A day of relaxation...sorta

Today I stayed home again. My first day of a long week of cramps and that sort. I would have been no help at the hospital...mom would have wanted to give ME some of the medications she was getting. Hell, I might have asked for them. Stupid monthly cramps.

Anyway, talked to dad, and he had a chance to talk to the doctor. She answered all of his questions which is a great thing. We've found out that the name of mom's cancer is primary peritoneal cancer or PPC for short. Here is a good site if you want to learn a little more about it.
http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Cancertype/Ovary/Relatedcancers/Primaryperitonealcancer
It sounds very rare, so not a lot of people will have heard of it, so I'm still sticking with ovarian cancer when explaining it to people, or saying it's a type very similar to ovarian cancer.

Today mom has been a walking fanatic. Walking more and more, longer and longer is a great step. She knows that to get out of the hospital, she HAS to have a bowel movement, and to do that, she needs to get out of bed and make things happen. Mom doesn't have an appetite lately, which is okay since they still have her on a liquid diet. After this experience, I wouldn't doubt she'd never touch artificial sweetened jello again.

The social worker was talking to mom while I was on the phone. She's getting mom's family history, trying to make a case to the insurance company to allow her to have the genetic testing for the BRCA 1 gene. Even with the PPC, it sounds like the type of cancer that is genetic, so if I find out mom was predisposed, I need to do my own research, too. The problem with this genetic testing and getting insurance to cover it is if I AM predisposed, my insurance company can dump me. Not something I'm willing to have happen. I've been doing a bit of research on how much it would be to pay out of pocket.

Women in my life. I ask you at this time to think long and hard about your yearly exams. Even though these exams didn't catch my mom's because of the type it was, she really was dedicated to going. Get your mammograms. Get your yearly paps. It can make a difference between a chance of living because they could catch the cancer early to just trying to keep you alive if you don't. I love you and ask this of you. I know my mom will be saying this, too.