From the category archives:

Cancer

Life Without Ovaries

by shannon October 1, 2009 Cancer

Hi, I’m Shannon and I’m a menopausal freak without chest hair (thankfully), but with an attitude that is continuously waning.   (Chant from the crowd:  Hi Shannon!)
For those who don’t know me well, I do not cry. There was a 7 or 8 year stretch there that I didn’t shed a single tear.  [...]

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The Diagnosis is In! :)

by shannon September 24, 2009 Cancer

So, in a shocking twist, Sparrow was right.  I have Serous Borderline Ovarian Carcinoma, often referred to as Borderline Ovarian Tumor.  Stage 1c.  This means that it’s in each ovary and has spread to my abdominal cavity, but has not yet formed a tumor. When that happens, I become a stage 2.
Borderline behavior is widely [...]

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Home From Mayo

by shannon September 23, 2009 Cancer

We’re still on the road, almost home and I’m absolutely exhausted but I need to get some  stuff out of my head and on paper because I doubt that I’ll ever feel as humble as I do in this moment ever again.
The Mayo Clinic was amazing.  I will likely detail their awesomeness in a later [...]

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Leaving for Mayo tonight!

by shannon September 19, 2009 Cancer

So, I’m packed and ready to roll to Minnesota to visit the Mayo Clinic for the next week. I wanted to write a quick post to let you all know I’m going and to check back frequently as I’ll be updating as I go. Don’t forget to friend me on Facebook as [...]

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Mayo Clinic: Road Trip to Minnesota!

by shannon September 10, 2009 Cancer

So, for the first time, really since all this began, I feel comforted, medically taken care of and like there’s really a bridge to the other side.  It looks really pretty over there.
Today, I had my appointment with my doc, and she has referred me to the Mayo Clinic.  It’s not that I feel that [...]

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Post Surgery

by shannon September 8, 2009 Cancer

I am alive.  My normal phrase typically conveys that I’m also vertical and kicking, but we’ll stick to alive for this particular blog post.
Before I get started on the events of the last five-ish days, I feel the necessity to share the gratitude that I feel for the people in my life that are close [...]

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An Update on Shannon

by shannon September 4, 2009 Cancer

by Dr. Christina
It’s almost 1am on Friday.  I’m sitting here in a Lazy-Boy recliner thanking the hospital gods for wireless.  Shannon is next to me, sleeping.  There are tubes and wires connected to machines that remind us she is ok.  Seeing her open her eyes a few hours ago, and smile, well, suffice it to [...]

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3 Minute Future

by shannon August 19, 2009 Cancer

Today, Barack Obama will be on Blogtalkradio.  This should be one of the happiest days in my career. I am producing the show, and it’s fitting.  I followed his career path, I read his books, I enjoy him both as a person and as the man who is working hard to bring some sense to [...]

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Rx Prescription for the Cancer Patient: Titanium Spork

by shannon August 7, 2009 Cancer

This morning, I’m minding my own business, workin’ on the ad server when the UPS guy comes running up my driveway and hurls a package into my garage and bolts.
Actually, you dear reader, may need some back story on that before we can go any further.  Working from home does indeed have its perks, but [...]

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“I’m a Spork Enthusiast.”

by shannon August 4, 2009 Cancer

In a dramatic turn of events, Dr. Christina, my boss and best friend, who is an esteemed graduate of an Ivy League School who we will not mention in this blogpost due to the malicious need from other alumni to steal her ideas, there has been a new diagnosis of my chicky-issues, made by said [...]

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Effing Pissed.

by shannon August 3, 2009 Cancer

So, this morning comes and goes without a call from surgery scheduling at Dr. Kelly’s office this morning. So, I decide to call them.  The below conversation is what took place:
Receptionist: Hello, blah blah Obstetrics and Gynecology, how may I help you?
Me: Hello, I would like to speak to the Surgery Scheduler please.
Receptionist: Is this [...]

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A Malignant Melanoma Walks Into a Bar…

by shannon August 1, 2009 Cancer

Oh, how I love these people.  Not so long ago, I met a gentleman named Matthew Zachary that came to Blogtalkradio with a well established show called The Stupid Cancer Show.  (See the badge to the left there as well.) I thought to myself, “Ha. What a great name for a show. Good for him…what [...]

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Abdominal Surgery: Partay In My Room!

by shannon August 1, 2009 Cancer

So, gearing up for a surgery.  I talked to the Doc’s office on Friday and she confirmed it will be an abdominal surgery.  I already have a big, crooked, wide vertical scar from belly button to pubic bone from Sam, and a horizontal, nearly hidden scar from Logan.  Anything beyond that at this point is [...]

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If

by shannon August 1, 2009 Cancer

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And [...]

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I am going to live afterall! Woot!

by shannon July 29, 2009 Cancer

I have the most wonderful of news. The nurse from Dr. Kelly’s office called today, and the prognosis is fan-tab-u-lous. This is going to sound bad before it sounds good…so, just know this has a happy ending…
The results are back from the cone. I have stage 2 squamous cell, invasive cancer, with involved positive margins. [...]

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A Cone By Any Other Name is Simply Torture

by shannon July 29, 2009 Cancer

So, I had my lovely cone surgery on Monday afternoon. Let me preface this post by pointing out the hilarity of the little pamphlet that they sent in the mail that suggested a single biopsy, and that also suggested that most women tolerate the cone procedure much better than the colposcopy itself. That, my dear, [...]

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Monday Morning: Surgery this afternoon

by shannon July 26, 2009 Cancer

When I finally talked with the Doctor on Tuesday afternoon, she told me that she was going to work me in, in between surgeries on Monday for a Cone Procedure. A Cone Procedure is where the doctor takes a cone shaped, large sample of your cervix. For me, it would be a little different. Her [...]

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Waiting for Results

by shannon July 24, 2009 Cancer

The weekend after the colposcopy may have been the longest weekend of my life. Dr. Kelly’s office had promised results Monday or Tuesday, and my mind just ran rampant with doom and gloom for the duration of the weekend.
When you first learn of cancer, you tend to visualize how it’s going to be. At [...]

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Cervical Cancer: Oh, could we?

by shannon July 20, 2009 Cancer

Life has a funny way of letting you know when you least expect it just how insignificant you are. Just when you think you have a nice lease on life, a firm grip on the handle of reality, something unexpected just hops in there and reminds you that your “firm grip” is actually quite well [...]

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