Saturday, August 30, 2008

My Love Letter To My X Lover - CANCER.


Dear Cancer,

Thank You.

Thank you for showing me who my true friends are. Thank you for letting me appreciate my family more. Thank you for showing me how to fall in love with my body. I have never felt so strong and respected my body more in my entire life. Thank you for shuffling the deck and dealing me a different hand. I'll admidt I didn't know who I was before you, and I still do not fully understand my potential.. But with you I changed- The person I was before you died.. and I love the person you've made me start to become. Sometimes I wish I never would have had you in my life- But then where would we be? I want to take what we've had together and remember it for the rest of my life. As much as you have changed my life for the better- Dont you ever come back. I never want you in my life again.. I dont want to see you around my friends, or my family. I dont want you to come back and say you've changed. You will never change. You will always try and tear me down. And I just don't need that in my life. Not now.. and not ever again.



Goodbye Cancer.

Love, Megan





-

Friday, August 29, 2008

AMERICAN CANCER SOCEITY!!

Please click and read:
http://www.corporations.org/cancer/boycottacs.html

A friend told me about this article published online by PreventCancer.com
It is definately something I think all of us should be educated on.
This was written in 1998. It was published - But you never hear of this kind of story on the 5 o'clock news. Instead you get to listen to sports news and the Governor's sex life.
Almost 1 million people will die from cancer this year.
This means cancer will reach millions maybe even billions of people a year. By either a friend or family member. These people will get inspired, will want to run, walk, jump, tri-atholon, bake sale, book sale, jewelry sale themselves into raising money for organizations. And I think we should know where that money is going.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Baldness.

I wanted to share a couple of photos I have of being bald. I was bald alot. I loathe fake hair. While going through chemotherapy it was still winter so I stayed in the house alot. My friends wore the wig more than I did =)



I thought my friend looked like a blonde jesus in this picture.






I hated the wig. Did I mention that? It was itchy and uncomfortable. Mainly because I had gotten ripped off buying it. Stupid me waited to get the wig until after my second round of chemotherapy. I was tired, feeling sick already, and my hair was falling out in the store. I was pushing back tears and the manager took advantage of me and sold me a piece of crap for over 400 bucks!! I just wasn't thinking. There was so much going on - I left everything for the last minute. So with all of that - I rocked the baldness, instead. I would highly advise falling in love with your facial features and trying the same.



One of my friends even shaved off his hair.. When I lost mine.

Before

After



Now I know there are places you have to wear the wig. I tried to avoid wearing it as much as possible. But for my best friends birthday, this may, I went out for the first time rocking the synthetics.


Other than that I really got used to being bald. And on top of that.. My friends got used to seeing me bald. So when I started getting out of the house more I took a few more 'bald pics'

It was amazing to me that there was a unspoken taboo about women being bald. You always see men walking around completely bald and nothing. But I go out bald and people start to act funny. My friends and I would count the stares or faces people would make. Like I was ruining their day, or I was the entertainment. I couldn't believe some peoples reactions and manners. I guess in their mind they think: BALDNESS = CANCER = DEATH. They would assume I was dieing and didn't know how to react. So they would either stare or look down and walk away. Didn't want me to catch them staring! But it was worse when I caught them trying superhard to ignore my bald elephant in the room. Im sure some of you have encountered this. What is the right way to react? I know staring and people looking down made me feel uncomfortable- but then again, so did the wig. So what do you do? A question I asked myself ALL OF THE TIME. There was no answer. So what is the better reaction then? I guess no reaction at all, would be nice? It shouldnt be so unheard of. Us chicks just ROCKING THE BALDNESS!!! How can we change that? I mean - There is even a disease called: Alopecia. This is a disease of spotting baldness in both males and females. It occurs in 1-2% of humans and 90% of those who have the disease have their hair grow back. But 10% of those who have it- It never does. And yet these people are also made to feel they have to wear a wig.. FOR THEIR WHOLE LIVES?!? No Way! Ladies.. One day when you're feeling good - Get dressed up, put some makeup on, toss the wig in bathtub and go out without it. Go out with a loved one or good friend- Because again, people will stare. It will make you want to go home and stay home!! But go out and do it anyways!!!!

Health and Love Always,
Megan =)

Let's start off.

