Update

Hi - I have not posted here in a very long time and that is a good thing. That means that I have not had any further episodes with cancer. In fact, I recently had a mammogram that came back normal. I was very lucky that my cancer was found early. I can't stress enough that you need to have regular screenings. I believe, based on nothing but my own conclusions, that women who are overweight and storing excess estrogen in their fat, are at increased risk for uterine cancer.

Take care of yourself. Believe me, I know this is easier said than done, but it is so important not to ignore the signals your body gives you. Mine was telling me something was wrong for a very long time and I tried to find the answer. It took plenty of misdiagnoses, largely because of my age, before the problem could be found. I know it is easy to ignore and to assume that irregular bleeding is something other than a symptom of uterine cancer, but that is not always the case.

For now, my biggest post-surgery challenge is an incision site hernia and trying to go onto and stay on, a diet. Both are constant reminders of the health issues I still face.

I try to stop an remember how lucky I am to have my cancer work out the way it did. I need to remember to put myself first and take care of myself better, a lesson many women struggle to learn and to put into practice.

Raise Awareness Please!

Actress Dixie Carter 1939-2010

The cancer that recently killed actress Dixie Carter was Endometrial Cancer, the same type I had. It is a cancer that most often appears in women over 50 and frequently is not diagnosed the early stages when it is the most treatable. We need to make everyone more aware of the symptoms and to draw attention to this very difficult and frequently underdiagnosed cancer.

Actress Fran Drescher and her site Cancer Schmancer are working hard to raise awareness of reproductive cancer and to raise money for further research. Please visit her website and read more about it.

Update

I have not regularly updated this site because I originally set it up as a place for friends and family to go to for news while I went through my Uterine cancer treatment. I am happy to report that I am well and aside from having to deal with hot flashes, I have had no return of any cancer and no ill effects.

I still believe that Uterine cancer is a sad step-child to breast cancer because we don't have lots of pretty pink stuff, because the women who are most often diagnosed with uterine cancer are older (most post-menopause), and we are a largely invisible portion of the population. The symptoms sometimes also cause confusion because a peri-menopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal woman who who is experiencing spotting and discharge can easily ignore those symptoms and blame them on menopause.

Our loudest and most effective voice right now is the actress Fran Drescher and her Cancer Schmancer campaign. Please log onto her site and help however you can to make people aware of uterine cancer and to help Fran in her fight against all gynochological cancers.

Thank you to everyone for their good wishes and support.

Follow-up Report

It is now five months since my surgery. I am doing very well. I have lost weight and am exercising with plans to continue to lose more.

I began to get hot flashes about two months ago. They happen mostly at night and don't last too long. I also keep a fan on my desk at work so I can turn it right on my face, if necessary. I have not begun to take any hormone replacements. I have been working so hard to lose weight that the thought of immediately putting back on 20 pounds or so, is not appealing to me. I would rather suffer the hot flashes (for right now). My goal is to get healthy and get off of the high blood pressure medication. I am of the opinion that I was storing estrogen in my fat and therefore, I had a delayed (and may still be having) menopause.

I feel better since the surgery. I believe the problems I experienced for about eight years were all related and they culminated in developing the cancer. I experienced irregular periods for the last eight years. I also think the increased weight gain I had over that time was a combination of my hormones, not eating properly, and not exercising regularly.

I feel very lucky to have come through this only needing the surgery. It was caught early and that made all the difference. I do feel like it changed my outlook on life. The main thing is it made me want to get healthy. I always put it off, something I was going to get to eventually. When I was diagnosed with uterine cancer and when I found out that it was something I increased my risk of by being overweight, it really changed my outlook. I always thought, "I'll deal with my weight when I reach menopause and I have an increase risk of heart attack." Well, I did not pay attention to the increased risk of cancer and it caught me.

Get tested and follow-up - it is so important.

Thank you

We are going to shut this blog down since it was for updates and I am now recovering very well at home. I am scheduled to return to work on June 18th. I am getting stronger and feeling better.
My main issue now is that I seem to tire easily. I think I can do a few errands and find I am ready to go back home after just one. I am sure this will get better with time.
Thank you to everyone for all their good wishes, emails, cards, flowers and treats. I am very grateful to our families who have been so supportive and my nurses: my mom, Jerry's parents, Jerry, and Conner for hanging out with me and napping.

Ladies of all ages - please remember to get your check-ups, early detection made a bad situation much better. If you notice something is wrong - especially post-menopause, please see a Dr. right away.

Menopause

June by Natasha Wescoat

I am sure some of you are wondering how I am handling being in menopause right after surgery. Actually, I have not had many symptoms. I discussed it with my Dr. and we decided to hold-off on hormones for a while. I am due to see her at the end of June when we will discuss it again. So far though, I do get warm, but that could be the weather and my unwillingness to turn on the AC until the calendar says June.

Getting Stronger

I got a Livestrong notebook from Carmen and it is a great resource for keeping all the information in one place and they also offer all kinds of reading materials.

My next battle is with the insurance company as they mistakenly believe one of my doctors is not in my plan (he is). Lots of long phone calls to straighten that out.

Jed and Betty made it back safely to Nova Scotia, it was a huge help having them here.