what i've been up to lately....

Good morning!

After waffling back and forth for a while, I have decided to talk a little bit about *what's been going on with me*. I have been kind of distant and out of touch, slower to respond than I normally do, etc... you guys sort of deserve to know why...


So - anyway - my friend Gwen had this $350 laser thing done to her face and she swore it made her look 5 years younger - I thought *I want some of that* and promptly made an appointment with a dermatologist! :) Well, after viewing my skin cancer history, the doctor refused to even discuss *cosmetic* stuff with me until we discussed *health* stuff. She ended up doing a full-body check on me and did 5 biopsies of *suspicious-looking* spots. (i have had skin cancer (basal cell) several times before - so although unpleasant, wasn't really worried) To make a long story short, 2 of the spots did indeed prove to be skin cancer, (squamous cell - worse than I've had before) but more troubling, one of the biopsies was diagnosed as Paget's Diesease, a form of breast cancer. I was refered over to the Breast Care Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and began consulting with a breast cancer specialist. I was assured from the beginning that this was NOT life-threatening, we had caught it early - so that was great - but still, anytime you hear *CANCER* you start to freak out a little! Blah, blah , blah - you guys don't want all the details - but I ended up havig surgery the week before Christams, then another surgery the week after Christmas. Unfortunatly, my *margins* still were not clear and I had to begin a 4 week treatment of radiation. Every day (well M-F) I had to drive down to Cedars - this was about a 4 hour roundtrip ordeal every day. The medical staff at Cedars is the best in the world - so I was in great hands :)
I came away with a whole new perspective on *customer service* they are SO amazing there, unlike any other medical experience I have ever had. I figure, if a great big medical facility can still put people first and focus on the little things - than I certainly have no excuse! Customer service has been an *area of opportunity* for me in the psat - but no more! I am going to be a rock start in the service dept!!

Fast forward to now - I have been done with raditaion now for several weeks - I am finally starting to heal nicely (YAY!) and have actually come out of this ordeal with some great new perspectives about ...oh....everything! I had lots of time to be *introspective* and really get to know myself a lot bettter - I will be making some changes this year, I vow to treat my family better, my clients better, my self better - I've turned over a new leaf!

I will be participating in a walk to benefit breast cancer this summer - I will be having some great promotions to raise $$ for breast cancer - stay tuned for more details!!!

thanks for listening...

jen :)