Hi there. My name is Megan. I am a 21 year old cancer survivor. I caught it somwhere in 2007 but I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in November 07. I battled it for about 8 months and recently won. There are more of us out there. Thanks to modern medicine and a more positive attitude towards the damn disease. I did not create this blog knowing that this was the new trend. I've kind of just picked up on that. But it should be. Cancer sucks.. It could possibly be one of the hardest things to get through.. But you get through. You come out stronger than you have ever been- and Sometimes you need to hear or read other stories for comfort. Maybe even for strength to go on.. whatever it is- I want to form an alliance of young and cancerous adults to make a change. I was recently schooled on the statistics of 'contracting cancer.' Every 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men will get cancer. That is absolutely ridiculous and we shouldnt stand for it any longer. Processes need to change. There has to be more research, more funding for research and more education on cancer PREVENTION! If you haven't realized it by now but almost everything causes cancer. So why isn't anything changing?

I want to share with you a bit of my story.. Hoping it will get some of you who stumble across this blog to send me your stories. It is important that we bridge the gap of having a 'cancer forum' of reactions, side effects, emotional issues.. I want it all. I know that there are tons of types of cancer. I was told my cancer was "easy to treat" - But it did not feel easy to me. I also know that there are people who are not able to "blog about it" afterwards. And those are the people Im sitting here for. So please email me at:
YoungandCancerous@yahoo.com




Now a little bit about my story..

Let's start with my 21st birthday. I was sick that weekend with what I thought was a cold or flu. I overdosed on vitamin C and headed out to celebrate. Later that week I was really starting to feel crummy. I was getting sick alot that year. I had just found a job (which I won't name bc I don't want to get sued) that I absolutely loved.. and I was calling in all of the time. Colds, flus.. or what I thought were colds and flus. I had quickly run out of sick time. Then after my birthday I started to notice a swollen gland on the right side of my neck. I figured it to be an infection and put off seeing a doctor until I could get off. I had shown my supervisor, at the time, my swollen neck and he told me about F.M.L.A. It is a health leave for employees over a year with the company that you can take for a list of reasons. On this list they had everything from IBS to depression. So I knew I had to wait until my year anniversary with "__the company whom I will not name__" to go see my doctor. I figured if it had gotten bad I would just go to the emergency room. But nothing changed. I thought I had felt fine. So come November I go to see an MD at a local clinic. He immediately reads off a very short list of reasons why I would have a 3 month old swollen lymph gland. I heard Lymphoma. That's all I remember coming out of his mouth. The same day he sent me to an ENT specialist. (Ear Nose and Throat doctor) We will call him ENT#1. ENT#1 sent me for a head and neck Xray the next morning. After the Xray I was in the dressing room getting back into my jeans and shirt when a nurse runs in and asks me if I could get back into my gown. She explains that my Xray came out a little cloudy and ENT#1 had asked them to do an MRI. I had an idea that something had to be wrong but I tried to remain positive. The next couple days I don't remember. I just remember the phonecall from the doc. Now what Im about to share with you will be in a future post. But my story wouldn't make sense without it. ENT#1 said:


(HIS EXACT WORDS)
"Honey Im looking at your tests and I just don't like what Im seeing."

My first reaction: WHAT THE F***?!?!?!
(in my mind of course.. Im a lady!)




Who says that? What kind of doctor starts off bad news with a phrase like that? I knew what was coming. Believe me, he got his point across- but damn. There is a little thing called 'Bedside Manner' and this dude just did not have it. I was so frustrated with his attitude the bad news wasn't really sinking in until he said 'Non Hodgkins Lymphoma' I shut down immediately. It is amazing how your body will turn off when it needs to. A kind of protection I didn't know I needed at the moment. While I was off in wonderland for the next couple of seconds- the doctor had gotten a couple of choice words from my mother. He was on speakerphone the entire time and my mom is a well seasoned nurse. She knew there was no possible way he could know whether I had Hodgkins or Non Hodgkins Lymphoma without a biopsy- So she didn't think it was right of him to diagnose me like that. Well he obviously had a busy day because he then gave my mother a number for another ENT for a second opninion and hung up the phone. Mmmm Hmmm. He hung up the phone. Bye Bye ENT#1. Hello ENT#2!! This doctor was amazing! I guess I encountered Mr. Evil ENT#1 just to meet this one. I believe everything happens for a reason. But anyways, he was polite, patient and took his time explaining everything to my mother and I. He did a needle biopsy in his office and a couple more blood tests and sent me home a little more comforted.

