MCC is short for Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Doesn't sound as serious either when you don't have to say cancer. On March 12, Rilla and I went to UAB to see Dr. Cohen for blood tests, chest xrays and discuss options for treatment of the Merkel Cell. We took a copy of the protocol from the google group site for MCC survivors. He didn't look at it long but he did look, then researched online and found out how serious it was. He then made some phone calls and found out I need to go directly to the oncologist, Dr. Urist. an app was set up for 3/19. just didn't know if i could wait that long. when i called to find out more or if i could see him early, no luck. the 3/19 app would just be consultation. meantime we went home and kept researching and i kept reading the posts on the group about Dr. Nghiem. On my drive to atl on 3/13 i took the leap and called and talked to a wonderful young man named Dawson. he took all my history, then asked my goal to which i responded "to get this cancer off and out of my body as soon as possible". he said he would have Dr. Iyer or Dr. Nghiem. Dr. Iyer called within the hour...so wonderful to know there were doctors who were taking this seriously. she did say app was avail on 3/16, if i was interested. IN SEATTLE. yes, no second thoughts, i wanted to do this but also did not want to over react. i just decided to call it vigilance!! also to save my life! all weekend i enjoyed the girls at the ballet recital. while napping in the afternoon on 3/14. Dr. Nghiem called to be sure all my questions had been answered. That did it..he called on a Saturday!!! He wanted to help me save my life. I then talked to my daughter Rilla and told her I had decided to go to Seattle . That was on Sunday that I told her. She said she would go with me. On early monday, i called to take the appointment and was in Dr. Nghiem on 3/17! he spent at least two hours answering all our questions (Michael was on the phone), a very positive app about early detection and action being necessary. he arranged app for me to see Dr. Peter Neligan, the surgeon on 3/18. It was happening! I was going to get this cancer cut out! I was elated. on the 18th all the pre op tests were done. on 3/19 the mapping of the lymph nodes was tried but no luck there. they would just look for the lymph nodes during the surgery. at 6;45 pm. i went to surgery. yes, i was an add on appt but it was worth the wait. We got back to the hotel at midnight. Courtyard Marriott. Rilla was just an angel and it was so wonderful having her there.
on 3/20, rilla just had to get back with her family and i stayed to recoup from the surgery until Sunday. i flew back to atl on sunday 3/22, rested more, then drove back to bham on 3/24. felt soooooo relieved. remember 3/19 was to be the consult.with Dr. Urist and on 3/19 i was having the surgery. so wonderful,, such a blesssing. i then had to wait until 4/1 to see dr. urist. then the rad onc on 4/7. xrt started 4/13.
it's bedtime now but ill complete and continue the story soon!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Big "C" has entered my life forever!
Wow! you just never know what you will face in life...you can be traveling along everything hunkadory ..notice a little ugly fatty growth on your forearm. go have it removed and biopsies. Then you get THE CALL that changes your life forever! No this couldn't be a wished for fatty cyst or even a little basal cell, or you could even hope for a melanoma instead of the dreaded merkel cell!
I noticed the little intruder early February, a few days later made and appointment with Dr. Gary Monheit, a renown dermatologist in the Birmingham area. Even talked to that ugly little thing and told it it was coming off my arm, just not right to let you stay there. So on 2/25 /09 at 3 p.m. I visited Dr. Monheit and he sliced that baby off. I remember him saying " I've never seen any thing that looks like this" . I should have known a practicing 33 year dermatologist should have seen something like this. Maybe a little forewarning of the upcoming phone call.
Mother, Willie, had a really bad asthmatic bronchitis condition and had to be admitted to ECM on 2/26/09. I had been traveling up to NA to visit with her and do a few things for her and just happen to be visiting with her on the morning of 3/11/09.
