Week 3

Well today was the start of week 3.  I have felt the best I have in awhile today, and when I say "best", I mean 75%.  I don't think I feel anywhere close to 100% until long after all this is over.  I saw my oncologist, Dr. Morris today, and the first thing he said to me was: "Well this isn't as great as you thought it was going to be when you signed up, huh?"  (I'm not sure I ever thought it was going to be great.)  He then reminded me that I, number one, should still not be in his office because I had none of the risk factors and did everything that I could to prevent this, and I still got cancer...stage 2 none-the-less.  Secondly, he reminded me that this is week three and I only have 2 weeks left.  I then questioned him with, "Really?  Only 2 more weeks for sure?"  He then responded with, "Well sometimes if you buy the 5th chemo treatment you get the 6th for free."  Such a funny guy! :)  Lastly, he said most people going through what I am are twice my age and twice my weight, so considering that and the fact that I shouldn't be in his office, I'm handling this all very well...emotionally and physically.  He then told me though that I can not lose anymore weight, as this could affect my chemo treatments in the future.  It's hard to gain weight (or maintain for that matter) when you have no appetite and are nauseous half of the week.  BUT...I made a list of foods that I feel like I can stomach and we went out and bought those tonight.  I'm still have stomach issues from my surgery so portion size is another problem.  So I'm going to try to eat every three hours, and eat things high in calories and nutrients.  Hopefully this helps.  Other than my weight, my other vitals and blood work are very good and holding steady...so this is good! 

Back to Dr. Morris's comment about how I had none of the risk factors and did everything right.  If you research cervical cancer you'll find that it is almost always prevented, and in almost all cases is caught early.  BUT...of course I'm one of the few cases that it wasn't.  Cervical cancer is almost always prevented as long as you don't smoke, don't have the family history, and have yearly pap smears.  I do not smoke, there is nothing in my family history, and had yearly pap smears.  It's usually caught in the pre-cancerous stage and such procedures like a cone biopsy or a leep procedure are done to get rid of the abnormal or pre-cancerous cells.  By the time my cancer was found, it was far too late for either of those procedures.  Considering my last normal pap was in December, and I was diagnosed at the end of August with stage 2 cancer they considered it to be a fast growing cancer.  Good thing about fast growing cancers is that they are also easier to treat!  I honestly attribute my being diagnosed when I was to my being proactive.  At the first sign of something abnormal, I saw my doctor and continued to after each symptom.  I was very up front with my OBGYN, and made sure they were doing all they needed to do in order to figure out what was wrong with me.  So, if I've learned anything through this process it is to be proactive...you know your body the best!  For all the women out there it is also very important to continue with yearly pap smears, and do all you can to keep your body healthy!  I may have done this and still ended up with cancer, but I can at least say I did all that I could to prevent it and caught it as early as we could have hoped.  I hate to think where this cancer would be if I wasn't proactive and this was found at my next yearly pap in December. 

Ok...I'll get off my soap box now.  I've got a big week ahead of me and am going to do everything possible (lots of sleep, lots of liquids, eat every 3 hours, ect.) so I can enjoy the entire day on Saturday...Evan and Linsey's wedding! 

Here's to a great week!
Meighan