TaTa Wars

I am very grateful hysterectomies have changed over the last few years. I do not have to undergo the invasive surgical procedures many women before me have endured, including longer recovery times. Now it is faster, safer, and easier to recover. Since I am always getting poked and prodded, it is comforting to think it will be easier and less painful. At this point, I have decided to get off my cancer medications, because I will have to get on a different kind after the hysterectomy, as I will be post-menopausal. I figure, I might as well get a few good weeks before having to take them again. What's a Robotic Hysterectomy (& Oophorectomy - ovaries removed)? During a robotic hysterectomy, your surgeon makes five small incisions in your abdomen to provide access for surgical tools. Through these incisions, your surgeon detaches your uterus, and for me, ovaries and fallopian tubes from surrounding tissues.   If you ever get a chance to watch one of th...

Cancer survivors are always wondering and waiting to see if something is going to happen, so it is only natural to worry when something is "off". Then when something turns out to be abnormal more testing and follow-ups are needed. It seems like a continual wave of worries. Sometimes our worries turn out to be issues. Sometimes our worries turn out to be nothing. Either way, we are going to worry... it's just an issue of determining how much and when we should really worry. Finding out my endometrium lining was so thick meant I needed to get a biopsy. What's an Endometrial Biopsy? An endometrial biopsy is a medical procedure in which a small piece of tissue from the lining of the uterus (the endometrium) is removed for examination under a microscope. The removed tissue is examined for cancer or any other cell abnormalities.  Lucky me. Right?  Now I get to go back the GYN only a few days after my initial exa...

As cancer survivors, we all have a worry that lingers in the back of our minds waiting for bad news. Most of the time we will be told things are good, keep moving forward. We feel a sigh of relief and move on until the next test or scan or weird symptom. We all have those moments. Moments of fear and worry, especially when waiting on a test or scan results. As with all things, there are times the results come back indicating something is wrong. I had that moment only a month ago. Oops... it's been awhile! I had honestly forgot about going to my GYN. I mean, I go to so many doctors that I avoided the ones that seemed less important on my importance scale. My breasts are getting examined by multiple doctors every few months, along with my hormone levels. And I was technically menopausal (medicinally), so I wasn't worried about pregnancy. So, I took time away from the GYN until my mother reminded me it had been too long. And like most mothers, she was right. When I sche...

This is me... ... this is how I feel 95% of the time. The other 5% is full of great moments and hot-mess moments. Yet, most of my days consists of hanging on. Sure, most people are doing the same thing. They are fumbling their way through life. I have yet to meet a person who doesn't have some issue or life problem or illness. We all have something! We are either following very defined paths or spontaneously deciding what to do next. Just making it through the day and all the difficulties life brings as you attempt to be "responsible". I tend to fall between the two. I have a plan, but often spontaneously do something different. However, I am also coping with a thousand problematic issues making daily living... well... challenging. Challenging is a nice way of saying, it sucks. Things most people do without even thinking. Chopping vegetables. I mean when did carrots get so hard or even green peppers? Carrying groceries. What happened to the good ole' day...