As many of you know the news of my transition out of the Executive Director position at CDSA is now public. I gave a talk to the majority of our 75+ staff last week at a professional development day and then was able to be there for the remainder of the lunch break to talk individually with many. We have staff at CDSA that I hired 20, 15 and 10 years ago that are still excited about working for the agency. We sent emails internally and externally to the larger community with the news and I have received many thoughtful letters of support. We are giving internal candidates a chance to apply before considering opening it up to the outside. Obviously this is a time of big change, opportunity and growth not just for the agency but for me personally. (I'll write more about all the fun things I'm doing right now later). I know CDSA will do well moving forward and I am at peace with my performance over the years and the good shape I'm leaving the agency in for the next ED. I do know that my work has helped thousands of kids to be more happy and successful in school and life. We have assisted many parents and SPS teachers in countless ways. I am thankful for the important things I have learned from so many wonderful people in the field and from extraordinary co-workers and leaders at CDSA over the years. I'm looking forward to continuing to learn and grow in future endeavors but will never forget the things I was taught by all sorts of special people along the way over these 21 years.
I know that this transition is the right thing to do for me to remain healthy and recover. I want to return to and stay in top shape for the recovery from the 1 surgery I've had and the two that I'll need to remove the tumors. My oncologist, Dr. Back, with Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) stated clearly that I should not be working. Dr. Back was especially adamant about rest and stress reduction. Both doctors (also surgical oncologist Dr. Pommier at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) asked me to try not to worry about where else the cancer might be in my body right now. Easier said than done but I'm doing pretty well with not worrying. All in all I've been having lots of fun and feeling really good but I'll detail that in a second blog post.
I had an excellent meeting a few weeks ago with my surgeon Dr. Pommier in Portland who said I was recovering well. The next surgery on November 8th to remove part of the pancreas, the spleen and lymph nodes will not be as difficult as the first surgery on the liver and gallbladder. It will be less recovery time in ICU and the hospital. My recovery could be under 2 months instead of 3. I made an appointment with a thyroid specialist, Dr. Mira Milas, in surgical oncology at OHSU for later in the month. I met her while I was in the hospital recovering in July and we really hit it off. She'll decide whether another biopsy is necessary to determine what type of cancer is in the thyroid and whether to remove it. The tissue that Group Health collected in a fine needle aspiration was found by 2 labs to be inconclusive about type of cancer. I'm not that worried about the thyroid issue. It is a relatively small operation to remove it and I don't need it to survive. :-) I do feel pain and soreness in my left hip frequently and don't yet know if it is a result of the bone metastases there. We do still know from comparing MRI's from over a 6 month period that the tumors we are monitoring are not growing due to the injection every 28 days of Octreotide. The primary cancer in the pancreas should also not be able to send cancer out anywhere else at this point so metastases most likely all occurred before we started Octreotide in October 2012. In the Octreotide scan (different from a MRI) in March 2013 several other areas lit up as possible metastases (spots of cancer) including the thyroid and hip bone. It is still difficult not to worry where else it might be and what else we should/could be doing to stop it. After the second surgery we will do a new assessment of which tumors to monitor since we will have removed all those we were monitoring in the liver for rate of growth. We'll need new measurements and a new schedule of frequency to scan and to check the labs. It is hard for me to believe that it has been a year since my malignant diagnosis.
I am now working with the staff and board of CDSA about 8 hours per week to help with the transition. This amount of work was approved by the doctors and the CDSA insurance company, UNUM. I am on a short term disability leave through October 3. It was a relief last week when my long term disability (ltd) claim was approved to begin October 4. This type of ltd coverage can extend to age 65 and has a higher reimbursement rate than the 90 day short term disability I'm on now. If I want to work part time later, I can without loosing the ltd. It helps financially that I have a supportive husband working full time and that our finances are in good shape. It is fun to think of the endless possibilities that await me. For now I will happily help CDSA transition through the end of the year, see my family, grandchildren, friends and take care of myself. The new ED could be selected as early as October 1st, giving me time before the November 8th surgery to do some orientation with the successful candidate and to transition from short to long term disability. Thank you again to CDSA for having wonderful benefits and insurance. When I started at CDSA there were no benefits. As soon as we could afford to I added benefits to all part time and full time staff including medical, dental, matched retirement, vacation/sick leave, short and long term disability, childcare benefit and our birthday off and paid. It has certainly been valuable to me although I never imagined I'd be the one using the disability insurance. If you'd like a copy of the letter that was sent out about my transition let me know and I'll forward it. It was a nice letter. We may have an appreciation party for me toward the end of October sponsored by board and staff.
My health these days is still challenging even though I feel almost fully recovered from the surgery. I still am fatigued easier than before the surgery and unable to do everything I did before physically. I'm working on getting my strength back but not exercising for almost 3 months takes a toll on your body when you're my age. It will take a while to build back up strength and stamina. I am determined to get in good shape again prior to the Nov 8th surgery. I started back in lap swimming and hope to make it back to 50 laps by the end of October. I'm already at 25 crawl stroke laps without stopping. I'm walking all the way around the Seward Park Loop (2.5 miles) again and my daughter Jessica is coming over at 6 today to walk with me. I really enjoy walking with others so anyone who wants to give me a call and set up a walking date is welcome to.
The other biggest difficulty is that my digestion has not normalized since the surgery. On the one hand I'm gaining weight due to the low level of exercise and the high level of eating good food and on the other I'm trying to regain exercise routines and eat right. :-) My doctors told me to eat everything and not to loose weight. They thought I would loose during the surgical recovery but I did not. The stomach cramps, bloating, pain and diarrhea have worsened and follow almost every meal and snack. The symptoms mimic Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which I never had before. While at yoga at SCCA yesterday I bought a book on IBS in the Smile gift shop. It has foods to avoid and foods to prioritize to alleviate the problems. Several people have told me that after having their Gall Bladder out it took a year for their digestion to stabilize and that they now have to take pro-biotic and digestive enzymes. My diet with this ordeal has changed several times. I'm constantly tweaking it and then periodically just saying ok never mind all that, I'm having ice cream and hot fudge sauce (among other yummy things). I guess it is after all a balance and all things in moderation. One friend told me eat 80% good and 20% bad and you should be ok. :-) I am trying not to have a deprived mentality but a positive one about eating and everything else. I live in an abundant life, not an overly restricted one. In fact there have been so many great things occurring that I'm writing the next blog entry on "my amazingly fun and wonderful summer."
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