It was about 9 a.m. The call went something like this. " ms. Berry, this is Donna with Dr. Monheit's office. Your test came back positive for cancer and we have scheduled surgery for you on 3/19/09 at 3" I was just speechless...did she say the test came back no cancer? So I said So why do I need surgery. She then repeated " The test is positive for Merkel Cell Carcinoma a rare aggressive cancer and Dr. Monheit will be using a Mohs procedure, I really thought she said mole procedure and wondered what that meant. I then said you are calling to tell me I have a rare cancer ? aggressive? let me call you back. I was already googling while she was on the phone and realized this is REALLY rare and really deadly and I better get this right!
I tried to be cool around Mother, after all, she was weak and this was not good news! I pardoned myself and eventually got Rilla and Michael on the phone at the same time to give them the news. They both did their research and we decided no mistakes or chances can be made.
I then called Keith Berry, my cousin, who knows UAB well and told him what was going on and he did the research too and realized the seriousness of this cancer. He spent the entire day and I ended up with appointment with Dr. Cohen a good internist, for the next a.m. 3/12/ Rilla drove over from Atlanta to go with me. I had "floated " back to birmingham and still in shock I am sure. ... and wondering how such a small little growth can cause this much havoc! Michael drove over to give big hugs and was concerned too. Family, just don't know what people do without them. So this was the first day. I'm having to take this slow so I will post what happenned on 3/12 later. Love, Wanda
I noticed the little intruder early February, a few days later made and appointment with Dr. Gary Monheit, a renown dermatologist in the Birmingham area. Even talked to that ugly little thing and told it it was coming off my arm, just not right to let you stay there. So on 2/25 /09 at 3 p.m. I visited Dr. Monheit and he sliced that baby off. I remember him saying " I've never seen any thing that looks like this" . I should have known a practicing 33 year dermatologist should have seen something like this. Maybe a little forewarning of the upcoming phone call.
Mother, Willie, had a really bad asthmatic bronchitis condition and had to be admitted to ECM on 2/26/09. I had been traveling up to NA to visit with her and do a few things for her and just happen to be visiting with her on the morning of 3/11/09.
It was about 9 a.m. The call went something like this. " ms. Berry, this is Donna with Dr. Monheit's office. Your test came back positive for cancer and we have scheduled surgery for you on 3/19/09 at 3" I was just speechless...did she say the test came back no cancer? So I said So why do I need surgery. She then repeated " The test is positive for Merkel Cell Carcinoma a rare aggressive cancer and Dr. Monheit will be using a Mohs procedure, I really thought she said mole procedure and wondered what that meant. I then said you are calling to tell me I have a rare cancer ? aggressive? let me call you back. I was already googling while she was on the phone and realized this is REALLY rare and really deadly and I better get this right!
I tried to be cool around Mother, after all, she was weak and this was not good news! I pardoned myself and eventually got Rilla and Michael on the phone at the same time to give them the news. They both did their research and we decided no mistakes or chances can be made.
I then called Keith Berry, my cousin, who knows UAB well and told him what was going on and he did the research too and realized the seriousness of this cancer. He spent the entire day and I ended up with appointment with Dr. Cohen a good internist, for the next a.m. 3/12/ Rilla drove over from Atlanta to go with me. I had "floated " back to birmingham and still in shock I am sure. ... and wondering how such a small little growth can cause this much havoc! Michael drove over to give big hugs and was concerned too. Family, just don't know what people do without them. So this was the first day. I'm having to take this slow so I will post what happenned on 3/12 later. Love, Wanda
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July Fourth weekend
Rilla, Sara, and Katie arrived about lunchtime on the 3rd! Torie was here and Sara was really excited about that. I cooked a roast with all the fixins' along with fresh fried squash, crowder peas, corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers, mac and cheese and corn bread with home made banana pudding for dinner! Dan and Nelda whom I have known from my old Irondale neighborhood were able to come over for dinner too to meet the girls! We had so much fun!
On July 4th we went to Rita and Bob's house for the traditional July 4th celebration ! The food and pool was wonderful but having all the family together was even better! We stayed until late afternoon and had leftovers for dinner!
July 5th they all left for Pell City to visit with Papa and GG on the lake and ride in their new boat!
