Welcome Home!

ronit
ronit Member Posts: 10
edited March 2014 in Lesbians Talk About Cancer #1
A message board for lesbians to talk about cancer: A place for us and by us.
WELCOME!

Comments

  • r2hounds
    r2hounds Member Posts: 2
    #2
    Thank You! All of us living with and supporting loved ones with cancer will benefit by this message board. We are just now getting the chemo routine down and its really been tough. My Partner has stage IV Uterine Sarcoma and has had a complete Hyst and has had to have vasucular surgery to her leg due to a blood clot. Her first Port went bad and got infected and now the 2nd one is working great. She goes thru 5days of Chemo every 2 weeks and is about to start her 3rd treatment. We don't know if its working yet on the cancer. I am trying to keep my routine going but have had to miss alot of work. I cry alot at this point.
  • lneuma1
    lneuma1 Member Posts: 10
    #3
    r2hounds said:

    Thank You! All of us living with and supporting loved ones with cancer will benefit by this message board. We are just now getting the chemo routine down and its really been tough. My Partner has stage IV Uterine Sarcoma and has had a complete Hyst and has had to have vasucular surgery to her leg due to a blood clot. Her first Port went bad and got infected and now the 2nd one is working great. She goes thru 5days of Chemo every 2 weeks and is about to start her 3rd treatment. We don't know if its working yet on the cancer. I am trying to keep my routine going but have had to miss alot of work. I cry alot at this point.

    Assume that it is working and keep pluggin' away! Cry when you feel like it, let it out. Then pick yourself up, wipe away the tears and keep going. You will make it and so will she. Keep praying and keep moving forward. I had my last chemo 3 weeks ago for BC and will start Radiation this Monday. I'm scared, but once I talk about it -- it makes it seem smaller and more managable. I can do this. You can do this. We can do this. ---Laura
  • ronit
    ronit Member Posts: 10
    #4
    r2hounds said:

    Thank You! All of us living with and supporting loved ones with cancer will benefit by this message board. We are just now getting the chemo routine down and its really been tough. My Partner has stage IV Uterine Sarcoma and has had a complete Hyst and has had to have vasucular surgery to her leg due to a blood clot. Her first Port went bad and got infected and now the 2nd one is working great. She goes thru 5days of Chemo every 2 weeks and is about to start her 3rd treatment. We don't know if its working yet on the cancer. I am trying to keep my routine going but have had to miss alot of work. I cry alot at this point.

    The new interviews have just been posted on CSN. They're all women who took care of their partners during treatment. I know it will really help to know you're not alone! Let me know what you think.
    I'm sending you all my best healing wishes, and may God grant you the strength you need to get through this period. And you will. All my love,
    Ronit
  • Sharona
    Sharona Member Posts: 4
    #5
    ronit said:

    The new interviews have just been posted on CSN. They're all women who took care of their partners during treatment. I know it will really help to know you're not alone! Let me know what you think.
    I'm sending you all my best healing wishes, and may God grant you the strength you need to get through this period. And you will. All my love,
    Ronit

    Hi. I am a 31 year old survivor of cervical cancer and a lesbian. I recently had a trachelectomy (removal of cervix), with no spread to lymph nodes or uterus, so am still fertile. I had waited a while between pap smears, not really thinking that I was a risk, since I was monogamous and with a woman. Well, I was wrong. I was at stage 1a2 when they found it and just qualified to get the trachelectomy as opposed to the hysterectomy. I still want children. Are lesbian more at risk because they don't go to doctors as often? I don't know. But, I am here to tell you to get a yearly exam no matter who you are sleeping with and if you are not sleeping with anyone.
    Postalgirl@earthlink.net

    take care,
    sharon
  • ronit
    ronit Member Posts: 10
    #6
    Sharona said:

    Hi. I am a 31 year old survivor of cervical cancer and a lesbian. I recently had a trachelectomy (removal of cervix), with no spread to lymph nodes or uterus, so am still fertile. I had waited a while between pap smears, not really thinking that I was a risk, since I was monogamous and with a woman. Well, I was wrong. I was at stage 1a2 when they found it and just qualified to get the trachelectomy as opposed to the hysterectomy. I still want children. Are lesbian more at risk because they don't go to doctors as often? I don't know. But, I am here to tell you to get a yearly exam no matter who you are sleeping with and if you are not sleeping with anyone.
    Postalgirl@earthlink.net

    take care,
    sharon

    Hi Sharona,
    I am so glad your cancer was found early enough to save both your life and your ability to have kids. Thank you for your important message which needs to go out to lesbians everywhere! How are you doing? Welcome to our very own message board and I hope you visit often!
    Sending love,
    Ronit
  • ronit
    ronit Member Posts: 10
    #7
    Sharona said:

