Keep In Touch

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I"ve decided to continue online journaling on Wordpress. Please keep in touch with me here: http://followingthesun.wordpress.com/

Currently, I'm still working on adding links and other good stuff on Wordpress.

I've mentioned before how writing in my journal has gotten me through so much during the past few years. If you would like an online journal, I recommend Wordpress or Blogger. It's fairly simple to sign up and it's free. Or let me know and I'll set one up for you. Then we can link to each other and keep in touch!

Take care my friends.

Good Things

I spent most of the morning in Radiology today, prepping and receiving radiation from the ct scan imaging machine, or from what i call the x-ray robot. I just read on the FDA website that the robot programmed to administer one ct scan is actually giving off radiation that is equivalent of 500 x-rays. AND the period equivalent to this morning's procedure is actually the same as receiving natural radiation within 3.3 years time.  AND that for the last ten years I've been going about four times a year to get zapped.  Basically, the robot that has been responsible in monitoring new tumor recurrence can and is probably creating the possibility of recurrence.

It's been six years since the last recurrence (in my liver) so I'll talk to my oncologist, Dr. Quinn, about going in once a year. Now I'm curious to hear what his thoughts are on this.

Did I mention I need to be pre-medicated prior to the scan? Yes, I developed an allergy to the iodine a few years ago. Too much iodine being filtered through my one remaining kidney could be the cause. So now Dr. Rhodes prescribes prednisone and benadryl which is what most people would take for any allergic reaction. Anyone else develop an allergic reaction to iodine? I wonder if it's common? I mean after 10 years, the body will hate getting injected with this stuff eventually.

My sister (Thanks, Jen!) usually picks up the barium the night prior to the procedure so I can take the delicious juice at home and then walk in to radiology at my scheduled scan time. Otherwise, I have to check in two hours prior and sit in the lobby sipping that delicious chalky stuff. Today it tasted orange-flavored, which is a slight improvement.

After my scan, I walked out of the hospital and ran into Dr. Weinberg, my amazing and very skilled surgeon who removed my tumor the first time in 1998. I hadn't seen him in eight years! We've kept in touch by mail. I usually mail him and his wonderful staff an annual Holiday card. I'll always be forever grateful for what he did as a surgeon and gp. Back when we found out that Adrenal Cancer was rare, he would confide that he was meeting with several doctors at UCI and at St. Jude about my condition because it was so rare. I was getting impatient because I didn't know what it was and wondered why the surgery wasn't being scheduled sooner. Before and after surgery, I would call him with a list of questions, and he would always call me back and answer them. About one week after surgery, this orange fluid was oozing out from between the staples in my abdomen. I called him and he said, "My professor in med school once told me, 'Better out than in.'"

At about 6 pm tonight, Dr. Rhodes called. My heart stopped and I sat down because he has never called the same day of the scan. If he was calling so quickly after the scan then something new must have appeared on the ct scan. The great news is that he was calling to say that everything looked good except for a new spot in the gall bladder, possibly a gall stone. He said he wanted me to know the news today so I could enjoy my weekend! Thank you, Dr. Rhodes!!! After talking to him, I started jumping up and down like a little kid.

First I see Dr.Weinberg, then Dr. Rhodes calls the same day of my scan to tell me that the scan is negative for tumor activity. All good news. To add to this, I heard from a friend today who I hadn't heard from in a long time.

The pessimist in me is wondering what bad thing is lurking just around the corner. Today was just too good to be true.

Online Adrenal Cancer Support Group

Hello, friends and family!

Please join our online ACC support group.

This group was formed by Margaret Mader and Troy Richards to create a forum to offer emotional and spiritual support to victims of ACC and their loved ones. Members can ask questions and post comments regarding the treatment of ACC and it's emotional and psychological affects.

To join, please visit this link and click on JOIN THIS GROUP. If you can't view the link, copy and paste this in your browser: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACCompassion/

And if you need help, please email me: cureacc [at] gmail dot com.

I don't know where I'd be without all of them. Take care!

The Doctor Is In

Tonight I'm currently reading Dr. Bob's blog entry which mentions adrenal cancer. Dr. Bob is a physician and blogger who writes about his thoughts on medicine, religion, politics, pets, & passion in life. I never knew a doctor could be so inspiring.

ACC Conference Next Week

Crossed two items off my list of things to do before I leave for Michigan next weekend:


Print copies of the ACC conference schedule.

Check the weather in Ann Arbor during the conference. The temperature will be in the low 40's, about 30 degrees colder than Los Angeles!

Tita Linda

My aunt Linda passed away on Friday, February 22. My cousin, Trixie, was finally granted permission by the U.S. embassy to attend her mother's funeral which will be held tomorrow in Illinois. My prayers are with aunt Linda, my uncle Franklin, cousins Trixie, Mikki and Jay. Peace to you all.

Healing Prayers for my Aunt

Trixie and me (in brown)

While on vacation in the Philippines, I was able to meet with a lot of my family who I hadn't seen in 26 years! My cousin, Trixie, is trying to visit the U.S. so she can be with her mother (my aunt) in Chicago. Her mother was recently diagnosed with lung cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy. It's not easy to come to the U.S. and I am so sad to hear that the U.S. embassy denied her request to take care of her mother temporarily.

Trixie would be leaving her husband and children behind while she stayed in the U.S. so if anyone knows how she can stay here temporarily to see her mother, please let me know.

Please keep my Tita Linda in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you!