Suzie’s Chemo Journal

Suzie's Chemo JournalIn early April 2004, Suzanne was bothered with vague pains in her lower abdominal area and her family doctor ordered a CAT scan. The scan discovered an advance and serious adenocarcinoma, namely Stage IIIC ovarian carcinoma. On May 12, 2004, she underwent exploratory laparotomy for purposes of debulking and staging, omentectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy. In June, her doctor decided to treat with chemotherapy. Suzie kept a journal of her experiences fighting this cancer with the idea that maybe her daughters, nieces, and other women facing chemotherapy might find it helpful and of interest. The following are Suzie’s entries over a nearly nine year period of seven different chemotherapies. I fatefully reproduced my wife’s exact wording except in a couple of obvious errors, such as wrong years and I occasional added missing pronouns to complete the sentence and a few pictures. I used foot notes where needed to explain terms and identify individuals.