Ovarian Cancer Survivor

I used to celebrate my birthday on October 3. Now I celebrate on February 19, because that's when I truly began to live. I was 28 years old when diagnosed with stage 3c ovarian canSer. (Yep, I know that's spelled wrong, but why would I give it that much respect? It didn't respect me, now did it...) I had over 12 lbs of tumors removed from my body and have a 14 inch scar to prove it. After a couple of nasty surgeries, going into respiratory failure, 10 bags of blood transfusion and approximately 60 hours of chemo later, I'm in full remission. I was the chick in the chemo room wearing Chanel Mascara, Dior sunglasses, and Jimmy Choos. Okay okay. Maybe not REAL Jimmy Choos, but a girl can dream, right? I was determined NOT to play by the canSer's rules because hey, this is MY life and I control it. canSer was just along for a brief ride. I was gonna be amazing all the time, regardless of how I felt or what kind of crap I was dealing with in any given day. I hated seeing women in the chemo room giving up on life. That is really quite the wrong attitude to have. Sooooo, the day I got my port, I named it. Gertrude was born. I mean, if it was gonna sleep with me, shower with me and see me nekkid, it should have a name, right?? AND I started my blog. I laughed in canSer's ugly face and made sure I looked beautiful no matter how red my skin became. I never let my hair or body parts define me as a woman and am on a mission to help other women do the same. http://lifewithgertrude.com Hugs and sunny surf, Jessica & Gertrude