It's Hard to Say 'No' to a Bald Lady!: Surviving Cancer-With a Sense of Humor

By Kathryn Marquardt

Find a cozy place. Pour yourself a comforting cup for tea. Sit awhile with me. Let's chat about how your life is changing, based on three small words: "You have cancer".

I have heard these words not once, but twice and I was left speechless in the proc

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookTrail Publishing
• Release date: Oct 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637674185

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Kathryn Marquardt

Paperback: 978-1-63767-417-8

eBook: 978-1-63767-418-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021916888

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ordering Information:

BookTrail Agency

8838 Sleepy Hollow Rd.

Kansas City, MO 64114

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Acknowledgements

Those three words….

A survivor is born…

Of hospitals, and doctors, and caring, and laughter…

The people you meet in an oncology ward…

My best tips and tricks

Outside looking in…the caregiver’s role

Of cat scans, PET scans, and alphabet soup

Graduating/the new normal

My attempt at some scary facts

Can I do more?

The psychology of surviving, or not

The cancer card

Ribbons, of all colors!

My story

Appendix A

Appendix B

Acknowledgements

I wish first to thank my beau, Hans, for being the strongest supporter in my life, when he was facing personal issues, as well.

Thank you, dearest daughter Kristy, for putting your life on hold and moving in to take care of me. And to my sister Barb, who scoured the Internet for me, avoiding the scary spots while providing me with very useful information. And for my beautiful ‘daughter from another mother’ Sarah, I thank you for all of the support, as well as the mountain of wonderful things in pink!

Thank you, also, to my dear friends Sandy and Roger, who ran my ‘pickup and delivery service’, taking me to and from treatments with much love and concern.

There is a special spot for my ‘Penny from heaven’ who took time out to go with me to doctor’s appointments and make sure all the information needed was exchanged and for my wonderful ‘chemo bunny’, which I have on my shelf to this day.

To all of you, my friends and extended family, who helped with keeping my spirits high, and my appointments on time! I am grateful for each and every one of you who took time out of your busy lives to help me along!

A special thank you to my entire treatment team, for never giving up on me, and showing me the way, even as I tried to give up on myself.

And finally, to my muse, Geery, whose enthusiasm inspired me to produce this book.

Those three words….

There I was, a forty-something, busy working woman, raising 2 children and caring for my aging mother. I had only time enough to breathe every other breath. Between work, soccer, band, ski club…well, nothing more could fit. Certainly no room for a life-threatening illness.

I returned home from a trip with a low backache…nothing spectacular. I called my doctor, made an appointment. He prescribed pain medication, and said to return in 3 weeks if it was not better. I also sought the help of a chiropractor, who suspected back problems and started treatment for it. Well, 2 weeks and 6 days later I passed blood, a horrifying experience to say the least. I called my doctor, and was worked in that day. He did an exam, felt a mass, and instantly called a gastroenterologist to schedule me for a colonoscopy. Bottom line…

You have cancer

WHAT?, I said. I’m much too busy to be sick!. My doctor just smiled a sad smile. After that, my world turned slightly to the side. The scenes passed in a blur of tests, doctor appointments, more tests, positioning, and finally settled into a weird routine of doctor visits, treatments, and recovering.

I feel it’s necessary to point out a few effects those three words have….

First of all, it causes a loss of hearing. Nothing mechanical, or physical…just a state of mind where you don’t hear everything. Case in point, with my breast cancer, I totally missed the word ‘invasive’. As a result, I collected five separate second opinions about the chemotherapy, something I recommend if you have doubts, but not waiting too long to start treatment, since