Round 2

I just finished reading Gilda Radner's book. Yes, I know, she died from ovarian cancer in the late 80's. You are asking yourselves why did I read this book? I can tell you. It was an amazing account of how detection and treatment of this disease has changed so much in the last 20 years. One of the chemotherapy's that I am taking (Carboplatin), she couldn't even get in the US if you didn't know someone in Connecticut. Seriously. They used to do a "second look" surgery after you finished chemo, where they would open you back up and look to see if they saw anything. They don't do that anymore. They have the data that shows it's not beneficial. Walking her journey made me feel very lucky to be having ovarian cancer now.

The real reason I read her book was because I think Gilda Radner was one of the funniest people...ever. I had one of her albums as a young teen. It was hilarious and filthy. "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals" was one of my favorite songs. I can still sing most of those lyrics. Did I mention it was filthy? I can't believe my parent's let me listen to it, but I was so thankful. Maybe they knew she was something special too.

Funny really gets me and she found humor in cancer. A kindred spirit. She and I share the same astrological sign...yep, cancer! Funny! She once had her picture taken with a newborn...comparing similar hairstyles...funny! And what I loved most about her book, it doesn't end with her dying. It ends with her final thoughts on cancer. What she learned about herself and her cancer. She called them "cancer's wonderful ambiguities". It's really not about winning and losing, it's about rolling with what is put in front of you and making the best life you can. That made so much sense to me. Important words even if you don't have cancer.

On that note, I have some good news. Round 2 started off with a bang and ended with a gurgle. I'll explain. Before my surgery I had a CA 125 of over 1,000. Normal is under 35. Yep, not good. On Friday my CA125 was...15. My doctor said that no one ever get that low after only on round of chemo. I assured her she must have forgotten that I was an over-achiever. And it might be not so good I'm in her study because I will continually skew her results! But that is HUGE news! It means the cancer is leaving the building!!! Hence the bang!

The gurgle you might have already heard about via a post on facebook,but on the way home my port started to leak..a lot. Not sure I was really comfortable with a chemo/saline cocktail outside of my body, I called the on-call doctor and she assured me that this sometimes happens and that if it is still leaking the next day to call back. I could only get it to stop if I laid on my back, slightly to the left side with my right leg extended as far out as possible. Yeah, 2 or 3 days of that didn't seem too doable so I opened a new bottle of Super Glue and glued that sucker shut. Yesterday, I picked the glue off and it started to leak again, so I just glued it back shut again. 'nough said.

Round 1 over, round 2 underway. Hair is starting to come out, not in clumps, but I'm feeling that around the corner. As per Lydia's request, I am trying to keep it on my head until school starts. She really doesn't feel comfortable having a bald mom walk her to school the first day. I will try my best to facilitate that. I'm feeling good, fatter than ever and enjoying each day for what it is.

Uneventful

Chemo Friday was just that. Uneventful. Aside from the waiting for a chair almost as long as I waited for a table on Valentine's Day at Red Lobster in my youth (3 hours then/1hour 15 now) everything went off without a hitch. They gave me Benedryl by mouth this time...MUCH better. The Taxol went in without problem, but as the day wore on and it got close to closing time, they wanted "last call" to be coming soon. They went into debate on whether they should push the last little bit in quicker...ah...no, thank you. Let's leave well enough alone. And that's just what they did...nothing. I was out by 6:15 pm. Doable.

My husband Mark and I were just discussing this morning before he went to work, that it's been one month and one day since my surgery and about 6 weeks from when I was diagnosed. Wow. That seems hard to believe. I'm still on "lift nothing over 15 lbs", still watching my eyebrows, lashes and follicles for any signs of withdraw. Nothing but the average 80 hairs a day like the rest of you. I'm guessing that since I'm on a slightly different regimen than the standard recipe, it might take a bit longer to end up on my pillow. Purely my own prediction. We'll see. My new question about hair loss, and you'd think after 20 years of hairstyling I'd have all of the answers on this subject...Do you lose your nose hairs?

I have to take a moment to tell you all thank you. Thank you. Now don't get me wrong, it didn't take some cancer epiphany for me to know that I have an amazing community of friends and family. I already knew this. But it did take cancer to have all of you come out in droves, bombarding me with the shear volume of support via emails, cards, visits, gifts, food, phone calls and overwhelming amounts of love. I don't wish cancer on anyone, but if I could make sure that everyone had this feeling, in their lifetime, this would be a pretty awesome world to live in. Maybe that will be my new mission.

Uneventful. At least on the cancer front. I'll take it. It makes room for life. I went to a lovely wedding this weekend. I spent an evening with wonderful friends. My kids seem happy and well adjusted. My husband is amazing. Life. All the stuff we get up and put our feet on the floor for every day. Uneventful. I'll take it.