I’m excited to share with you that I have created a YouTube Channel for All About African Violets! I’ve been asked about this for many, many years, and now seemed the right time to create it and keep moving forward
All of the episodes that can be shared there will be there, in one place. They will release over time.
I have a request of you: If you have enjoyed the podcast over the many years it was in production, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the channel – YouTube works on a subscriber model, so that’s important.
Once again, I find myself in the position of saying goodbye. All About African Violets will not be returning to production in 2022.
I want to assure you that I’m healthy and strong. I am very lucky that my cancer was caught so early (Grade 1). Endometrial cancer is very treatable and has a 99% cure rate. From the beginning, I focused on being in that 99% and I am The treatment for me was a complete hysterectomy along with a couple of lymph nodes. I had this surgery on October 29, 2021. My surgery was minimally invasive and done on an outpatient basis (!) I am still amazed that I had major abdominal surgery and came home the same day! My surgeon did the Sentinel Lymph Node procedure on me – giving me a 90% LESS chance of ever developing lymphedema in my legs. The pathology came back about a week later with the result: No Residual Cancer. Anyone who has ever received that result knows that it means that I am cancer-free (Yahoo!!!!!). It also means that the cancer had not spread from the polyp where it was initially found. Because it had not spread, I did not even need to have chemo or radiation. My final results were Grade 1, Stage 1A. This was the best possible news for me! Again – I know how lucky I was and continue to be. My 6-week recovery period went smoothly, and I have recovered well. My cancer journey is chronicled on my personal blog. Feel free to share that link with anyone who might benefit from it.
You can see that I have MUCH to be grateful for. And I am. Grateful. But receiving a cancer diagnosis changes everything, you guys. It really does. So much happened to me last year – I actually underwent four surgeries: two oral surgeries, one of which happened before I was vaccinated; and two gynecological surgeries. Four surgeries in one year in the time of COVID . . . it was a lot to process. It’s still a lot to process.
But learning I had cancer and then learning I was cancer-free – those two things had the biggest impact on me. These are life-altering events, and everything is different because of them. I feel like I have been given a second chance in my life and I’m making decisions on how I want my life to look as I keep moving forward. And so, while it’s not an easy decision, it’s time for me to say goodbye. I want to thank Douglas the Digital Dude for all of his behind the scenes help over the years. He’s seriously amazing, you guys! I would be remiss if I did not thank my resident experts, Joyce Stork and Dr. Jeff Smith. Big thanks, too, to everyone who helped defray the costs of production – and, of course, to all of you for watching. All About African Violets has always been a labor of love for me and I’m glad you have all enjoyed it. If you learned something from it, so much the better I plan to keep posting the occasional photo of my plants on Instagram. Here is a link if you want to take a look at what’s on the stands from time to time.
And finally, I encourage you to find your joy. I did and it brought me this podcast.
Again, thank you all for watching. I wish you all the best – keep growing! And remember: Limit. Your. Collection!!!
Annie Endometrial Cancer Survivor since 29 Oct 21
I’m going to leave you with a song from a wonderful movie. It’s called If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, by Yusuf/Cat Stevens, from the wonderful Hal Ashby film, Harold and Maude. Thank you all – so very much.
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