New Contract and my Health

Hi, ya'll. I wanted to share the big news:
I've been offered a contract with The Wild Rose Press' Scarlet line for Firefae. Wooohooo! I'm so excited. This time around, a hot and spicy female fae will rule the realm.
As many of you know already, my health has been deteriating the past couple of years. First I had female surgery in Feb of 07 and the pathology reports from that led to a total abdominal hysterectomy in April of 2007. Was doing great, healing great and getting my stamina back. Then in late September of 07, I felt a lump in my left breast. it was huge, but I was in denial thinking it was a cyst during the mammogram and ultrasound they rushed me through. When I went to the ob/gyn doc to get the results he told me that I had cancer. My world fell apart, but I still held onto hope that the biopsy would prove the doctors wrong. It didn't happen that way. i was diagnosed with Stage IIIA breast cancer. I had a 6.5 cm mass and it had locally metastazised to a lymph node. I underwent a mastectomy, port placement and then went through chemo. It was not fun, but faith in God and my family and friends, plus my decision to fight this, got me through the treatment. I am blessed that as of today's date, I am cancer free. I try not to dwell on it everyday, but sometimes its hard not to worry it will come back. According to the charts, I have a 79% chance of being alive and cancer free in 10 years. That's high, and I feel so blessed. but the possibility of recurrence is always there. One of my friends has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after 2 years cancer free. she was my inspiration and its disheartening to see the possibility of mets so very close to you.
Anyways, even though I've seemed to beat cancer, my overall health has been declining and I assumed it was due to the cancer treatment. I have muscle weakness and pain in both my legs, feet and hands. And my stamina hasn't been what it used to be. I have great difficultly climbing stairs, can hardly get on the floor. If I do, I can hardly get back up. You should see me try to get in and out of a bathtub. Very, very hard.
All my doctors have been puzzled yet after several tests, assumed it was from my medication or cancer treatments. I have been tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, MS, and many other things. Thankfully, all have been negative.
I suffer from chronic infections and have been almost constantly on & off antibiotics for a few years. then shortly after I injured my foot on the treadmill a few months back, I started having GI problems. Could hardly hold anything down on my stomach and generally didn't feel good. But only minor lower abdominal and rectal and left flank pain. No upper abdominal pain. They thought I had Diverticulitis so I was sent to a surgeon. After a workup including a ct scan and Hidaa scan, it showed that my gall bladder was non functuioning and I had no active infection in the diverticulosis that I have. That led to a laparoscopic cholestectomy. (Gall bladder removal) I healed from that well, but the anesthesia led to an episode of severe muscle pain and temporary paralysis throughout my entire body. My husband took me to the er and after morphine and decadron, the symptoms eased up. the ER doctor told me to follow up with a Rheumatoid Dr, and told me that I have some sort of rare disorder that the regular doctors have no clue about. they also detected a UTI, so I was put on a round of cipro.
The minor pain in my lower belly,rectum and flank hadn't eased up and my bowels were all messed up even before the gallbladder surgery. He switched me to Levaquin and after 2 days, I'd become so sick again, that I went back to the Er. They took me off the Levaquin and put me on a round of Doxicyline. But the minor pain never left, although being off the Levaquin made me feel much better.
Two thursdays ago, I was at work and started feeling very strange. Dizzy, the pain was getting stronger and I knew something was wrong. My work called an ambulance and they took me back to the ER. This time, they did a rectal exam and told me that they thought I had an anal fissure. And also told me that the UTI was not gone, so I was continued on antibiotics, and was told to follow up with a GI doctor. So I called the one they referred me to, and was told they couldn't get me in until June 23rd. That was the soonest appt they had. I called my primary care physician to find out what to do and he ended up admitting me into the hospital that day. I was in for 6 days and poked, prodded every which way. In the back of my mind, I was scared that I had colon cancer, but after a colonscopy yesterday morning, it showed no cancer. I have Diverticulosis (alot of pockets)& hemorroids. Not an anal fissure. when I was first admitted, the xrays showed that I was partially impacted so they corrected that also and tested all the antibiotics with my urine culture to see what would get rid of the infection. I feel much better and was finally discharged yesterday. The doctor is trying me on a Lactose Free diet and I'm on several medications to help prevent all the Gi problems. I go see him next week.
And if that wasn't enough. During the work up for the Gall bladder surgery, a ct scan showed a small mass on my left adrenal gland. With a history of cancer, they sent me to an endocrinologist who I saw a few weeks ago. He told me that he highly suspects I have Hyperaldosteronism, or Conn's Disease. Apparently, I have had all the symptoms for years but its pretty rare. (or they used to think so. They're finding more and more people with it) He's running me through testing to see if I need the left adrenal gland removed. It depends, first, If I indeed have this disorder, 2nd-if the mass is actually causing it. The mass could be non-functioning and the disorder could be from a heritary condition from the adrenals. The testing will determine that, but its a slow go. one of the meds I'm on to control leg edema is Spironolactone. They have to take me off of it for 6 weeks before I can have the final blood test to make sure I have this.
Here's the symptoms of Hyperaldosteronism, or Conn's Disease (I have a history of all of them):
Hard to control blood pressure. I've had it for years.
May or may not have a family history of high blood pressure. If a mass is the culprit, than chances are you'll have nobody in your family with high blood pressure. I don't
Migraines
Urinating more at night then during the day
low potassium levels. During my history of treatment for high blood pressure, they kept having to increase my potassium pills due to this condition
Muscle weakness in legs, hands and feet.
leg edema-Which I've developed but as long as I'm on the Spironolactone, It controls it.
And guess what they treat this disorder with, if you don't have a visible adrenal gland mass that is causing it? Spironolactone. I'm already on it. That was another clue to the doc that I have it.
You may be wondering why I've blogged about all this. Well, I'm pretty different from the rest of my family. they tend to keep their health problems private but I talk about it openly. It helps me deal with the stress of not feeling good. The more I talk, the better I handle it. Also I feel like I'm meant to get the word out for Hyperaldosteronism. the public and the medical community need start recognizing this disease. I googled and found one support group for this disorder and they accepted me. It turns out that one of the doctors that is on the group, used to work with the Dr. Conn. The doctor that the condition is named after.
So, in the future, you will probably see me posting about this disease and also, the breast cancer. I want to show people that there is life after a cancer diagnosis.
While I was in the hospital, I was able to see Farrah's Story. I was uplifted. That woman is so strong and cureagous. I'm kind of like her in the way that I want to have people see what cancer is like. Its not pretty.
If I could help one person, than I've done my job.

