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Hello all,

Sounds like there are some exciting changes coming to support the "Teal Thursday" discussions within the website redesign. While that's in process, perhaps we can use this thread to connect. 

Hopefully that will work in the interim. I look forward to "talking" with you this Thursday at 1pm, EST. 

Until then take care.

Hello@LizR I hope you find this thread. I'm a bit late but I'm here!!

I had my 6 month CT scan and monthly bloodwork. Happy to say no evidence detected. I'm very happy to say the least. Today is one year from my surgery. I took my oncologist flowers!! It was cause to celebrate. 

Hi @alwayslearning what wonderful news it is to receive. Celebration is certainly in order

Great news@Alwayslearning and@GloHo!  It's a sunny but chilly day here in the Cowichan Valley.  Well chilly for my island in the Pacific anyway.  I spent the morning making Valentine cards for my great grandkids.  Now I'm going to take the dogs for a walk.  I need to phone the Victoria Cancer clinic and get my oncologist to send me a requisition for bloodwork.  I need to pick up my Olaparib next week and the pharmacy won't issue it unless I have had bloodwork done within 72 hours prior.  Someone dropped the ball and I don't have a req.  

@JoanEG I'd take sunny and chilly right now! We are buried. 
So interesting on the Olaparib rule they have. The process varies so much across the country. I picked mine up today for a few months. I don't have to go back until early May for my next check in & bloodwork. 

@Alwayslearning The chemo pharmacy will only dispense my Olaparib one month at a time and requires bloodwork every time in case the dose needs to be adjusted.  My last oncologist appointment was in January and she wrote the prescription for 3 months but the pharmacy insists only 30 days at a time.  I don't mind except when I have to phone the clinic to get a lab requisition.

Interesting 

Such great news! Congratulations @Alwayslearning! Sorry.  to miss the gathering. I was poking around looking for the conversation from 1-1:15. What time did you all get started??

Good afternoon ladies

Today in Montreal it's snowing like crazy. No complaints from me though as I get a day off from work. What is the weather like where you are?

Hi everyone! I hope you've found your way here!

On the OVdialogue homepage, on the right hand side of your activity feed, you should see an area there that has the link to this post. I hope this helps you find the Teal Thursday. 

@melissa - I'm in Ontario and there are a lot of closures here because of snow today. Luckily, my husband went out and did the shoveling this morning and I'm working from my basement! I don't think we have had this much snow at our place in at least a few years. 

I hope you are all warm, safe and able to be cuddled up with a passtime that brings you some joy. :) 

Hi all. Not sure what I'm doing but hope it becomes part of the thread. 

@Alwayslearning CONGRATULATIONS ! That's great news. 

I am kind of in limbo. The trial is complete. Yes, the trial significantly reduced my CA125 and yes it shrunk my tumours by more than 30% BUT my latest CA125 has risen a bit. I am on a chemo holiday until my next CT scan in April (or progression symptoms).

Thanks@melissa and@GloHo. 
I was up at 4:50am to get the GO train to PMH to be in time for all my appointments. I'm just headed home now on the train. The snow was definitely insane here today. 
@GloHo I'm glad there was some positive response from the trial. Let's hope the April scan reveals positive news. I do however understand the stress of the rising CA125. Let's hope it levels off. 

Yes…I am definitely grateful!! I am coming up to my 6 year diagnosis anniversary and my count hasn't been this low since 2022!!

Hi everyone.

So…just celebrated my 6-year diagnosis anniversary (YAY!).

I am on a chemo holiday until April! It's very odd to not be immersed in schedules, travel, and scanxiety…but am making the best of it!! 🤣🤣

Went to my first drop-in pickleball game today. It was fun, just my speed, and I've booked again for next week. I also found out that there are a couple other indoor facilities in town so I may check one of them out too! So glad I'm relatively healthy and can still participate in something like this.

I have been trying to get my shingles vaccine for the past year and a half but my chemo and trial schedules have not allowed me the time to get one…until now!! Going this afternoon for the first shot.  

@GloHo - just learn about this new anniversary.  It gives me hope to see how you manage with getting your tumor under control with different strategies. It looks like you are navigating pretty well between trials while keeping active. I just stumbled upon an interesting article from last May in Nature about re-thinking clinical trial design in Oncology. You may feel alike?

Attachment(s)

Nature OUTLOOK 29 May 2024 Randomized trials of cancer dr...pdf   73 KB 1 version

@Tanja

Hi. Great article. Thanks for sharing. It supports what I've been doing…and puts the way I've been thinking into a nice concise article. And, yes!, I wish the whole process of developing and testing drugs was shorter!! I sure hope they can find a way to make that happen.

I do quite a bit of research when I am headed into another treatment plan and have informed discussions with my Onc to arrive at what is best for me. Actually, both of my Oncs have steered clear of placebo trials which is the way I was thinking, so I was always receiving "intervention" treatment and never a placebo. So far, just the last treatment made a dent in my disease but I often wonder if having received the other trial drugs slowed down my progression (until it didn't) 🤔. 

I have been very fortunate to have been asymptomatic throughout my journey and side effects have been manageable - allowing me to maintain quality of life along with quantity. A few bumps in the road along the way but that is to be expected. 

