Hello my dear friends and loved ones. Gratitude is a good place for me to start with my mass communication endeavor: to Greg Moul, my son-in-law for creating this blog, and to friends and family who check in for news updates and lend their voices to this beautiful chorus of support. I am enjoying the group effort this healing process is turning out to be.

Today I went to the University of Washington Hospital for the day and had a biopsy. The surgeon wanted to back up her opinion of what's going on in my belly with hard evidence...cells to examine. Bonnie and I spent the day, me lying on a cot and her in a semi comfortable chair chatting, napping, and watching a television movie. The procedure took about half an hour and the recovery room experience took four. I'm feeling just as well and whole this evening as I did before the procedure, and last week and last year. Cancer can be a quiet, unobtrusive batch of cells on the surface of things. This batch got my attention two years ago at which time I began making the rounds of physicians--from my family physician in Seattle, to the gynocologist, to the folks that bring us the colonoscopy--getting all the requisite tests. Ovarian cancer, it turns out, is difficult to diagnose. When the people in Seattle didn't satisfy me with an answer I checked in with Susan Cahill soon after I got to Montana in my retirement. She nailed it in short order. She confirmed her suspicions with a simple blood test called a CA-125. Something every woman should ask her doctor about. I don't know why it's such a well kept secret. It is THE diagnostic tool for ovarian cancer. (at least to my current understanding).

Having gotten this information, I've been following first Susan's advice, and now that of Barbara Goff, M.D. Dr. Goff is alleged to be one of the top surgeon's for ovarian cancer around. We certainly have confidence in her. After today's biopsy, Dr. Goff has plans for me to get a "port" through which the chemotherapy will be delivered. It's going to be like a little button just under the surface of the skin around the area of my what? clavicle? (between shoulder and breast). Then chemo therapy will begin at the earliest possible time thereafter. As the girls mentioned in one of their entries in the blog, Dr. Goff wants to try and eradicate the cancer that has metastisised (sp?)to my spleen with 3 chemo rounds 3 weeks apart and then do surgery to remove the rest. That will be followed up with another three rounds.

It all seems quite simple and straightforward to me. I'll just suit up and show up, just as I always have, for each day and follow the guidance of the people who know more about this than I do.

One of these guides is a "healer" up in Eureka, Montana who has already given me one of his treatments. I asked Dr. Goff to get another CA-125 test to see if the Eureka healer's (Jimmie MacKimmie) treatment and the follow-up he recommended has made any difference. Today I got the score of the recent test and the cancer numbers have been reduced by a couple of hundred: From 2,625 to 2,400 something...nearly 200 points. Normally, I would expect these cancer cells would be increasing not decreasing. Let's hear it for Jimmie MacKimmie!!! I'm hoping to do follow-up with Jimmie in the coming weeks and months. I'm grateful to him and all the other healers I have in my life. That includes you, my friends. Nothing is so healing as the unconditional love that's been coming in our direction, recently as well as over a long period of time.

One of us will get back to you with news as it happens. Hopefully there will be days when absolutely nothing is happening except life as we've been doing it all along. Life on life's terms.

Love,
Barbara