History's tough mothers

The worlds'oldest profession, err, the other oldest profession.

Motherhood.

We are the cornerstone of society, the building blocks of an empire rest on our shoulders, how we nurture the next generation makes history. This mothers day, I would like to acknowlege some of the tough mothers we might have forgotten.

Anne Boleyn:

Refusal to become Henry VIII's mistrress. Anne kept her eyes on the prize. She became Queen of England when Catherine of Aragon was evicted back to Spain.
A key figure in the English Reformation, She gave birth to one of the greatest leaders in England. Queen Elizabeth I. Sadly the birth of a dughter became her undoing when the king wanted a son.
She was beheaded May 1536 for hight treason. When her daughter became queen, Anne was verated as a marty and heroine of the English Reformation. Her sister ran off with her child and raised her so, Mary Boleyn deserves mention as a tough mom as well.

Olympus of Epirus:
Princess of Epirote, commander of her own army and Queen of Macedonia, Alexander the Great just called her mom.Angry at comments that her son was an inferior hier as he wasn't of pure Macedonian blood, she told her husband Zeus fathered her baby.
They divorced and her husband, King Philip of Macedonia, denied Alexander. At the wedding of his next wife, a toast was made blessing Philip and the legitimate heirs he will have with his new bride. Philip then offered this man the hand of his daughter (with Olympia).
He was found murdered soon after and Alexander took over his father's throne.She supported her son and they were close, afer his death Olympia reared her grandchildren as warriors, plotted against ememies and caused the deaths of usurpers. Cruel while in control it is said she was denied burial rites after she died.

Elizabeth (Ersébeth) Bathory:
The countess of Hungary, mass murderer, occultist and mother of four.When accused of her crimes against female blood the countess outsmarted her cousins attempt at a land grab and left all her property to her children, assuring thier wealth and title after her death.She helped fund the war against the Turks and was in line to be queen of Poland. Her son stood up for her in court. Bathory was not executed but bricked up in her room until she died four years later in 1610.

Cleopatra:
Incestuous marriage to her brother yeilded no children. Political alliances (and betrayals) bore a son to Julias Ceasar and a son as well as twins to Marc Antony.Her reign marks the reign of the Roman Era i n the Eastern Mediterranean. She rebelled against Rome and tried to fend for the best interests of Egypt. Allied with Marc Antony they suffered a final defeat at Actuim. She killed herself.Her beauty was not as renowned as history proclaims. in the words of Plutarch, what made Cleopatra attractive was her wit, charm and sweetenss in her tone of voice.

Coretta Scott King
After her husband's murder in 1968, the easiest course for this lady might bave been to flee to a more tolerant part of the country and never risk raising public ire again. Coretta might have been critcized for not protecting her children, instead she rose to the challenge of continuing her husbands work with the civil rights movementas as well as the womens movement.
She approached Josephine Baker,an entertainer and activist, to take over her husbands place as leader of the civil rights movemement.
Josephine declined stating her children were too young to lose a mother.
Coretta steped up to the plate herself, speaking boldly for human rights, and an end to war and poverty.she founded the Martin Luther King Jr. Center of Non Violent Social Change in Atlanta.
Any threat of violence was superceded by a desire to carve a better world for children, hers and ours.

Does motherhood bestow an occult inner strength or does the power of love transcend all forces both natural and supernatural?