Wednesday, March 31, 2004
I'm getting ready for Friday's start of chemotherapy. Got a 'Mediport' installed today for the IV infusions and after that my sister went wig shopping with me. Although we were tempted to get something truly shocking - we eventually settled on the usual - grey! We're just too "early Girl Scout" as Nan has dubbed my style!
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Greg and Karl, Morgan (7) and Max (4 1/2) all visited making it a great weekend. We spent a glorious Saturday on the Mall watching the Smithsonian kite festival and even paying to get scared to death in the Imax theater production of "T Rex" at the Museum of Natural History. The motto is "take one day at a time and get the most out of it".
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Anita’s Preface
For just over 62 years Anita had been blessed with perfect health. Then on March 9, 2004 during a routine Ob/Gyn exam, she asked her doctor to examine why her normally perfect tummy was no longer flat. The ultrasound showed two prominent growths on her ovaries. After a follow-up examination on March 12 it was decided that immediate surgery was required the next day, with the expectation that the growths were most likely ovarian cancer. The surgery on March 13 revealed that the growths were a pair of 16 cm malignant tumors with metastases throughout her abdomen. But much to the surprise of the surgeon they were the result of inoperable advanced stage gastric cancer. Anita’s prognosis was for two months to at most one year. What follows is Anita’s personal account of her frustrations and hopes with this disease over the remaining two plus years of her life.
For just over 62 years Anita had been blessed with perfect health. Then on March 9, 2004 during a routine Ob/Gyn exam, she asked her doctor to examine why her normally perfect tummy was no longer flat. The ultrasound showed two prominent growths on her ovaries. After a follow-up examination on March 12 it was decided that immediate surgery was required the next day, with the expectation that the growths were most likely ovarian cancer. The surgery on March 13 revealed that the growths were a pair of 16 cm malignant tumors with metastases throughout her abdomen. But much to the surprise of the surgeon they were the result of inoperable advanced stage gastric cancer. Anita’s prognosis was for two months to at most one year. What follows is Anita’s personal account of her frustrations and hopes with this disease over the remaining two plus years of her life.