    Hi. I am a 31 year old survivor of cervical cancer and a lesbian. I recently had a trachelectomy (removal of cervix), with no spread to lymph nodes or uterus, so am still fertile. I had waited a while between pap smears, not really thinking that I was a risk, since I was monogamous and with a woman. Well, I was wrong. I was at stage 1a2 when they found it and just qualified to get the trachelectomy as opposed to the hysterectomy. I still want children. Are lesbian more at risk because they don't go to doctors as often? I don't know. But, I am here to tell you to get a yearly exam no matter who you are sleeping with and if you are not sleeping with anyone.
    Postalgirl@earthlink.net

    take care,
    sharon

    Sharona,
    I forgot to ask you one more thing. Why don't you start a personal web page here (very quick to do) and then we can add you to our Friend's page? Feel free to go to my home page and then you can see all the others who are linked to it. My page is called, "ronit." Let me know, okay?
  • Betsy58
    Betsy58 Member Posts: 1
    #8
    Hi there. Yes, it sure is nice to have a queer message board. I had cervical ca in 1998 and had a partial hyst (still got those ovaries). Then in 12/99 I was diagnosed with breast ca. Had a mastectomy with lymph node dissection (2 of 25 +). Went through AC x4. Then in 10/02 I got the other shoe falling news..metastaic br ca...lymph nodes, lungs and pretty near every bone in my body. I've been on aggressive chemo since December and have another two months to go. We'll take more pictures, run some more tests and decide from there.
    My caregivers are both ex-girlfriends, one who lives with me as a roommate and one who lives about 5 minutes away. The roommate does the daily stuff, my other ex does all the doctor stuff and the emotional stuff. I'm deeply grateful for their presence in my life and their willingness to stick it out with me.
    Being queer has had no effect whatsoever on my medical txment. It's good to have a strong, intelligent, and outspoken patient advocate. There are days I don't even remember when I was first diagnosed and my one friend was incredible. She knew what, where, when and how. Thank God someone did.
    Anyway, I look forward to new members and new posts.
    Betsy
  • ronit
    ronit Member Posts: 10
    #9
    Betsy58 said:

    Hi there. Yes, it sure is nice to have a queer message board. I had cervical ca in 1998 and had a partial hyst (still got those ovaries). Then in 12/99 I was diagnosed with breast ca. Had a mastectomy with lymph node dissection (2 of 25 +). Went through AC x4. Then in 10/02 I got the other shoe falling news..metastaic br ca...lymph nodes, lungs and pretty near every bone in my body. I've been on aggressive chemo since December and have another two months to go. We'll take more pictures, run some more tests and decide from there.
    My caregivers are both ex-girlfriends, one who lives with me as a roommate and one who lives about 5 minutes away. The roommate does the daily stuff, my other ex does all the doctor stuff and the emotional stuff. I'm deeply grateful for their presence in my life and their willingness to stick it out with me.
    Being queer has had no effect whatsoever on my medical txment. It's good to have a strong, intelligent, and outspoken patient advocate. There are days I don't even remember when I was first diagnosed and my one friend was incredible. She knew what, where, when and how. Thank God someone did.
    Anyway, I look forward to new members and new posts.
    Betsy

    Welcome Betsy58. I'm so glad you found us here. I am so very sorry to hear about your metastatic spread, but at the same time how incredible it is that you have such wonderful friends who care so much about you. I am sending you healing wishes. Ronit
  • Minerva1
    Minerva1 Member Posts: 1
    #10
    Hi all! My father has esophageal cancer and I'm a lesbian so I thought I'd drop in here. There's something comforting about being around people of your own community, no matter what the situation. I wish you all well.
  • Ravensedona
    Ravensedona Member Posts: 1
    #11
    ronit said:

    Welcome Betsy58. I'm so glad you found us here. I am so very sorry to hear about your metastatic spread, but at the same time how incredible it is that you have such wonderful friends who care so much about you. I am sending you healing wishes. Ronit

    I am glad I found this site. I have been searching and searching and I just cannot find support. I lost my partner of 10.5 years to Cancer on March 1, 2006. She was diagnosed a year ago, and was cancer free of July 27, 2005; then in February she died within 3 weeks. I am still in the space that I cannot believe it and am just lost!
  • missingmyangel
    missingmyangel Member Posts: 2
    #12
    Ravensedona said:

    I am glad I found this site. I have been searching and searching and I just cannot find support. I lost my partner of 10.5 years to Cancer on March 1, 2006. She was diagnosed a year ago, and was cancer free of July 27, 2005; then in February she died within 3 weeks. I am still in the space that I cannot believe it and am just lost!

    Ravesedona
    I am so sorry for you lost. I understand where your at. I lost my partner of 28 years in March. She had not had cancer before. We found out she had it in January and by March she was gone. It seems so unbelievable that she is gone. All we can do is just get up and try to live each day. Try to fill time with people who really care about you it seems to help me. Im 46 years old and had no plans for life changes. I had a fantastic life. The hard part is that no one gave us a vote. Hang in.

Discussion Boards