All Things Ab: How Not to Spend Your First Two Weeks of School

This blog post is brought to you by RedBull. Not in sponsorship, but in my belly. You may be wondering, "Woah, Abi, aren't you trying to become a health blogger and cancer advocate or something?" Why, yes I am.

You see, I am human. Duh. And sometimes humans go against their beliefs when they also sometimes start to run on low batteries. Also, duh. This is me this week, hence the two-week blog hiatus and a drink I can say I've maybe had three times in my 2.2 decades of life. We all need artificial wings every now and then while ours try to grow back.

Enough with the nonsense, here is the rundown!

A very important post is going up tomorrow, and an even better one on Tuesday. But for today, I thought I would update you on the last two-ish weeks of my life.

Since my last post, I have gone to my nine-month post-treatment check-up with my oncologist, which was a routine visit coupled with analyzing the results of my last ultrasound (monitoring the cyst found on my ovary in May).

I've always said how unhappy I am at this office, always waiting for answers and for someone to teach these people common communication practices in a freaking cancer clinic. Anyway...

The ultrasound showed I still have a cyst on my right ovary. There is no telling whether or not this is the same cyst from the CT scan, as women all around the world live with cysts every day - cysts are actually naturally developed around one's menstrual cycle. So, we wait some more.

To top things off at this appointment, I didn't even see my oncologist or hear a reason as to why I was seeing her nurse practitioner instead. Her NP is a lovely woman who actually gives me more time of day to ask and answer questions, but who sends in an NP to evaluate a test ordered by the doc herself?

The search for a new oncologist is on the agenda, as well as a new post about the importance of advocating for yourself at your appointments.

My bloodwork at this appointment came back within normal ranges. Every three months I have blood drawn for a hormone panel as well as checking CA-125 levels (Cancer Antigen-125, commonly measured to see any deviations in a trending level of this protein).

I am to return in November for my one-year post-treatment check-up for routine physical exams, blood work, and ultrasound to monitor the cyst. Imaging for the polyp in my gallbladder and lung are set to follow.

The waiting game at this point is getting old, especially with paranoia on the rise. In the meantime, I focus my energy on eating balanced vegetarian meals and intense study sessions to kick off the fall semester.

My grandparents (front row), mom (top right), and all my aunts and uncles!

I have returned to school to start my 600th year of study (kidding, I have a year left). In the midst of preparing for it all to start, my family and I were given bad news that my grandfather had had a serious medical emergency one night. For sake of his privacy, I will spare you the details. My mother flew out the next day to spend a few days with him, to which he was released from the hospital and able to make it to his surprise 80th birthday party.

It was hard not being able to witness that celebration with him, but the pictures they took captured it all. At the end of the day, I'm grateful my gramps is home and okay.

My fall classes dive heavily into a lot of writing and exercise physiology, and I couldn't be happier. To couple this theme, life as managing editor of my school's newspaper has been quite the learning experience. I can't wait to see what the semester holds for the paper as well as for us new folks as we grow together each week.