{"id":4993,"date":"2011-09-16T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-16T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/keeping-positive-through-the-ups-and-downs-after-recurring-cancer-diagnoses\/"},"modified":"2011-09-16T12:20:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-16T12:20:00","slug":"keeping-positive-through-the-ups-and-downs-after-recurring-cancer-diagnoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/keeping-positive-through-the-ups-and-downs-after-recurring-cancer-diagnoses","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Positive Through the Ups and Downs After Recurring Cancer Diagnoses"},"content":{"rendered":"

12:30pm | <\/strong>Debbie Boots hadn\u2019t planned to spend her 40s in and out of the hospital battling ovarian cancer. A southern California native, Debbie had lived a very pleasant, serene life \u2013 she was born in Lakewood, went to school there and has made her career nearby. She is married with a 14-year old daughter and two step sons. She was in a routine and doing well. Then, in 2002 she began experiencing sharp pains in her abdominal area every few days consistently for weeks. She had a feeling something wasn\u2019t right and when a co-worker got very sick, she immediately made an appointment to go see her general practitioner. She also has a family history of ovarian cancer on her father\u2019s side where both her Aunt and grandmother had passed away from this type of cancer, which didn\u2019t bode well for Debbie.<\/p>\n

After two months of testing, involving a CT scan, a vaginal ultrasound and some blood tests, Debbie\u2019s fears were confirmed and she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Shortly after her diagnosis, in December of 2002, Debbie underwent surgery to have a complete hysterectomy and her tumors debulked by Michael L. Berman, M.D., from the MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial who specializes in gynecologic oncology. After the tumors were removed, she went through six rounds of chemotherapy and it appeared that Debbie had beaten it. She couldn\u2019t have been happier. <\/p>\n

Sadly at a routine check-up four and a half years later, her CA-125 blood tests came back elevated. CA-125 is a tumor marker for patients with certain types of cancer. This meant that the cancer had returned, and worse, this time they found small spots on her abdomen area as well. Since surgery hadn\u2019t worked last time, doctors recommended she try chemotherapy again to see if it would kill the cancer. All she could do at this point was wait to see what her blood results were.<\/p>\n

A year or so after her second round of chemotherapy, at the beginning of 2009, her CA-125 levels were found to be elevated again. This time they found spots on her liver and heart. 
Dr. Berman attributed these recurrences to the ovarian cancer, so in July Debbie had both liver heart surgeries to remove the spots. After this surgery, she had to wait to see how her body would react to the surgery.<\/p>\n

Six months later, at the beginning of 2010, her CA-125 numbers were elevated again and 
Dr. Berman had Debbie go through another round of grueling chemotherapy. At the end of the year, they found the spots in her lymph nodes and another course of chemotherapy was prescribed, however this time Dr. Berman tried a new chemotherapy drug which was said to have positive results with other women. She just finished her latest round of chemotherapy at the beginning of July and they\u2019re waiting to see how the cancer will react.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis last round of chemotherapy has been hard on my family, especially my 14-year-old daughter and husband,\u201d says Debbie. \u201cThis whole process has been a really tough struggle emotionally and financially.\u201d But Debbie is trying to remain positive and has recently made some changes in her lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided that I needed to change my diet and start an exercise routine. In 2002, diet and exercise weren\u2019t part of my treatment plan, but now I know that I have to take care of myself and get as healthy as I possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie has even enlisted her cousin to help her lose weight and has enrolled in a weight-loss challenge where whoever loses the most weight wins a pot of money at the end. Debbie says she feels lucky to have a strong support team of family and friends, along with her strong faith and spiritual beliefs; she\u2019s maintained a good attitude. Debbie has also accessed the peer-mentor program, hosted by the Women Guiding Women: Cancer Support and Education program at the MemorialCare Breast Center at Long Beach Memorial. She first met Cindy Gotz, co-manager of the program, in 2008 and shortly after was paired with another woman who had ovarian cancer similar to herself. The peer-mentor program was funded by Team Spirit, an annual 10K walk<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been nice to have someone to talk to, who\u2019s been in my shoes,\u201d says Debbie. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of ovarian cancer survivors out there and at times I felt alone. But with my mentor\u2019s insight and guidance, everything I was going through no longer felt like a mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie has even become a mentor herself to other newly diagnosed women with ovarian cancer and it has been a very rewarding experience for her. \u201cIt\u2019s so moving that just by offering up my ear to listen to their story that I\u2019m helping someone,\u201d says Debbie. \u201cI know I\u2019m not alone and that I can help by making them not feel alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Over the past nine years of being in and out of the hospital, undergoing surgeries and chemotherapy, Debbie\u2019s outlook on life has changed. She\u2019s a lot more open to getting involved with her community and has even become the children\u2019s pastor at her church in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, I would blow things off. Now I want to be a part of things that make me happy,\u201d says Debbie. \u201cThis all happened when I hit 40 and now when people ask me how old I am, I am proud to say that I\u2019m 49 years old because I know there was a chance that I wouldn\u2019t have been there 9 years ago. My next goal is to make it to 50 years old and I think I can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debbie will be participating in the 2011 Team Spirit Breast and Ovarian 10K Walk, an annual walk founded in 2000 as a small grass roots organization on the belief that more can be done to help fight and raise awareness of breast and ovarian cancer in the community. Team Spirit helps to fund Women Guiding Women: Cancer Support and Education, cancer support groups and a new nurse navigator position. The 2010 Team Spirit Walk raised $210,000 \u2013 putting the total amount raised since 2000 to more than $1 million dollars. Be a part of Team Spirit and help raise even more money for breast and ovarian cancers, register online at teamspiritwalk.com <\/a>or call (562) 896-4037. For sponsorship, contact Michele Roeder at (562) 933-1671.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debbie Boots hadn\u2019t planned to spend her 40s in and out of the hospital battling ovarian cancer. A southern California native, Debbie had lived a very pleasant, serene life \u2013 she was born in Lakewood, went to school there and has made her career nearby. She is married with a 14-year old daughter and two step sons. She was in a routine and doing well. Then, in 2002 she began experiencing sharp pains in her abdominal area every few days consistently for weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":69939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4993"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=4993"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}