 slices of cheese and a banana. I enjoy potato chips, but have severely limited them to only a few.  I also had worked for years in a very stressful job as a legal secretary.  Now I am home and enjoying life and am collecting Social Security. 

  My son has helped me so much with eating better as he has lost over 100 lbs. himself by cycling and has biked over 26,000 miles over the last 4 1/2 years. He was 14 almost 15 when he started to bike ride now he is over 19 years old. He looks terriffic and used to wear a 3 Extra Large and now wears a Small size.

  I also have roasted peanuts in a shell (Unsalted) every day as this can thrwart off cancer and have eaten these shelled peanuts for over 2 1/2 years as peanuts are supposed to be good for cancer.

  I know I don't ever want to go back to my bad eating habits before being diagnosed with cancer and I want to continue to eat well and feel better. 

  Anyway, again thanks for your congratulations.

Cheerful

a/k/a Jane

 

Dear Jane:

Congrats on your good news.   We all get kinda nervous when we are about to take a test.    I was getting CT scans at first every 6 months then every year and would get nervous for each of them.   Then the insurance companies stopped the scans for the yearly and so I went several years without a scan.   So I got nervous because I wasn't getting a scan!     YIKES.    I guess anytime we have to think about it can cause nerves!

Great news on the new diet.    I totally changed my eating about 2 years ago.   I did lose 30 pounds but recently for some unknown reason I have gained 15 pounds over the past several months without changing anything in my diet but after I started getting lower back pain again.     I did get a CT Scan and nothing had changed from the last one taken in 2010. (although I still have two small masses).   I go for my 6 month check up next week.

Keep up the good work!  

Kathy

P.S.  I am a legal secretary

cheerful said:

 

Hi Kathy:

  Thank you for wishing me congratulatory wishes and your post.  I wanted to ask you how long you have been a legal secretary and what type of law are you doing?  What part of the country do you live in?

  I did defense litigation for 10 years, insurance defense for almost 3 years and corporate law for 5 years. I enjoyed corporate law a lot and to me it was definitely less stressful than litigation was.  All of my working experience I have worked in Center City, Philadelphia, PA.

  I have 20 years of legal experience altogether.  I am now looking for a 2 day a week position, but it has been difficult and frustrating. Since getting diagnosed with cancer back in early 2011, I decided to look for something part time, but it is hard.  I am currently debating whether I should still continue to look or just stop altogether.  As I mentioned, I am collecting early Social Security which is a big help plus I do tire easily as I am on a few heart medications along with going through chemo and radiation for the cancer and the chemo really tired me out for close to a year.  I drive my son 3 days a week from college to my house (it is about a 15 minute drive one way) and the other 2 days I run errands and he is in his 2nd year in college.  He wants to take next year off from college as he currently goes to a community college in our area and he said he needs a break as he has been going to school since pre-school so it is close to 16 years which is a long time.

  As far as the cat scans go, it is good now that you are getting them. They are really important.  My oncologist has me going for cat scans about every 8 months.

  The first year I was diagnosed with cancer I went for a cat scan 3 times that year which was really good, right before I started chemo, after a couple of chemo treatments, and then when I finished all my treatments back in 2011.  Last year in 2012, I went for 2 cat scans. This year, it probably will be 2 cat scans also.  I see my oncologist 2x a year now, the first year it was 3 times a year.

  During chemo, I lost over 20 lbs and I had lost about 12 lbs. on my own, I have since gained back about 15 of those lbs.  But as I mentioned, I am eating a lot healthier and better. Glad to hear that you are eating healthier and a lot better also.

  I did read your blog and saw that you had a reoccurrence of your cancer. That must have been really scary.  I noticed that you have adenocarcinoma. I was diagnosed with uterine papillary serous carcinoma also known as (UPSC).  My cancer was a large polyp about 5 centimeters and I had the 6 rounds of chemo and 3 rounds of brachytherapy.

  When you get a chance, you can e-mail me about your legal experience as I am very interested in knowing about it.  I know there are so many legal secretaries in my part of the country that are out of work and have their Resumes on-line.  I have been offered 3 full time positions over this past year, but I had to turn them down because I knew I would never have the stamina or energy to be able to do full time work anymore, plus collecting social security you cannot work full time.

  I look forward to your response.  

Cheerful

a/k/a Jane

 

 

 

 

Dear Jane,

I haven't been to this site in quite a while, but saw your notes this morning.  I too was diagnosed with UPSC in October of 2011.  After surgery in November I started on chemo and did 6 sessions followed by oral megestrol.  That held me for about 8 - 9 months.  In December 2012 my oncologist and I decided I could spread my appointments from every 2 months to every 3.  In January 2013, I just didn't feel quite right so I scheduled a blood test about 6 weeks after the December appointment.  My CA 125 went from 49 to 364 in just those 6 weeks.  Last spring I did 6 more sessions of chemo and I'm now on tamoxifen.  My next blood test is in about a 2 weeks.

I also live in the Philly area, Montgomery county, and have been treated at HUP and the HUP cancer center at Phoenixville Hospital.  In the early 1990s I lived in Newtown Square so I am somewhat familiar with Delaware county.  Where have you been treated?  I have been happy with my doctors, but always wonder if there is something more that can be done.

I am also in the 60-69 year age group and am retired from the pharmaceutical industry after 30+ years.  I hope you continue to do well and look forward to hearing from you.

Maggie