I prepped on Thursday (I already blogged about that fun process š), and I had a colonoscopy yesterday š³. The doctor also did an endoscopy (a scan of the stomach and esophagus.) More on the results in a minute. But first…
Public Service Announcement. If you are over 50, and you have never gotten a colonoscopy, NOW is the time to do it. The prep is awful. I can attest to that! It’s 24 hours of liquid diet including a total colon cleanse. I imagine this is probably why most people don’t get one. When will I have the time to do that? They ask. Or, they think it’s too expensive (insurance will cover it š.) And, you can’t drive yourself home. You can get a DUI for that. Trade off with someone you know. Drive them to get their colonoscopy.
Regardless of the inconvenience, a colonoscopy is the bestway to prevent colon cancer. You won’t feel any symptoms until you have cancer and it is so far along it may or may not be treatable. You don’t know what’s lurking in your system until it has been scoped. It is much better to prevent cancer than to deal with it. Believe me, I know about dealing with cancer!
If you have a family history of colon cancer, you should probably start getting a colonoscopy even before you turn 50. Maybe as early as 40, they are now recommending. My grandfather died from colon cancer, my mother had lots of polyps, and there are others in the family who have had bowel resections as well as other colon related issues. I make sure when it’s time, I get my body checked for this one.
I waited until I was 50. The doctor found a huge polyp during my first colonoscopy, and another one a year later. We don’t know how long the big one had been growing, but fortunately we caught it at the “pre-cancerous” stage. If I had waited, I could have added colon cancer to my litany of medical problems.
After a clear scan, he finally gave me the 5-year approval, which landed us to the present. The last thing I remember before the procedure was the nurse saying, “have a nice time at the beach,” and then I woke up.
Results. I would like to say I am totally free from polyps, or any other colon related issues. However, he found another large polyp in my colon š«, as well as some spots in the esophagus that he will continue to watch. He took several biopsies, which will come back in a week or ten days. He was unable to remove the polyp as it is in a colon fold, so he referred me to a surgeon to remove that section of my colon. Yep, I’m having yet another body part removed soon. They can do it with a small incision, apparently.
I don’t know what all of this means as of yet, but I guess I’ll know more when I see the surgeon. He wants to wait until the biopsies come back so we know more on what we are dealing with. I’m not worried, but I do wish my family history was a bit less tarnished with cancer. It’s a horrible disease.
My husband is one of the lucky ones. He has clean scans, and gets to repeat in five or ten years. I pray you are also one of the lucky ones.
I get to repeat this again in another year. Oh the joy…šš
Bloodwork, Oncologist, MRI, Chemo AND prep for a colonoscopy, all on the same day. I know…I’m a little crazy for scheduling it this way. This fulfills that saying when it rains it…well you get the idea. It all started at 7:45 AM. Traffic was bad coming through The Woodlands. I’m tired thinking about it , but we’re nearly through the day at this writing. At least it’s not raining outside. The weather is beautiful; it feels like a spring day instead of winter. I’ve been going in and out to my car all day between medical appointments. The girls at the front just wave me in at each return.
Bloodwork. First, the bloodwork. Everything looks good. My glucose was a little higher than normal (165). Probably because I drank some OJ before bed, and then I had some apple juice right before I came in š¤·āāļø. I often fast before coming in just so I can monitor where it really sits, but I knew I wouldn’t get to eat today so I drank the juice. We don’t worry about it typically, especially if I haven’t been fasting. I am careful, however; my family has a way of attracting diabetes.
Medical Oncologist. I do have a nagging pain on my right ribcage that has crept up in the past few weeks, so I mentioned it to my oncologist. This is how the tumor started on my left ribcage that lead to the Stage 4 diagnosis. A nagging pain that would come and go. I was between doctors at the time, as my oncologist left and I was seeing a physician assistant. He remembered that history, and he doesn’t like to leave stones unturned. They checked it out, and didn’t see anything, but he decided to have me go back for my bone scans a little earlier than usual just to be sure. We aren’t expecting anything nefarious to turn up.
