Jeff Probst remembers 'Survivor: Palau' contestant Jennifer Lyon

I didn't know Jennifer Lyon and I didn't start watching Survivor until after her season, but this is the most beautiful tribute I've ever read. Jenn was a true SURVIVOR in every since of the word. Thank you Jeff Probst for sharing with the world this beautiful lesson.

Jeff Probst remembers 'Survivor: Palau' contestant Jennifer Lyon

Happy Blog-A-Versary to me!!

So this is my 100th post!! Happy blog-A-versary to me!!! I'm so not a diary/journal gal...what I loved most about keeping a diary as a kid was looking at and hiding the shiny gold key it came with...the key to my secret thoughts. Yet, without fail and after one or two half entries, that shiny gold key and the diary it belonged always became a distant memory. This pattern of start-stop-toss was something that I carried for years...so this my friends is my first successful diary experience and I'm ever so grateful for it!!

I named this blog---Journey-A letter 2 Ovarian Cancer, because I started off really angry. I wanted to give ovarian cancer a piece of my mind...I believe I've done just that and I'm sure I will continue to do that and more...yet a year and a half later my letter is a little different.

Dear Ovarian Cancer,

Life before you was AMAZING!! After you entered my world, I thought all was lost and I'm happy to report that life after you is still AMAZING!! Thank you for opening my eyes and making me more aware. Thank you for pushing me to keep moving, maybe a little slower at times...but still moving. Thank you for filling me with anger- anger that I turned into energy- energy that I used to kick your ass!! Thank you for giving me the gift of friends from all around the world and for allowing me to be a VOICE for this not so silent disease. Thank you for showing me that life does go on and it can be good. Thank you for the constant reminder that this too shall pass and that if I can overcome you, I can overcome anything!!! Thank you for teaching me about vanity and appreciating the BEAUTY of a bald head(wash-rub-go), you can't beat it!! Thank you for teaching me to live in the moment and to enjoy every day that we have with the people we love, as tomorrow is not promised.


P.S. I would say thank you for the hot flashes as they truly are fascinating and make having conversations oh so awkward but I'm just not that there yet:)...baby steps people, baby steps!

Network TV gives Ovarian Cancer a new look...

Either I've become more "aware" because I'm an Ovarian Cancer survivor(which in some cases I have) or network TV has really picked up on the fact that Ovarian Cancer is a serious disease that's affecting women of all ages and they're FINALLY showing us that it's a disease worthy of "QUALITY" screen time. Screen time that isn't the reason why the main character has suddenly died a month after getting diagnosed and leaving behind her husband and her newborn child. It's sad to say, but until now that's what we've been watching...

With shows like "Mercy" and "Private Practice" it's refreshing to see Ovarian Cancer in the forefront and being presented in a brighter light. I flinch when I realize that a character is about to hear those oh so familiar words and I breathe a sigh of relief when I realize that what I'm about to witness is a new way of dealing with this illness...through these shows I've seen it affect women of color, women in their twenties, thirty's and forty's. People who look like me, share the same concerns as me...people who reflect the journey I've been on. Yes, I know they're actors, but oh how good it feels to see that people do survive even if it is a fictional wold. Grab hope where ever we can is my motto!

RETRO BLOG #4-I'M A SURVIVOR!!

So this is the last entry before I put down the pen...little did I know just a few months later I would embark on a path of journaling and sharing my story with the world...I also find it fascinating how many different feelings and range of emotions we tackle on a day to day basis, sometimes all within a few minutes time as you can see by the entry below.


November 4, 2007

Went to the Dr. two days ago and the news was great. My CA125 is back to normal, Dr. Finkler said that this is a really good indicator of how great your survival rate will be. I'm so thankful for the news, however I'm morning the loss of my hair. It started to fall out the day I went to the doctor, I think by next week I'll be bald. As prepared as I am or thought I would be...it's still very disturbing. I don't feel pretty, that's pretty shallow but that's how I feel. I don't want to wallow but I have no other outlet. I just want to sleep and pretend that this isn't happening to me. I'm sad today, finding it hard to be optimistic. I know this will pass, but God it hurts. I don't want anyone to tell me it's gonna be okay, I know it will...just not today!


January 24, 2010

RETRO BLOG #3 -I am not my hair

October 30, 2007

Today is the day that mama(my maternal grandmother) died 15 years ago. I pray that she is watching over me. I feel cheated by the amount of time I've loss with her, but some of my younger cousins have never even met her. She is my guardian angel, that I know for sure. I'm glad to have a few good ones up there. I wonder if they all talk and what the buzz is up there...Mama, Bill, Scott, & Aunt Joyce.

I believe I've lost the hair on my legs, it's weird. I wonder if that's what it will be like when I lose the hair on my head. It's been exactly two weeks since my first chemo. They said I would lose all of my hair in about two weeks. I cut it off the day after my first chemo, I'm working with little more than a buzz cut.

I stopped checking my pillow, when it goes it goes.