Starting a New Year Living with Cancer

Though I am glad that my chemo treatments and ovarian cancer surgery went so well, I have to accept that I will never be completely "healed" from cancer. The fact is that most cancer just goes into remission and may return at some point (recurrence). Ovarian cancer is particularly known for cycles of remission and recurrence, especially when you are not diagnosed until it has progressed to a later stage. By the time we discovered that I had ovarian cancer, I was at Stage 3c which means that though it had not yet invaded other organs, cancer cells covered all my organs in my entire abdomen. Most of this cancer was destroyed by the chemo treatments, then all visible cancer was removed during the surgery, but microscopic cancer cells still exist within me which could possibly grow in some other part of my body.

Good News a week after starting anti-cancer medication!

One good thing now is that I have hair. Actually, I never completely lost my hair before the new hair began to grow. It is gray and nice and thick like it used to be.

Another thing that I'm really happy about is that I am adjusting to the Lynparza anti-cancer medication, and it is only taking the week they assured me it would take.  It was a tough week, but I am now feeling more like myself. It is wonderful to no longer have the sense of anxiety and depression. I'm glad that the muscle and joint pain, headache, and nausea are just minor now. I don't have any diarrhea and the irritated gums are less and are being helped by using a baking soda mouthwash and the minor heartburn by pepcid medication. Oil and lotion are easing my dry itchy skin, and my decongestant and antihistamine are not only helping my allergies, but are also keeping the lung inflammation at a minimal level. So, though I don't feel as good as I did without the medication, it is livable now and my energy is even increasing. Yesterday, I walked nearly a quarter of a mile. The only thing which has become worse is that I have little sense of taste and little appetite. Since this removes the temptation to overeat, that really isn't too bad.