Waiting for the intial results.. a cancer 'Yeh' or 'Neh' if you will- was agonizing. I was emotional and positive all at the same time. When the doctor finally called he asked if I wanted to come in to hear the results and I told him just to tell me over the phone. (But at least he asked) He went on to tell me Hodgkins Lymphoma and how it was a "great kind of cancer to get if you're going to get cancer" AH.. The things some doctors will say to try and comfort you..

He referred me to an oncologist (cancer doctor). Now this guy is worth writing about. He reminded me of a nutty professor. He spoke quickly and with an accent. I can't place where he's from but it was almost german-ish. He had glasses and fuzzy grayish hair popping off of his head. His shirt was always untucked and he ran around his office like a chicken without a head. But he was smart, super-cautious, and had an excellent track record with head and neck cancers. So I was sold. My mom laughed when she met him. She didn't believe my description I guess. You know us youths today- always over exaggerating. =)

I cried alot the first couple days. It was sporatic and wouldn't last very long. I would break down. realize I was breaking down and stop myself. It was alot to take in. I am 21 and I have to go through chemotherapy and radiation for a disease that can kill me. And on top of that I was faced with more wonderful news. Being that my cancer docter was very cautious he wanted me to see a fertility doctor about harvesting eggs. He explained to me that I did have a chance after treatment of not being able to conceive and have a baby. This I'm sure everyone has been told that has gone through treatments.

Now guys- when you freeze your swimmers you have a great chance of being able to conceive in the future. But as for eggs- The fertility specialists explained to me that there was a 10% chance of a baby with each egg. But if they had an embryo (swimmer + egg = embyro = frozen baby) I would have a 30% chance of conceiving with each embryo. And they would usually try with two embryos to increase your chance to 60%. So to sum up : In two weeks time I was told I had cancer and my boyfriend of 3 years and I had to decide whether we wanted to have children. Basically--A bit much to take in. But my boyfriend is amazing. He signed away his dna for me in a heartbeat and I was onto hormone self injections. I want to get more in detail about this treatments but I will leave it for another post. I want to gather others experiences as well.

So i was onto 'The Pre Tests' Among all of the bloodwork, MRIs, Xrays, Biopsys etc. I had to do heart scans, and a bone marrow test. The MRIs are not that bad if you can relax. The heart scan was interesting. You can actually see your heart pumping. It was quite entertaining. But as for the Bone Marrow test.. YIKES. Ok- it hurts. But not in the way you would think it hurts. My cancer doctor had me on 2 perkecets, 1 xanax and actually double dosed the numbing shots they put around the area and into the spine. The intial needle- and I was ok. But sometimes if you have strong bones =) they have to rub or shake or whatever he was doing back there. Well- thats what hurt. I wasnt in crying or in screaming pain.. It was just a quiet little "muthafucker" out of my mouth and then he was done. My cancer doctors assistant was hysterical. She looks and sounds like Wyanda Sykes- So I was being distracted, loopy from drugs, and trying not to think about it. I would suggest to do the same.

Biopsy #2 was a surgical procedure. 'Out Patient Surgery' is when you have whatever you're getting done- and get to go home. It was like a little surgical factory. They had a locker room where you put your stuff down and got into your gown and booties. You then enter a room with a bunch of beds in a row with curtains seperating them. The nurses take your blood pressure, temperature etc etc. And you're hooked up to an IV drip. You see your doctor, are taken into the surgery room and night night. Thats it. A piece of cake. I did this twice. Once for the second biopsy and again for the installation of the port.

GET A PORT! If you have the option which most of you will or have. They will check your veins and let you know whether you would need one or not. But I would suggest asking for one anyways. They cut your treatment time in half!!!

Well- I believe Im just writing away- So Im going to cut myself off.

I will get more into details in future posts. But I really want to hear from you. Please email me at YOUNGANDCANCEROUS@YAHOO.COM

Thank you for reading- and I hope you can check back often.

Stay Strong. -Megan