I Did It! I Blogged!

My Dear Family and Friends:

Yes, it has been a long time! Back in November, the girls kept asking me to write a blog, but there were just too many things going on in my life and I just could not sort out what my feelings were. Seriously, my head, heart, and spiritual well-being were being tested to the max. I was exploding! I did not feel I could go online and reveal myself or my family.

I am in such a better place emotionally now, and I have my family and friends to thank for this. I just cannot thank you all enough for being there for me. My love for all of you grows deeper and deeper everyday, what would I do without you!

So here is the story:

My CA-125 starting going up in July of 2009 and continued to rise each month until in January, 2010, when my levels reached a 100. This may not sound like a big number compared to the 3456 CA-125 I had when I was initially diagnosed, but during my initial chemotherapy my CA-125 level was down between 10 and 14. The tumor marker was rising for a reason. In February 2010, it was decided that I needed to get another CT scan. The scan came back showing a mass in my abdominal wall. At the time the doctors felt it was probably just a benign mass of some sort, but we all agreed that a biopsy was in order. Dr. Chambers at the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson called me and decided she wanted to perform an ultrasound biopsy because the mass just too close to the bowel. Again, I agreed, however the day before the biopsy was to be done, I received another call from Dr. Chambers stating she wanted to open me up and actually scope all my organs. I was informed that Dr. Hatch, also at the Arizona Cancer Center, would do the scoping. Dr. Chambers stated that while she was good at scoping, Dr. Hatch is the best!!

The results of the surgery indicated that the mass was found in the muscle of my abdomen. This was removed and so were a few other hot spots that did not show up on the CT scan. Approximately 4 inches of the muscle was removed. Dr. Chambers informed me that the mass on the muscle was metastasized ovarian cancer. She indicated that this had never been seen before. She believed perhaps the cancer was implanted there by the intraperitoneal catheter that I had inserted initially during my first surgery.

I had surgery in March and ended up in the hospital for four days. The recuperation was a bit easier than the surgery I had when I was initially diagnosed in 2007.

Four weeks later, I started chemotherapy again. This was another big decision. After much, and I mean a lot of discussion between the doctors and myself, the course of treatment would be 6 doses of Doxil and Carboplatin IV and then a year of another drug called Avastin, on a weekly schedule.

So, I am now 4 doses in, my last one in July. This chemo has me in bed for 3 full days and then I am able to get up and moving slowly. My recovery time is 1 week. Two more doses to go!!! I will have chemo again on August 18th and then again sometime in September.

I say sometime in September because Michelle will be giving birth to their baby boy at the end of September and I do not want to miss this. We are all so excited. As many of you know, Nicole had a boy, William Luke, on April 5th, so the boys will be about 6 months apart. Our little family just keep growing and we are so happy!

So for the past few months I have felt an urgency like I have never felt before. This is not a negative thought, but a very positive feeling. I am no longer putting off the things I have always wanted to do. For instance:

-I went to Uganda in May, wow, I love Africa. This story to be continued for sure.

-This summer I went on a road trip to Las Vegas with Nicole and Billy – see the picture above this post, where I was sitting between “my two best friends!” We also spent a weekend in Boise. We had the best time!

– I went to Hawaii and Spain (Running of the Bulls) with Bill and come September, Bill and I are going to South Africa, one week in Cape Town and then 10 days on a Safari with some friends. Oh my God, never in my life did I think I would really experience these things.

-Last weekend I took a motorcycle class and got my license. Now, to many of you this is probably no big deal, but I have never driven a motorcycle!! The class was 6 hours of classroom instruction and 10 hours learning to drive. Wow, what a rush! I had so much fun and now I am looking for that “bike.” I have a few leads and am so excited to get back out and really develop my skills. You will not be seeing me on the roads in Phoenix, too dangerous, but on the road to Payson and further north, south of Arizona and so on.

-One more thing, before I bore you all to tears. Bill and I started Spanish classes last night. That was a lot of fun. What we can’t say to each or get across in English, we may be able to get across to each other in Spanish 😉

So, as you can see, a lot has been going on!!

Billy is back in camp with the Ravens, which means Nicole is really, really busy at home with Chloe and Luke!

Oh my God, this is so wonderful… Danielle and Dan are engaged and we will be having an April 2, 2011 wedding in Kona, Hawaii. We are so happy to include Dan in our crazy lives. No backing out now Dan, you know too much about us!

As you know, Michelle is having a boy! He is due in September and we could not be more excited to finally meet the little guy! He and Luke are going to be the best of friends! Michelle and Pete have a ton of exciting things happening over the next few months and I will write about them once things fall into place!

Billie is home! She graduated in May, stayed in Des Moines for the summer, and will be starting a Masters program at ASU in just a few weeks. We are very proud of her and so excited she is home with all of us.

I spoke with a women a few days ago who was just diagnosed with ovarian cancer at stage 4, please keep her in your prayers as she starts her journey.

Much love to all of you and again thank you for your support, inspiration and love.

I will write again soon to fill in many gaps.

Ok, girls, I did it, I wrote on the blog.

Much Love,

Colleen