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Becki’s Story

Site created on January 2, 2018

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. I anticipate that sometimes I will not be able to speak to everyone who calls me. Do not take it personally, I want to get calls and also to be in touch via email, but this is better than Facebook for sensitive updates.

Also, sometimes it is a drag to have to update over and over. So, this is a cool place. It is also healing for me to be writing.

My life changed overnight with this cancer diagnosis. I am at the very beginning, but here is the scoop. I was feeling some minor abdominal pain and went to the doctor. We thought it might be strained muscles, but it did not go away, so we did some tests. The results led to a cat-scan followed by a biopsy. The abdominal pain turned out to be cancer of the omentum. That is a word that even Google Spellcheck does not know. However, google image search knows it well and has many photos. It is a sheath, kind of a parachute of fatty material deep in the abdomen covering several organs. Usually, cancer does not originate there. They determined that my cancer had spread from female organs although it was not clear which ones (ovaries, fallopian tube, etc). The plan is to have surgery on the 12th and remove the omentum and do a full hysterectomy. My ovaries worked very well and gave me two health pregnancies that are named Melania and David. Yes, we had the corner on the market for the name Melania---- step aside any other Melanias.

Let me get this very straight to all of you who read this- do not judge me for my spelling and grammar errors. I usually need someone to check everything I write- I am capable of messing up an envelope- and if you ever get a text from me..... well you know. As they say, this will be spell-checked after it is published. LOL.
So, don't you dare mention those errors. :).

Writing is very healing for me. So, forgive me if I write a lot. Or maybe I won't write much- we shall see.

Over the last few years, I have had the greatest life. Writing, making films, traveling, blogging, and gardening. Rito and I have traveled to Europe, Alaska, Glacier Park, Yellowstone, and many times to Nicaragua. I have a lot of things going, even now- I submitted my Germany film to two festivals, and have three book-writing projects, presentations to give, a film showing in England, and more. But all must step aside to work on healing.

Anyway, I am so grateful that even after the diagnosis, I got to spend a heavenly week at Makengue, our rain forest reserve. It was our first family trip and it was full of laughter and love, even with this terrible situation hanging over my head. But, one thing about the rain forest that struck me this time more than ever is the ephemeral quality of life. At any given moment the air is teaming with life- bugs, birds calling out, monkeys overhead, hidden snakes and even a secret jaguar camouflaged in leafy shadows. Birth, death, rebirth... over and over. Such are the twists and turns of life- here one moment and again changed. That is why I am so grateful to be alive and so hoping to learn even more how to really live in the moment.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Becki Cohn-Vargas — Dec 12, 2019

Hello,
I wanted to wish everyone a joyous and healthy 2020. I just had a good CT and have been leading a nearly normal life. I am very grateful. I attribute a lot to Lynparza, the drug that my wonderful cousin Ruth March developed. With slight anemia, I can hike, travel, and live my life as fully as possible. I am hitting the two-year mark--- two years since diagnosis.
This November and December were full of love, friendship, sadness, and great joy. We lost Juan, Rito's nephew who is the same age as us. He was like a brother who grew up side by side with Rito. My book was submitted, a moment of excitement. It is going to production as we speak. And, to our great happiness, we are able to announce that Melania is six months pregnant and we will be grandparents in March. The world continues to be crazy, but it feels good to be writing about compassion and equity and continuing the good fight. Wishing you all the very best holiday season.
Love,
Becki

Read More of the journal titled "Wishing You Joy in 2020"

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