In addition, he said there is some new research on Zometa. This is the infusion I get every three months to strengthen the bones. I was supposed to get it today, but he’s holding off. Researchers are debating how long is long enough, versus how long is too long, etc. I’ve been on it for about 5 years now, and they think 2-3 years is long enough. While it strengthens the bones, it makes them solid. Bones are not naturally solid. This is actually a weaker frame than the bones I call “suspension bridge” bones. He’s ordering a bone density to see where we stand before continuing the Zometa. I haven’t had one of those in a long time, so I don’t even remember what it’s like. I guess I’ll find out soon enough whether I get to snooze in that one.
MRI. After my oncologist and I chatted about our families and the joys of grandchildren, I went for my MRI. I did get a little nap during that one in spite of the noise and shaky table š“š“. They took me in early, which was a blessing. A little trouble getting blood return on my port, but it didn’t stop the process. They are looking at my brain again. It’s a routine thing, and we hope it’s nothing, but they do a great job of keeping an eye on everything. I follow-up with my radiation oncologist next week for the results.
Chemo. I checked in two hours early, but they took me back nearly 30 minutes late. The sun will be setting on my way home, and I’ll catch the commuter traffic *Sigh*. Fortunately they didn’t have any trouble with blood return. At this writing, I’m on my second bag and almost done. One of my previous nurses told my current nurse that I am an author. She asked about my children’s book! She has a 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son, and she said she is going to order one. I hope she does. š„° If so, it was worth the wait. I told her I’m also working on sequels, to her delight.
Prep. While waiting for the chemo to infuse, I started prepping for my colonoscopy. This involves taking double doses of Miralax, followed by 12 horse pills an hour later, instead of all the gallons of that liquid we used to have to drink. So far, the effects have not been overwhelming. I’m hoping to get home before it reallyhits. Before bed we rinse, repeat.
Admittedly, I was a little frustrated when my internist’s office called and said they don’t have my cardiology release for the colonoscopy. MyChart comes in handy at this point. I can see everything in my medical record. The note said they faxed it back in September, but I had to send it to her again. If I went to all this trouble to prep and they don’t let me do it tomorrow…I just might shed some real tears. š«š They have been behind communicating with me about all the prep. Yesterday I had to drive to Willis to get the pills, because no other Walgreens had them in stock. Sheeeeez.
Yet another day of life in our current dystopian world. šš
Nearly a year has passed since the launch of my first children’s book. It takes a while to get to that point. And thereās that whole pandemic thing that got in the way as well. But we finally did it in March of 2021. Yay!
I donāt work on site, and my publisher is over 1,000 miles away. Everything we do is via email and phone calls. Sadly, during the week of my release, my editor quit. She just walked in and said goodbye, so I was told. No notices or anything. That says enough about her character, but she had also made a lot of promises on which she failed to follow through. Those promises were in my contract, fortunately.
They waited to do some of the marketing since the libraries were closed, schools were closed, and it didnāt make sense to market a book where no one would have access to it. So here we are, a year later. The publisher has decided the best way to fulfill their obligation, and to get my book out to market, is to do a re-release.
I am pleased to announce that process has begun. Today! February 1st.
Sooooo, they are doing it right this time. At least that’s what they tell me! The Kindle version will be on sale for $1.99 for two weeks, starting February 1st. Look for it there! If you would kindly purchase the Kindle version, or if you already purchased the book through Amazon, would you kindly take a moment to please write a review. I am shooting for at least ten reviews on Amazon. I would be EXTREMELY GRATEFUL! I hope they are all good reviews, but of course all feedback is welcome.
Finding a publisher, for those who are interested.
It’s a daunting task finding a publisher, to be honest. All the well-known publishers want celebrities (or their ghost writers) who guarantee millions of sales. They wonāt accept a new author, and certainly not someone who is virtually āunknown,ā as they are taking on a big risk since they pay up front for an author to write the book. Now that self-publishing is so much more popular, many authors choose to take that route rather than waiting for a traditional publisher to accept their manuscript.
