doctors found a mass in my abdomen - I'll be gone for ??

[Earniel]

Someone I knew used to lose hair due to stress which resulted in noticable bald patches on her head. Once on a biketrip when a kid asked her why she had such strange hair, she told the kid that no, she wasn't actually losing hair, she was like a dandelion spreading seeds. Soon there would be dozens of tiny versions of her running across the countryside.

[Rían]

That's so funny!

[Mari]

Hehehe, depending on her character a bit scary too! What if she is a witch of a woman?

[brownjenkins]

Very best wishes to you RÃ*an! It's a tough battle to go through, but great to see you approaching it with the positive attitude you've always had. We can't control what happens in life, but we can control how we embrace it, and I think you've got that down!

/salute

[Rían]

Thanks! Nice to see you!

Just spent 5 days in the hospital - had a major bleed; it was kinda scary! But it seems more related to the hysterectomy than the chemo. Had some repair surgery Monday, and got home late yesterday. Ouch!

Tomorrow is number 6 chemo out of 18, so that will be 1/3 through - nice goal to hit. And my cancer blood marker is in normal range!

[Mari]

That's good news! And all the luck and hugs an wishes for the rest of the chemo treatments

[Varnafindë]

Best wishes, again!

[Rían]

OK, back from a fast trip to the ER and then a hospital stay AGAIN - I guess my underlying chronic issues just mean that I need to go to the hospital after every chemo

I have 2 chemo treatments left - one in two weeks from Monday, then one 3 weeks after that. I'm just going to face up that I need to head to the hospital at the first sign of trouble instead of waiting until I'm laying on the floor of a speeding car on the way to the ER. My generation is more of a "be tough and handle it", but one can't "handle" having to get blood transfusions - it's not about toughing it out when you need blood. The GI symptoms are one thing - that's more of a toughing it out - but I guess my system really crashes and I end up needing blood. I've had 5 units now!

Anyway, I miss you guys and appreciate your support. And now I should have 2 weeks of feeling kind of relatively good, so I'll appreciate that very much.

[Mari]

And in 6 weeks you'll be done with it, hopefully forever

[Earniel]

Take care of yourself, RÃ*an.

[Snowdog]

(((HUGS))) Rian. Two Months on.... hoping You are doing better!

[OldHippie]

Hope all is well with you Rian. Good luck.

[Rían]

Thank you all! So nice to see some old friends here!

I finished the chemo about a month ago - yay!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!

Then I saw the doctor a few weeks ago, and my scans and blood work look clear of cancer, so I'm on the maintenance program now - get my blood checked every 3 months for 2 years, then every 4 months for 3 years, then if I hit the 5-year mark, I think it's considered all done with.

One irritating last thing is the chemo port implanted in my chest got slightly infected, so I had to go on antibiotics for 3 days then they removed it earlier than they had scheduled (which was nice - I got bumped up on the surgery priority list). But since it was infected, they had to leave the wound open, and a nurse comes daily to pull out the sterile packing and re-pack it. They think it will take about 4 to 6 weeks to close up, and only sponge baths until it closes. The good news is that I'm learning to appreciate baths, instead of the usual quick shower.

I'm starting to get some hair back - getting some eyelashes (good) and some hair on my legs (bad ) . The hair on my head is still very short and sparse, but it was sure nice and cool during our extremely hot Arizona summers. I never got a wig - it would have been too hot, and I'm more of a "whatever" type person anyway. My daughter really likes how I look

Anyway, thank you, everyone, for your support - it meant a lot

[Mari]

I'm just glad you weren't done for, to paraphrase the title of this thread. *hug*

[tolkienfan]

Rian that is wonderful news!

[Nerdanel]

Great news, Rian! Good luck with the last remains of the battle, hopefully you'll be completely healthy soon.

[Butterbeer]

Hi Rian

Just read this!! - wasn't aware you'd had cancer.. Wonderful to hear you are doing well.

Thoughts with you.
BB
xxx

P.S. I thought i'd try an offer some Practical and helpful advice: so here's BB's Top 3 Hats suggestions:

This one is very handy in the Rain:



With this Hat you'll never get Lost: simply use it to triangulate your position using sun and shadows (Better used in daylight):



Last but by no means least in BB's Practical Hat guide: The Practical Backpacker/ Camping Hat: This Multi-functional Hat, offers both rain-resistance and sun-shade capability, can be used as a water storage vessel, and of course you'll never go hungry nor get low on sugar!

All the best, Rian and i hope you and family ok and getting each day better!

[Rían]

Thank you all!

I love those hats That's one thing that I like about GB; they still wear hats. It's rare around here. I think I have about 20 hats, but I don't wear my really fancy ones anymore . I will still wear my semi-fancy ones to church, or my casual ones out and about, and I always get compliments. I don't know why more people don't wear them over here!

[Varnafindë]

That's great news, Rian - I'm so happy to hear!

Good to see you around (I should be around more often myself ...)

Edit:
I like the hats, too

[Snowdog]

Good to hear you're doing better Rian!