I started a project of organizing my bathroom! Man I could open a store! Almost finished and even managed to get two bags of clothes from my closet for Goodwill during the process! It feels "lighter" in the house already!
Well the end of a great celebration is coming to and end and I'll be back at work in a.m. It was good to watch IN Touch today with Newt Gingrich with a wonderful message about the true meaning of July 4th and all the hardships and struggles our forefathers endured and our responsibility to continue upholding the Godly values and morals on which America was built and what our forefathers foresaw! God Bless America!
Sara's Three!
Hard to believe Sara Finley is already three! Mother and Torie were able to travel to Atlanta with me to go to the birthday party at The Jumping Bean in Atlanta! What fun! Even though my foot was hurt I enjoyed the slide and jumped some before all the crowds arrived! It was a very busy day as Rilla had a small garage sale from 7 to 9 a.m. the day of the party on June 21st! what a worker bee she is!
Katie (17 months) was right in there with the big kids and really enjoyed exploring and playing at the Jumping Bean and with Torie and Sara!
After an afternoon rest we all packed up in the van and went to Fox Bros BBQ for a great bday dinner! yummy veggies!
Torie and Sara and even Katie loved playing dress up over the weekend! They played so hard and slept so good!
The morning of the 22nd Mother Torie and I traveled back to the Shoals from Atlanta and I drove to Waynesboro for Uncle Artha Hayes funneral. He was 81 and had been sick for over a year. I then drove back to Mother's house, took her to Shoney's to eat for her Birthday (81) on the 25th of June! I then drove back to Birmingham getting in bed by 11:30! Whew what a weekend!
Loved it all!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Carnival Cruise!
On May 3rd, some of the Berry Clan-Willie, Wanda; Junior and Sylvia; Patsy and Charlie Pilgrim; and Rita and Bob Seaton headed on a 7 day venture to the Caribbean!
Let me begin by applauding our Travel Agent Extraordinaire Ms. Sylvia Taylor Berry who had everything planned to the T as usual. When Sylvia , AAA Florence Manager, plans your travel you just have to does what she says and remember what she says and everything is awesome! All our cabins were within yelling distance from our decks which was neat...I would go outside and lean over and saw either Rita or Bob or someone I knew doing the same! We didn't have time to do this much because we were always out and about exploring the ship! The beautiful Carnival Conquest!
I flew from Birmingham INTERNATIONAL (ha) Airport (that's o.k. , it's small and I love it!)
and the rest got on board in Huntsville. We arrived in Houston about the same time which was neat and checked into the airport hotel. After checking into our room and resting a bit, we headed down to the hotel restaurant for an "introductory" meal. We had a great celebration for finally being almost there after months of excitement and were expecting great things to come our way! We were all so excited and were all thrilled that the Berry Matriarch, Willie Myrtle Marie Stults Berry, had felt so inclined to join us in this venture!
With earpatches close by , you know the ones you get in case you are seasickness prone, we all got up early the next morning to catch the first Shuttle to Galveston so we could be one of the First to Embark. ...Well, we had a new bus driver who got lost so we were slightly delayed! She stayed on the phone asking directions which caused Junner and I to glance worried eyebrow raised glances at each other...hoping and praying she knew where she was going! By the way no one used the patch and no one got sick in our group! Yeah!
When we got there hundreds were already there...we were bustling through security and for some reason they always check Miss Willie out real good , she finally passed so they let us in :)
In fact they escorted Mother and I, then Bob and Rita to the short line since they have some mobility issues. Junior, Sylvia, Charlie and Patsy were headed on through the long "cow line" so we were separated early on and had separate photos made getting on the ship. We all met on deck and yes...you're guess is right..we went right for the food and the drink of the day was shared around, there were many photos taken and videos too! What a fun afternoon!
We scurried off to see our beautiful Staterooms a few hours later to rest and get ready for our first dinner at the first (6:15) sitting. Joseph, the Matri'd introduced himself and we met Christina, our server for the week, and Elisabeth, the bus person. We had a wonderful meal, then headed on for the night's entertainment!
