sincerely angie podcast

Dear Ovarian Cancer, ft. Dwana Bailey

Sincerely AngieLeave a comment

January 27, 2020 @ 9:48a

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Necessary information will find you if you’re open to receiving it. Being a woman, I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to learn about Ovarian Cancer. Dwana Bailey reached out to be a part of Sincerely Angie podcast to share her story and why she started her non-profit organization Fight Faith Strength Ovarian Cancer Awareness. Listen here!

I’d heard of ovarian cancer but never paid much attention to it. It wasn’t one of those things that hit close to home or happened on a big enough platform for me to research it. I am forever changed now. Dwana shared that her grandmother had ovarian cancer and once finding out, she lived for two weeks. Due to other ailments, there were no definitive signs that would have alerted them of the ovarian cancer. She was in her 70’s. Within a couple of months, Dwana fought through the hurt and pain to create Fight Faith Strength to bring awareness to the cancer that had taken her grandmother away. Dwana attends many medical and awareness events to learn as much as she can and spread awareness so that no other family has to go through what her family went through.

After recording the episode and hearing where it ranked on the list of the most common cancers in women, I got online to do some research. I wanted to find out the statistics and whatever information I could after hearing how the symptoms mimicked monthly menstrual symptoms.

From Google:

Ovarian cancer is a cancer that begins in the female organs that produce eggs (ovaries).

Symptoms: Requires a medical diagnosis-Ovarian cancer often has no symptoms in the early stages. Later stages are associated with symptoms, but they can be non-specific, such as loss of appetite and weight loss.

–       Can have no symptoms, but people may experience:

–       Pain areas:in the abdomen or pelvis

–       Gastrointestinal:bloating, change in bowel habits, indigestion, or nausea

–       Abdominal:abdominal fullness, fluid in the abdomen, or lump in the abdomen

–       Whole body:cancer-related fatigue or loss of appetite

–       Also common:weight loss

Treatment: Depends on stage – Surgery and chemotherapy are generally used to treat ovarian cancer.

Surgery: Omentectomy, Salpingoophorectomy, Laparotomy, Hysterectomy, Pelvic lymph node dissection, Lymph node dissection, and Retroperitoneal lymph node dissection

Medications: Chemotherapy – Kills cells that are growing or multiplying too quickly

Medical procedure: Radiation therapy – Treatment that uses x-rays and other high-energy rays to kill abnormal cells.

Specialists: OBGYN doctor, Oncologist, Palliative medicine, Radiation oncologist, and Surgeon

Consult a doctor for medical advice

Ladies please pay attention to your body. If you are feeling like something isn’t right, say something. Go see someone. If you don’t feel satisfied after seeing them, go see someone else. There is nothing wrong with a second, third or fourth opinion. Trust your gut, it could save your life. And if someone you know complains of these symptoms, say something. You may just save their life.

www.sincerelyangiem.com

Follow the non-profit on IG:@ FightFaithStrength

Email @ : awareness4ovariancancer@gmail.com

Dear Help,

Sincerely AngieLeave a comment

January 20, 2020 @ 2:48p   

Asking for help for me was always a last resort. I wanted to do everything myself. It was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because I was able to learn how to do things that I previously couldn’t do. It was a curse because I was teaching people that I didn’t need anyone. When in reality, we all need someone, regardless of how strong we think we are. Having weaknesses or a moment of weakness is perfectly normal. It doesn’t make you less human. The more you tell people “I don’t need anything, I am fine. No thank you, I can do it. I am okay. I can handle it.” They begin to take what you have shown and apply it. So when they no longer ask you if you are okay or if you need help, just know that they learned that behavior from you. I recently watched a sermon on YouTube by Pastor Mike Todd called “Winning in Your Weakness”, check it out if you have a moment.

  I am getting better at speaking up and saying yes more often. In the end, I am the one that will be affected by pushing everyone away. We were not meant to carry the burdens that we carry all by ourselves and sometime, just venting to someone can lift burdens. It’s okay not to be okay. Feel your feelings, just don’t stay there forever. Learn to acknowledge the feelings, accept the feelings, address the feelings and activate the growth that the feelings produced. 

  I’ve mentioned before how I was stressed out on a job and didn’t realize it until years later. Well, due to working 70+ hours a week since August 2019, I felt myself waking up and not wanting to get out of bed for work. This was the first red flag and the only red flag that I needed. I went to my part time job and made a change in my schedule that would help me to have more time to take care of me. I also took a 3 day mini vacay this weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation. I was able to get about 9 hours of rest each day and I made sure all of my alarms were deactivated. I ate good and didn’t think about working or jobs at any point during this time. I was also able to do a good bit of reading and writing. This was necessary and right on time. I am refreshed and recharged. I can take on the world! I am also still on my social media fast and I am sure I got a lot done because of that.  

I talk more about help on this weeks podcast episode. Listen here!

www.sincerelyangiem.com

Dear Time,

Sincerely AngieLeave a comment

January 13, 2020 @ 11:47a

Time is usually always associated with numbers. On the Dear Signs, podcast episode, I spoke on how I continuously have been seeing double, triple and quadruple numbers. For example, 111, 222, 333 or 1111. Then I randomly wrote on my dry erase board on the fridge, “Your Time is Coming” without giving it much thought. It didn’t dawn on me until weeks later that it was possibly the reason that I keep seeing the numbers, because my time was coming. There is a time and place for everything. Everything also happens right when it’s supposed to.

Recently, I called my cousin to check on her and towards the end of our conversation, she mentioned that the money market account that she opened, wasn’t performing as well as she thought that it should, for the amount of money she had in the account. I told her that I would pass over and check out the account. I went to her house and she logged into her account and we figured out the problem. In the midst of her trying to figure it out, I signed into my account and checked my interest rate and noticed that a few months ago, it started to decline. Now, a few months ago, I noticed, that after a large deposit, my interest was staying about the same. So I looked deeper into it and saw that I was only a few months into the decline. My banking institution no longer offers the type of money market account that I have and they were advertising a new type of account with a higher interest rate. So I created a new account and moved my money. Timing is everything because, had I allowed my busy life to keep me from looking into my finances, it would have been a costly mistake for me. Instead, it took a call from my cousin to make me look into my own account.

When we think or hear about time, it’s due to looking at a clock or counting weeks, days, months and years.  Time is associated with words like, life time, timeless, time sensitive, on time, time/date, overtime, in due time, timely, summer time, dinner time, bed time or timeline, just to name a few but the list goes on and on. My point is, trust the timing of your life. You are where you are supposed to be at this time. What you are experiencing now is the benefit of something, days, weeks, months or years ago and/or the benefit of something in the future. Embrace the moment in time that you are in and trust your journey.

Listen to Dear Time podcast episode here. 

www.sincerelyangiem.com