My oncologist told me that because my cancer seems to be a grade 1, which is well-differentiated, he expected this to be an early cancer of the uterus and to be a very curable cancer. The only thing that worried him was that I'm not the typical person that develops uterine cancer. Most women with this kind of cancer tend to be over weight, hypertensive, diabetic: I am none of these things. March 27, 2001 I am scheduled for 8AM surgery and I am ready! March 28, 2001 On visual inspection of my uterus, the cancer looks like it's stage IA which is the lowest spread value and the doctor said it looked like it might be well-contained within the uterus. The pathology report will say for sure. April 1, 2001 Today, the day after coming home from the hospital, I suffered the most incredible pain. It was gas. Sounds like it's not a big deal but I could not pass it and my belly just kept getting bigger and bigger, pulling on my stitches. I remembered my doctor telling me that the gas pain would get worse before it got better but I had no idea it would feel that bad. I tried Gas X - in fact I was taking double and triple doses of it - but it did not work. I was becoming delirious with pain. A friend called emergency for me and after wading through the usual questions from them, their on-call doctor suggested I take Milk of Magnesia in chewable form. It was amazing! I got almost immediate relief! If you have the same problem after surgery, try Milk of Magnesia and BE SURE to get the mint flavor. The plain flavor is disgusting. April 7, 2001 I have been walking a little bit but it takes me three times as long to get anywhere. I must be quite a sight shuffling down the sidewalk, hunched over with my belly in my hands. April 11, 2001 Over the last few days I have been becoming progressively depressed. I cry for no reason at all and I feel no hope for the future. Everything in my life is is fine but it FEELS like it's not. I am also having horrible hot flashes and night sweats followed by chills. I see the doctor tomorrow and I am going to ask for help. April 15, 2001 I started using the Climara® estrogen patch (17 beta estradiol) on the 12th and I feel almost normal. No more crying and I actually feel good about life again. Still have hot flashes and night sweats but they aren't nearly as devastating as before. I hope they will diminish over time.
April 26, 2001 It's been one month since my surgery. Rode my bike today for 20 minutes. All that "lying around healing" stuff weakened me. I still have weird tweaks of abdominal pain now and then, like I'll be sitting in front of the computer "minding my own business" when I get a sudden knife-stab feeling in my gut followed by a dull ache... then it goes away. I can walk at a moderate to brisk speed for extended periods of time although if I get a gut-pain-stab I have to stop and rest until it goes away. Peeing is still weird but I think I figured out the pain. My abdominal muscles have always been strong so when I still had a uterus, I'd simply contract my abs, squeezing my bladder between the muscles and my uterus, and I could pee hard and fast and be back to whatever I was doing in no time (Yeah I REALLY DO sit around trying to figure out this stuff). Now when I tighten my abs to pee, the stream doesn't speed up AND I can't feel it anymore so I can't tell when I'm done. I get up but I'm still dribbling. So I stay sitting until I don't hear splashing anymore, which seems to take forever now, and when I'm empty I get a weird dull ache from being emptied. I get the same emptying ache with my bowels but we won't go there. I've been using the Climara® estrogen patch for 2 weeks now and I rarely have a hot flash anymore and only a couple or so night sweats. Emotionally I've been feeling pretty good as well. June 1 2001 I am feeling great! I was having some hot flashes and night sweats but they have been more mild than before. However, my nurse-practitioner gave me a prescription for Bellergal which has eliminated the problem entirely and the only side-effect seems to be slight drowsiness which comes in handy at night! My other bodily functions have returned to normal. It's been 9 weeks since my surgery.
June 28, 2001 GOOD NEWS! My first follow-up lab-work reports no sign of cancer! August 24, 2001 I haven't been adding anything to this journal lately because I have been feeling GREAT! It's been about 5 months since surgery and there's nothing unusual to report. September 20, 2001 The numbness and burning in my thighs (where the lymph nodes were removed) is lessening. My moods are mellow everyday and I feel great! January 12, 2002 I feel GRRRREAT!!!!! Been eating a good diet and exercising! 
March 16th, 2003 Despite the flu last year and bronchitis last month, I have been feeling quite well and my follow-up tests have been cancer-clean. The numbness in my thighs has reduced to an almost imperceptible level and the burning sensation is virtually gone as well. My hormone patch prescription calls for one patch a week but I have reduced that to half a patch a week or one patch every two weeks. My goal is to be completely off hormones by 2005. May 2, 2003 I am doing extremely well. However, my mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Click here to read her story. May 21, 2003 Tomorrow I am having a diagnostic colonoscopy. This afternoon I am drinking a solution called "Golytely". What a descriptive name, huh? However, I would NOT call this "lightly" since I gotta drink 4 liters of it and it's supposed to make me go & GO! It tastes like salty bubble-gum. The directions are drink 8 ounces every 15-30 minutes. If I am not "cleaned out" enough by 10:30 tomorrow morning, the procedure might be cancelled. May 24, 2003 NO POLYPS!!! The demerol was a trip! It was injected into my I.V. shortly before the procedure and the last thing I thought was, "HEY! The walls are melting!" Then I was out like a light. Getting a colonoscopy was easier than a flexible sigmoidoscopy primarily because I was knocked out. Today my colon is sore, like I'd been punched in the gut, but in general I feel good. May 31, 2003 Feeling quite well. Gut is no longer sore from the colonoscopy (finally!). June 24, 2003 My dad was diagnosed with late-stage esophageal adenocarcinoma. Click here to read his story. March 16, 2004 My grandmother - dad's mom - died. She'd had a stroke a few days earlier. Before the stroke she was mentally sharp as a tack and 3 weeks previously had celebrated her 102nd birthday. April 20, 2004 I've adopted The Zone as my permanent, life-time eating plan. I'm already feeling the benefits. July 31, 2004 My brother Steve died from squamous cell esophageal cancer - or it could have been the lung cancer - at 8:30 tonight. March 6, 2005 My dad died from adenocarcinoma of the esophagus at 9:15 this morning. Today was his 82nd birthday. February 3, 2006 Today is my 54th birthday! I am doing great! In January I started a yoga class at SBVC and it's really helped me center myself. The future seems bright! 
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