She Can Laugh Without Fear

I honestly thought when I started this that I would be updating the blog at least weekly during chemo.  Frankly, it's tough!  It's difficult enough to gather my thoughts and turn them in to coherent sentences when I'm healthy... It's nearly impossible to do when I'm not feeling well!  So I do apologize for the lack of updates.  Here we go... I ended up in the ER again right after Christmas.  I'm feeling much better these days, but it's because I haven't had chemo for 3 weeks.  I was going in for weekly infusions and had my appointment the day after Christmas.  I didn't feel great, but nothing seemed amiss.  Afterwards, I went home and napped intermittently while we finished up my cold cap therapy.  I really started to not feel well towards the end of the caps.  Lo and behold, I had a fever. Per my Oncology team, if I develop a fever of 100.4 or higher, I need to go to the Emergency Room.  Mine was 102.3.  I took some extra strength Tylenol and we

Let's talk chemotherapy and hair loss. Some kinds of chemo make SOME hair fall out.  For instance, this guy: Some kinds have little to no effect on hair.  Slayyyy queen: Some kinds make ALL your hair fall out completely.  Behold: Guess which one I got? If you guessed "tragic naked mole rat" you are the lucky winner. Of all the animals I have had fantasies about turning into, naked mole rat was never once on my wish list.  Turn into a horse?  Hell yeah, those beasts are majestic af.  A bird?  Yeah dude, I wanna fly.  A sloth?  I mean it's basically a furry version of me already.  But a naked mole rat?  Naw. Truth be told, losing my hair was my biggest hangup about receiving chemotherapy treatment.  There were lots of other side effects that I was concerned about, but the one that kept making me hesitate was losing my hair.  Before you call me shallow, hear me out.  I mean, I am shallow, but still, hear me out. My hair has always been a

It was weird, but I started my first ever Go Fund Me campaign.  We don't usually need help, so it was (as everything on this journey has been) quite uncomfortable.  Here's the info that was included, along with the link to the campaign itself.  It will remain open indefinitely so please feel free to donate if you are so inclined.  Or, in a year when I'm back on my feet, you can laugh at me for asking for charity but hopefully by that time, I will have paid it forward.  I plan on doing some charity work of my own when I'm physically able.  Well, here it is: https://www.gofundme.com/shecanlaughwithoutfear On August 6th, 2017, I landed on the Emergency Room Operating Table for internal bleeding.  One week later on August 15th, I got the call that would change my life.   At 33 years young, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Ovarian Cancer.  This has already been a long road, and it will continue to require lots of attention. Current/accumulated challenges: Unable to work

Preparing for Camp Chemo An Ode To Vanity "It's just 5 days," I told myself While packing my bag of stuff. "You'll just need sweats, socks, and snacks. And maybe some comfy Uggs," No need for makeup, no need to impress. Nobody will be there to see. No need for anything fancy really... But yeah right!  Do you know me?? I got my mascara and BB cream, Determined to look cute I won't let cancer take my confidence And it can't take my attitude!!

When I got that phone call, the world stopped.  I was not paying attention, yet I was hanging onto every word.  But then I couldn't recall everything.  It was a weird juxtaposition.  Is that even the right word??  I have no idea. The surgeon told me that it's rare and she doesn't have much experience with it, so she would refer me to the Oncologist.  Her understanding was that I wouldn't need chemo or radiation; I would need one more surgery to remove the rest of the affected ovary that we were trying to preserve and that should be it. Ok, not bad.  I can handle this. August 29, 2017 - Oncology and Intro to Chemo Appointment with Oncologist, Dr. R.  This is a different doctor from before.  This will now be my official oncologist handling my case.  There are 3 oncologists on the team, and I had met with one previously when we first did that MRI 2 years ago.  So now I've met 2 out of 3, and that ain't bad. Dr. R said we'd schedule my second surgery a

The "Timeline" post indicated that I'd be making a separate post just to detail my ER visit.  Well, here it is.  Settle in and get cozy, cuz this adventure was action-packed.  Also, it is not advised to read this if you're squeamish.  It's not like it's the latest installation in the SAW franchise, but I still had to put a trigger warning for my more delicate friends (ahem ahem, Jeff). As a reminder, I showed up to the ER after having a day and a half of gnarly abdominal pain and under the advice of the Kaiser Nurse phone line.  I decided against the ambulance because it seemed like overkill. Upon arrival at the ER, I saw about 10 people waiting ahead of me.  The intake nurse asked me some general questions and told me to take a seat in the waiting room.  I explained that I had called the Nurse Advice line and they told me to go straight there.  She said there were no beds available because of all the ambulance patients. Funny how that worked out; I w