Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Dr Oz show to air on Friday March 26

I have made a successful re-entry to my life in Phoenix.  The Dr Oz show with the segment on intuition will be airing on March 26th, Friday.  Be sure to tune in!

Monday, March 8, 2010

I knew I was sick...my journey to cancer diagnosis

Greetings and welcome to my blog. I am hopeful that my journey will help others listen to their gut when they know something is wrong...and not stop searching until they have the answers. I invite anyone who has had a similar experience to share their story. Let's band together to help save lives!


In 2003 my husband and I moved to a new home about 25 miles from our previous home. Within a few months I felt "not right" I was tired, had a general sense of being "not well"...My symptoms were vague and my husband chalked it up to "you're getting old...welcome to the club". I knew that was not it. I suspected a "sick house". Or perhaps the agriculture (our new home was in an area with more farming and open fields). Another bizarre symptom: I had itchy arms...not a little itchy...UNBEARABLE, wake-up-from-a-dead-sleep itchy. I tried everything including steroid creams (out of desperation as I try to use as few presciption drugs as possible). By 2005 I was certain I had cancer. Just knew it in my soul. I told several doctors (2 gp's, 3 dermatolgists). While none of them were completely dismissive they also did not take it very seriously. They ran extra blood-work, did pelvic ultra-sounds, asked me if I had annual mamograms (I did...and ultrasounds every other year). I visited many medical web sites and plugged in my symptoms...pick an illness...I fit into so many! I found an article about a plus-sized model who had itchy skin and was diagnosed with lymphoma...ran those tests...didn't have that! In 2008 my mamogram and ultrasound came back bad. I had a biopsy the next week and there it was: BREAST CANCER...had been growing fo 5-7 years...had gone undiagnosed for 5-7 years! Except I knew. I didn't know it was breast cancer but I knew. My first response was relief ...now I knew where it was. That was followed very quickly by the typical fear, shock and all the emotions that come with a cancer diagnosis. So, my goal here is to help others. I invite anyone who has had an experience like mine to share their story...If one person gets an earlier diagnosis we have done our job!