Every night we would place our request outside the Stateroom requesting Coffee, Juice, and wheat toast to start out our day, then we would later go down and have eggs and oatmeal or just anything we wanted...there was plenty of fruit and healthy food but you could also go the sweet roll, donut, pancakes, french toast. ANYTHING you wanted was basically the chose!
We took a Galley tour one afternoon, relaxed on Lido deck, shopped the Photos, many Photographs are taken for all occasions. We all did our thing and would run into each other from time to time always meeting up at dinner.
Tuesday nite was the Captain's reception and dinner, there were free drinks, a band and dancing so of course I had to start the dancing escorting Mother onto the dance floor, we all ended up dancing a slow song either on the dance floor or beside our table! Fun! Of course, we all dressed up in our beautiful long gowns and all the men were in suits. We looked SO good! We had a family photo made that night which turned out great!
We were at sea two days arriving in Montego Bay on Wednesday a.m. Mother, Patsy, Charlie and Bob took and Island Tour while Rita, Junior, Sylvia, and I opted for the Zipline tour in Chakku ! It's also called zipcording, and Canopy tour. We had a blast ! They suited us up with our tour and we all hiked up to the first platform, Orlando was our Guide and he had a helper who was also great! We were lectured, educated for a long time it seemed as safety is of utmost importance! I asked many questions, many questions of the guide to be sure I didn't mess up. In our group I went first and was exhilarated to make it across! I knew the rest would be incredible...well as the tour went on...the hikes were longer...more uphill ...we were all sweating bullets but enjoyed the beautiful rain forest so much! The last leg was the longest and Junior videotaped the whole trip. I can't wait to show the video to Sara and Katie so they can see my Tarzan routine ! Also Diego is one of their favorite cartoons! If you ever get a chance I would recommend Zipcording...it is exhilarating and adrenalin producing and really makes you feel like you accomplished something! Fun! Fun! Fun! When we got back there was Jamaican Music, food, drinks and of course they give you time to purchase CDs of the photos they take! We boarded the bus and took the long winding road back down the hill, through the orange groves, through the City of Montego Bay where the school children were playing and walking home. Nice, but not the best of conditions American kids enjoy. We have so much to be grateful for! After an hour or so we were back at the ship, dragged our tired hot butts on board, showered and all headed for another feast at dinner.
The next morning we were in Grand Cayman and all eight of us took the Island Tour visiting a beautiful Turtle Farm, Rum Factory...the flavored rum samples were delicious, and also different flavored Rum Cakes (samples) . We then headed for Hell! Yes Hell! It's a place with pointed gray limestone, appears to be a field which as been burned. There is a big business there selling post cards, T shirts, etc. exploiting the visit to Hell, i.e. I went to Hell and back, etc. There were scriptures on the walls in large letters talking about the love of Christ so it is all in fun! This was a four-hour trip so we all headed back to the ship, rested, and again enjoyed dinner and entertainment!
Friday, we spent the day in Cozumel doing different things...shopping, drinking margaritas, Coronas, eating Lobster for lunch! yum ....I did the Congo line in Carlos and Charlies , Mother and I had coffee at Cozumel Starbucks which she loves (Lattes). Mother and I took a carriage ride around the city stopping at an old Catholic Church that was just beautiful! We had so much fun all day, then talked about our lout and funny things that had happened all day! So much fun!
We then started the trip back to Galveston, we all scurried to find all the Photographs we wanted to buy, relaxed by the pool, had long relaxing breakfasts, lunches, and dinners enjoying all the other people on board.
Debarking is a breeze. We went to an area to get Mother a wheelchair to ride out in. I pushed it following a guide with another lady and we were off that ship in no time! Went through customs. This time we all stuck together! We boarded the bus and had to wait quite a while until we had enough people to travel to the airport. All went well , they headed for their flight home and I headed for mine! It was such a fun, memorable, wonderful cruise!
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