Hi all, 

It's Thursday, Feb 27th or Election Day for those of us in Ontario. I'm posting early as I'm not going to be available at 1pm. My 87 year old parents are in the midst of moving to a retirement home with the official move on Saturday. I'm at their house every day packing, sorting, purging etc.  I'll be tackling the linen closet and my Mum's closet today (wish me luck!) so will be there all day. Although I'm not available, I want to encourage those who are out there and available to hop on line and connect at 1pm EST. I know so many of us get tremendous benefit from connecting with each other in this forum. Let us know what's happening with you. How are you feeling? Are you in need of any help from others in this forum? I will hop back on later today, possible nursing a well deserved glass of wine. I look forward to hearing from y'all (sorry but I'm in Florida right now so had to add a bit of 'southern' fair). Talk soon! 

P.S. I couldn't figure out how to start a new post for this week's Teal Thursday so am doing this as a reply to the last post. @mfallis any suggestions?

#TealThursday

Hi @Alwayslearning! Thanks for the great question! For Teal Thursdays, we will keep the conversation going by month - starting a new thread the first Thursday of the month! I'll post the link on the OVdialogue Home. I've included a screen shot to the where the link will be :) I hope this helps!

Thanks @mfallis_OCC. I saw the link on the main page and clicked on it however it took me to this thread (which I now realize is the interim approach until next Thursday when it's the new month and your posted link becomes 'active'). I'll look forward to the new Teal Thursday connection next week. Talk soon.

Good afternoon @Alwayslearning it definitely sounds like you have a busy day ahead!  I have been fighting a cold for 2 weeks now so I haven't been doing too much.  I'm sure glad I have a good supply of tissues because I am sure going through them!  I'm just thankful it's nothing more serious so just a cough and runny nose.  I have resumed my volunteer work with the Vancouver Island Karting Association and we held our first race this past weekend.  It was a very wet weekend so I'm was thankful my job as registrar keeps me inside!  

Hi @JoanEG I did indeed have a busy day. I'm sorry you are fighting a cold. Seems to be the season for it. Glad however as you said, that it's just a cold and that your system is fighting. Good on you for resuming your volunteer work. I bet you get a lot of joy from that. I'm assuming when you say "Kart" that you mean "go-karting"? I could be completely wrong. It sounds very cool and interesting. As I've never been in a 'go-kart' I am definitely intrigued!!

Yes it is indeed go karting.  My family has always been involved in all forms of motorsports.  Here are a couple of photos from the weekend.  The group photo was before the rain came!

@JoanEG I love this. 

Hello

@Strongwoman

Hi. So nice to see your moniker appear. Hope all is well with you. We have all been thinking about you and we miss you.

Thanks for popping in to say "Hi." 🤗

Hello Everyone.  I am finally able to get on and get going on this site.  It has been a bit of a struggle for me learning.  But I am getting there.  We are moved in and struggling to get everything unpacked. Finding places for things to go is especially hard as you all know.  Making dinner is a challenge some nights too.....I have been getting tired as well too. his makes it a challenge too. So what have you all been up to these days? Anything on the go? Laundry and the usual for me. Not much more than that.  Had to get a new vehicle. Smashed my older one so made me make the leap.  Oh well.  It was challenging looking for a vehicle but glad it is done now. Today is my nephew's birthday which makes it a special day. I wonder what he is up to these days. Probably not much like the rest of us.  Well I am going to to go now and see what I can do in the meantime. Chat soon.  

Going to go on  a walk with my son shortly.  Just found out my mom's neighbour passed away this morning. Sad day indeed. I will be back on when we are back from our walk..

Back from the walk and starting to snow a little.   

what are you all up to?

It's so nice to have you back@Strongwoman I have really missed you!  I'm sure you have been very busy but I'm happy to hear your move is done I'm sure that was exhausting.  It is a gorgeous day here on Vancouver Island.  I just got back from meeting my sister and niece for lunch and I'm waiting for my granddaughter and great granddaughter to come for a visit.  I have been feeling really well other than fighting a cold which seems to have swept through everyone I know!  Again I'm som happy and relieved to have you back!  Teal Thursday hasn't been the same without you. 🩵

Hello ladies

Just felt like jumping online to say a quick hello. @Strongwoman very very happy to see you back online the other day, glad you are settled into your new home. @JoanEG  I have a scan tomorrow, I will let you know if the bullet holes are still there  :  ) anyone online and feels like chatting, venting or anything else.

Hey@melissa I was just thinking of you!  Sending you positive vibes for your scan tomorrow and I hope they patched up the bullet holes! 😁

Thanks @JoanEG i kinda miss us all chatting on here. I think about you ladies and wonder how you are all doing. @Sandi6 hope you are doing better, last time I think you were getting on a trial, hope it happened fingers crossed. @HorseGirl hope you're well

Hey@melissa I hope the scan went well. 🤞

Good morning@ANTONELLA welcome!  

Welcome@ANTONELLA. I want to make sure you saw the link that was posted for the March Teal Thursday connections. Also wanted to welcome you to the group. The Teal Sisters engaged in this forum are knowledgeable, supportive and fiercely strong. If you have any questions for the group let us know and feel free to introduce yourself if there is more you'd like to share. 

Welcome back@Strongwoman. You have been missed!!! Glad your move is done however I know the unpack and sorting can be just as challenging. I'm in that mode now helping my parents downsize to a retirement home. They are in Florida so I'm here helping. Just did 40 laps of our pool to try to counter the move stress. Tomorrow the movers come so we are in the final countdown thankfully! Hope you had a nice walk!! So glad you are back online. 

Hi @Strongwoman, @Alwayslearning, @melissa, @JoanEG, @LizR, @GloHo, @Tanja, and @ANTONELLA

The March 2025 Teal Thursday chat thread is now live! I hope you (and all OVdialogue members) will be able to join the conversation at 1pmET at this link: Join the March 2025 Teal Thursday by clicking here.