Today is World Ovarian Cancer Day. I never thought Cancer would affect my body, but who really does?
I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer on April 24, 2015, when I had a procedure to remove my ovaries. Every woman is at some risk for ovarian cancer – awareness is still the best defense against this disease. Many times the symptoms are mistaken for something else. I was not having consistent pain or showing signs of symptoms.
Back in February, I went in for a yearly physical. At that time there was blood in my urine. My Doctor had me go back the next week to leave another urine sample. There was still blood in my urine, so I was referred to a Urologist.
The Urologist sent me to get a CT scan of my abdomen. Two hours after the scan the Urologist called. He told me that there was a cyst on my right ovary and I needed to see my Gynecologist.
I went to my Gynecologist in April and had an ultrasound done. The ultrasound showed that the cyst had solid mass and blood flow. Not exactly good news. My Doctor said that my right ovary and tube needed to be removed, the sooner the better. So a week and a half later I was at the hospital having what I thought would be a simple non eventful procedure.
My Doctor did tell me that they would do a preliminary test on the cyst and if there was any signs of cancer he would remove my left ovary as well. After I woke up from the procedure, my Doctor came in to let me know that he did remove the left ovary and tube, because the preliminary testing showed I had an invasive Cancer. He told me that I would be doing Chemo and would probably have more surgeries at some point.
All I could think was, “when do I wake up from this horrible dream?” They wheeled me into a recovery room and Zane came in. Clearly he was in as much shock as I was.
It was an outpatient procedure, so we left the hospital and headed home. I was in much more pain then I had expected. When we arrived at home Zane helped me upstairs and into bed. At that point I didn’t want to talk or see anyone.
My Doctor called the next day to check on my pain and to see if I remembered what he told me. I would need to see a Gynecologist Oncologist. My pathology report came back and it showed that I did have a cancerous cyst in the left ovary as well as the right. There were also cancerous cells in the washings of my abdomen. From this report the Cancer was a Stage IC.
Zane and I went to see the Oncologist on the 30th. Before discussing treatments she wanted to do surgery. In that surgery she would do a full hysterectomy, remove lymph nodes, remove the omentum, and do a complete staging. Zane and I decided to not waste anytime and get it done as soon as I could. I also wanted to feel recovered enough to make it to some of Isaac’s appointments coming up. This surgery took place this past Monday, May 4.
Here’s my hospital selfie from Tuesday! I’m wearing the yellow gown as a warning to staff that I should not be doing things on my own. Ha!
Overall the surgery went well. I came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and will continue to take it easy and get as much rest as possible.
The pathology report from this surgery showed that microscopic cells were found on one of the Lymph nodes. This makes it Stage IIIC. Not exactly what we wanted to hear, but regardless the Stage we are prepared to fight. While in the hospital I had a port placed near my collar bone, which will be used for Chemo. In a couple weeks I will have another port placed in my abdomen for intraperitoneal injection. This administers the Chemo treatment directly to the peritoneum (body cavity).
As of now I do not have a date of when Chemotherapy will start, but most likely in the next three to four weeks.
I was looking forward to this summer with the kids, especially since Isaac has been doing well and has gotten a lot stronger. We’ll just have to take it one day at a time, keep life as normal as possible, and make the most of it! Our kids have learned to be troopers, love them so much.
I feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system. I can’t thank everyone enough. There is no questioning that my parents were supposed to move to Colorado last year. That in itself has been a huge blessing.
I did follow up with the Urologist who could not find issues with me from his stand point. I still don’t know why there was/is blood in my urine, but it got me a CT scan that detected the cyst. So, it truly was a blessing in disguise.
eagar4life 