When I published my first book, Mastering Test Anxiety, my co-author and I decided to publish with a professional counseling organization (ASCA, American School Counseling Association), as a way to give back to the professional community. They were looking for a book to add to their school counselor resource series. Although we are not school counselors, we are counseling professionals. We knew this book would greatly benefit children who were suffering from test anxiety as well as math anxiety. All royalties from that book went to ASCA.
My second book,Ā The Breast Cancer Journey: Stories of Hope With Action Items for Survival, was self-published through Westbow Press. This book was a compilation of stories from various breast cancer survivors, to help other survivors on their journey. Westbow Press is a division of the better-known publisher, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Overall, they did a good job with that book, and many people have been helped because of it. My co-author and I paid up front for publishing and design costs. We then bought books and sold them, to recoup some of that cost.
I turned all the royalties over to MD Anderson, to further research on cancer. Once my books were all sold, and I nearly broke even, I didnāt continue to buy any more. People can still get them on Amazon. Westbow seemed more interested in selling books to the author, rather than doing the marketing for the book in other venues. To get marketing supportāyou got itāyou have to pay for another package.
A true self-publishing company, Westbow asked for more money at every step of the process. We could accept or decline, but authors are very limited as to how much support you get from a purely self-publishing company. I already mentioned marketing. Hereās another example. We had two reviews of the cover design. If we didnāt like it the second time, we would have had to pay for another revision. Fortunately, we liked it the second time. But thatās a lot of risk when you donāt know the designers you are working with. Additionally, you have to pay for an editor. We decided to hire an outside editor rather than use one through Westbow. (I could write a whole blog about editors, which Iāll save for later.)
That brings me to my third book, One Day I Tried to Rhyme a Word With Onomatopoeia. This was my first childrenās picture book, with full-color illustrations. Itās the first book in a series, or āI can say big wordsā series. Some of the words may or may not have six syllables, although that was the original intent. I didnāt want to go fully self-published with Westbow, as I felt the marketing and other services were lacking. I wanted a bit more support along with my up-front costs. I really wanted a traditional publisher to take it on, to get the marketing, editorial support, as well as illustrative supportive, but traditional publishers are not accepting unsolicited manuscripts, and unwilling to take the risk.
I did some searching and finally landed on a company called Atlantic Publishing, out of Ocala Florida. We visited their location while we were there, toured the warehouse of books, talked with their editors and support folks. They seemed legit. They seemed genuinely interested in selling my books, not just selling my books to me. Some might say they are vanity press, but they are known as a āhybridā publisher. Their claim as a traditional publisher is to provide you with all the traditional supports, but they do not take on the risk. So, authors pay up front for the publishing process, then sales come later. I felt like I had a much better publishing experience with Atlantic than I did with Westbow. They provided me with an editor who stuck with me through the process. She found an illustrator (gave me several choices). We were able to make multiple revisions to the illustrations until I felt they were right. Yes, I had to pay for the illustrator, so that was an added expense, but it was worth it.
I recently learned that the owner of Atlantic Publishing passed away in mid-December. His brother is working on making the company strong again. I have hopes they will do so, but I seemed to fall through the cracks when my editor left and covid hit. So, I am waiting to see what will happen with the re-launch as to whether or not I will go with them again.
Now, on to the next project. I am working on two more childrenās books at this writing. They are both sequels, per se, although one will be a chapter book from the older brotherās perspective. They are going camping in an Airstream Travel Trailer with their grandparents, and oh, itās lots of fun! The other book is another rhyming six-syllable book like Onomatopoeia. It will look like the first one in terms of colors and size with the same characters. It will be a picture book as well.
Where I publish these two books is still a bit of a mystery. Atlantic is still working on righting their ship, so I have lost a little confidence in them at this point. (If they offered me a contract, I would certainly take it.) Iām debating on using KDP, which is Amazonās publisher, because it wonāt cost me anything to publish and then I can put more of my emphasis on marketing.
If you have any suggestions, or opinions on where to publish, Iād love to hear your comments below!
