Positively Phoebe

Yeah. That whole multi-part catch-up idea sort of went out the window with the stress of the holidays and all  that came along with them. So, to hell with catching up. You don't really need to know every stupid detail of what I've been up to over the past couple months, right?  (I promise you, it hasn't been thrilling at all.) You know what IS thrilling, though?  At least... as far as I'M concerned?  Tomorrow. Yep.  Tomorrow I go for my next 3-month check-up with my Gynecologic Oncologist, Dr. Kebria.  This will be my 4th 3-month check-up.  You guys are good at math, right?  You know what 4 times 3 months is, right?  Yeah.  That's it.  A YEAR! Since my last post, I hit a lot of my little "anniversaries".  A year since I finished chemo on December 12th.  A year since I finished external radiation on December 14th.  AND, a year since my last brachytherapy (read: last cancer treatment EVER) on January 3...

As I type this, I am 10 hits away from my goal of getting 30,000 hits in this one year.  Small potatoes to the average "famous" blogger, but for me - it's awesome.  And it will CLEARLY happen today - a few days short of the goal date. And you know what else happened today?  My wonderful Oncology Nurse called me to let me know that my biopsy was benign and my PAP smear was negative for cancer once again! STILL CANCER FREE!!! This will make Friday's celebration even more wonderful.  I am so happy.  So relieved.  So LUCKY! Now I can get back to worrying about all of my friends who have been impacted by this storm!  (We lost power, but Ryan had the generator up and running our whole house and the neighbor's fridge within a few hours.  No flooding for us - but I know many people who were affected by this.) Thank you all for sticking with me.  Best news ever today!!!!! Love love love, Phoebe

Yep.  That's today.  Officially, last week was my six months post-treatment mark, but today is the actual appointment.  Today is the appointment that, prior to the LAST one, I thought would be my next PET scan.  But no.  Because the last appointment deemed that UNNECESSARY.  I still can't believe that, but love it.  Just a basic pelvic exam and PAP test for me, today.  And, well, every three months for the next five years.  But whatever!!  Better than PET scans every three months! I'm not sure whether it is strange to admit this or not, but I feel NO FEAR about this exam.  Last time, I was staring down the barrel of my exam in Italy - and as amazing as that trip was, I spent a lot of that time scared to death about the upcoming test.  This time, I've barely thought about it at all.  Hell, I had even forgotten when it was - I had to dig through my file cabinet last week because I could not remember the date. But here we...

If you're on Facebook, someone you know has to have posted the link to one of the many articles about the Susan G. Komen Foundation pulling their funding from Planned Parenthood because of pressure from anti-abortion groups...  If not, check out the story here . Personally, this makes me sick.  And yet, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. The week after my diagnosis, a friend who has gone through her own cancer battle warned me that Komen's foundation was useless and unhelpful.  Over the next few months, I continued to hear nothing but negativity directed toward them.  (They SUE people for using the phrase "for the cure".  Are you KIDDING ME??)  And then I wake up to see this garbage posted by several friends online this morning.  Make me puke. One of my early posts on this blog urged the women reading not to put off their annual exam.  I even suggested Planned Parenthood as an option and KNOW of a woman who had been putting her exam o...

So, the letter we received from the cemetery is no longer the only piece of disturbing mail I have received since this began.  This past Friday, I cracked open the umpteenth envelope from Cleveland Clinic to fall through my mail slot the past couple weeks.  It was from the gynecologist's office.  The same gynecologist who saw this tumor with her own eyeballs during my exam and rushed me to the oncologist that ultimately diagnosed me with cancer.  Here's what the letter said: Dear Ms. Nelson: This letter is to inform you that your PAP done on 11/1/11 was normal. Yeah.  You read that right.  My PAP results came back NORMAL.  And just in case you don't know exactly what a pap smear is, Webster's defines it as: a method for the early detection of cancer, especially of the cervix, that involves the staining of exfoliated cells using a special technique which differentiates diseased tissue. In other words, the doc scrapes some cells off your cervix a...

After we found out about this whole thing, a dear friend posted something on her Facebook page that truly hit home with me and I want to share with you all here... I forget her exact wording, but the gist of it is this: Please do not ignore the fact that this tumor was caught during a routine Pap Smear appointment. And for me, it's not just a yearly exam, but a 6 month exam... That's right! I was at the lady doctor just this spring, and my pap results were NORMAL. Fast forward to last Tuesday, and the doctor could actually SEE my tumor. So what am I trying to say here? Ladies... DO NOT put off your annual exam. It's annoying. It's uncomfortable. It's a pain in the ass (or nearby areas...). But it's maybe 20 minutes out of your day. And I am now an avid believer in the fact that it can absolutely save your life. And when you go for that test - make sure you tell that doctor not to be gentle. Scrape hard. Get a good sample. Go to a real gynecol...