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“Trouble, trouble, trouble….Sometimes I swear it feels like this worry is my only friend”

ByJudi Zitiello

Apprehension is building to the date of that dreaded scan.The March and June scans revealed spots on my lungs that my oncologist, Dr. Johnson said the chance of a reoccurrence of my pancreatic cancer could be 3 or 4 on a scale of 1-10. With my husband out of town our daughter Lindsay and her…

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Champions for Hope

ByJudi Zitiello

On a warm June day as I stood at the UNF Arena podium before approximately twelve hundred mourners, I felt a strange peace come over me. I had prayed I could get through the eulogy of a man who changed my life and the lives of my family. A man I love dearly. A man…

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A battle and a blessing

ByJudi Zitiello

Am I battling for my life? Is the enemy surrounding me and do I have weapons that I raise to fight? This week I read an article written by Kate Granger who has cancer who claimed cancer is not a fight. She said, in her view “the cancer seems to revolve around wartime rhetoric: battle,…

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Will I be here for……

ByJudi Zitiello

The local greeting card store was not busy as I entered. It was time to buy some cards for the late fall birthdays approaching. The owner, recognizing me as a frequent customer, smiled at me and said “hello”. I nodded and kept walking toward the birthday section. Should I buy just one card for my…

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Purple Stride – 2015

ByJudi Zitiello

In June, 2010 I went to cooking school in the foothills of the Appenines just south of Florence, Italy with a good foodie friend, Kelly who is here today. We prepared our meals in a 300 year-old stone barn that had been renovated into a rustic kitchen. I learned to prepare tasty meals with limited…

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Thank you for helping me make it one year cancer free

ByJudi Zitiello

To the countless friends and neighbors who prayed for me, sent inspiring cards and beautiful flowers and made visits to lift my spirits. To those who brought meals to feed my family during my hospital stays and when I was too weak to cook. Thank you. To the Townsend Family for your prayers and your…

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Scanxiety and handling a diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer

ByJudi Zitiello

“Is my belly-button sort of going to the right ?” I asked my husband as I lifted my blouse to expose my distended stomach. “Yes it is, now lets go we are late.” We left the house headed to a PanCan.org – Purple Light Ceremony with some family and friends. We were secretly both anxious…

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One month out from treatment.

ByJudi Zitiello

It has been one full month since toxic chemotherapy was injected into my ‘whipple body”. (That’s what I call my body post surgery May 12th, 2014.) I still feel the effects of it. When I look at a date, my mind goes not automatically jump to the sense of time to or from the date….