Life After Cancer: Learning More

Last June, I had a hysterectomy to remove a small cancerous growth. It was caught so early that neither chemo or radiation were deemed necessary. I was asked, however, if I wanted to attend a class where I could ask questions and learn more about life after this surgery and about the 6-month check-ups I'll need for the next five years. I agreed.

But as the date of the class approached - I seriously wondered if I wasn't wasting my time. After all, I've managed to live quite well for the past few months. I'd also read a lot about endometrial cancer online.

"I guess if I learn even one more thing, it won't be a waste of time," I commented to Terry as I headed out the door.

The class was held in a pleasant homey building used for "cancer counselling." The nurse who conducted the meeting had worked with cancer patients for many years. Both her parents also had been touched by cancer...





Half a dozen women who'd had the same surgery in June attended. (An interesting "sisterhood"!) We were all at the same stage of life - retirement, or close to it.

Not one - but two - points in the nurse's presentation made me sit up and take notice. The first was that 100% of patients with our type of cancer have abdominal fat, where estrogen is stored in post-menopausal women. This estrogen is thought to contribute to endometrial cancer...

(Uh-oh! Maybe a little abdominal weight loss will help this from happening again...)





Another comment had to do with calcium supplements: Apparently new guidelines suggest that calcium supplements should not exceed 500 mg daily, as they contribute to plaque in the arteries. The rest of the 1200 mg of calcium needed daily should be supplied by food...

(Hmmm. Which foods are high in calcium? I'll have to find out how much calcium they provide per serving and try to eat more of those... The next day I cut my  calcium supplements down, from two pills to one!)

Definitely time well-spent! And to think I considered not going!