Coping with Women's Cancers
Cancer Awareness Ribbons - Foundation for Women's Cancer As I mentioned in the November 15, 2013 post, awareness ribbons are all over the web, although the color schemes may not yet be standardized (and ribbons and products related to causes have become very commercialized). I happened to wear a turquoise-aqua-tealish-color sweater (with matching socks!) to my medical appointments… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: Three-Month Reviews, Views, & News
Final lessons from a pretty, but fragile, aqua bulb lamp. The Patient Path . . . Yields Illumination Last weekend, I got the call from Pier 1 that my “new new” lamp was finally in. I had broken the “old new” lamp 10 days before while making the purchase and had… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: You Can’t Unbreak Glass…but the Fragments Can Be Contained-Update
Lessons from a pretty, but fragile, aqua bulb lamp. This story was updated on March 19, 2014. Shattered Glass & Fragmented Spirits Part of my personal treatment plan is to sort through all of my possessions—mounds of them, many of them paper records and memorabilia—and consolidate and clear out as much as possible. This is… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: You Can’t Unbreak Glass…but the Fragments Can Be Contained
David Lloyd - New York City Yes, as noted in the February 15, 2014 post, my Valentine's gift this year came wrapped in "21 shades of Gray." This is the standard dosage for high-dose-rate (HDR) vaginal brachytherapy following hysterectomy for uterine (endometrial) cancer--7 Grays (Gy) of radiation (iridium-192) given… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: Radiation “The New York Way”
In the 1977 movie Demon Seed based on the book by Dean Koontz, Julie Christie's character is impregnated by a computer that wants to experience life. This is what I thought of during my second vaginal brachytherapy treatment yesterday--although it's too late for me to be impregnated by anything but radiation (so to speak). The only… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: The “Demon Seed”
Example of a pelvic field for external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) after hysterectomy for stage I-II endometrial cancer. This treatment uses a low radiation dose and takes place over five to six weeks, five days a week. Surrounding structures, such as the bowel and bladder, also receive some radiation, which can result in gastrointestinal and urinary side… Continue reading My Story – Uterine (Endometrial) Cancer: Orange Pee & Radioactive Tampons
The Patient Path 