No, I did not win the lottery!!

I wish the news I have to pass on was that I had won the lottery and that Neil and I were off to warmer climes to bask in the sun and surf, drink coco locos, laugh and giggle, and revel in each others company. But, unfortunately, that is not my news.

I have cancer. And to my understanding (at this point anyways) it is not a nice cancer, if cancer can ever be considered "nice"!

There is not much in the way of details that I can tell you at the moment. As some of you know, I have recently had a surgery to remove a large "lump" (well actually it was as big as a bloody basketball - just kidding!!) removed. I was hoping that I would lose 10 pounds when it was removed but, alas, that was not the case.

The original pre-op prognosis was that it was benign but the following biopsy showed otherwise. The cancer was in my ovary. Or too be more exact, the lump/cancer took over my ovary. There was no ovarian material left in the lump. To compound matters, the doctors say that the ovary was only the secondary site of cancer. It had travelled from somewhere else in my body to manifest itself in the ovary. The primary site of cancer is still unknown. With this type of cancer, there are three usual primary sites: the appendix (which I had removed 15 years ago), the stomach (not so likely) or the colon (much more likely). One other aspect of this cancer, that I am gathering from my doctors, is that it is a fairly aggressive cancer (so getting on to treatment ASAP is vital). One doctor also told me that it is fairly uncommon, that he has only seen it once about 10 years ago. (But then you have to remember the demographics of Christina Lake. We are a pretty small community.)

So, as the doctors told me, I have a long road ahead of me. Most important right now is a colonoscopy (not liking the sounds of THAT!!!) to see if the primary site of cancer can be located. I am scheduled for this on February 15. Once that is done, then they will have some idea of what type of oncologist I need to see. And then I am looking at a year to two years for treatment and followup. Neil and I have decided to move to Victoria for the time it takes to get treatment and followup. This will likely happen shortly after the colonoscopy. We decided Victoria was the best place for treatment as I have lots of family there and we have a place to live.

I am writing this email for a number of different reasons. One, to inform you of what the REAL scoop is. I want my family and friends, near and far, to be informed. I am trying to prevent any mis-information being circulated about my condition. Christina Lake, being the small community that it is (and to clarify - the community I love) is already abuzz and I would rather have the correct info being discussed rather than having people speculate and guess and pass on untruths.

The second reason is to invite you to follow my blog if you are so inclined. This email is actually my first blog post (and can also be found on my blog) but I decided to email it so that you all had the blog address to find me. (Talk about a challenge just figuring out HOW to set up a blog! Computer savy I am not) And please, don't feel that you have to follow it. Do it only if you want to keep up to date with my progress. For many of you it may be the only way to get updates.  And if I have set up the blog correctly, there should be an area where you can send comments. So my blog address (I think!!) is:
http://dana-daybyday.blogspot.com
and my blog name is: One Day At A Time
so good luck finding it!!

Also, you can always email me. I just can't promise that I will be timely with a response. I never have been very good with the email thing. Best email to get me at is danamacb@gmail.com (yes, that is a "b" in there. The "b" is for "Brown")

The last reason for this email/blog (and I will make this brief but no less heartfelt!). Thank You to those of you that helped me through this past few months with your thoughts, words, and actions (and your "Dana's Recovery Dance" Nathan!!). Also, I need to apologise to so many for not keeping you informed until now and even worse, for not emailing you in - oh so long!! (Noni! I do hope to talk soon!)

And I promise! Not all blogs will be doom and gloom. In the near future, I hope to make it more appealing with pictures and other related and/or totally irrelevant material.

Dana
PS Please, don't hesitate to pass on my blog address to anyone that might be interested