Category Archives: Ovarian Cancer

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“De-ported”

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It’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  Last week I was “de-ported”, as the radiology team likes to say.  In other words, I had my chest port removed.  I had a CT scan a couple weeks ago and it showed no evidence of disease, YAY!  I asked my Oncologist if I could have my port removed if things looked good.

It has been three months since I had my last chemotherapy treatment.  My body still aches, but I am feeling stronger each day and my hair is growing back.  Before you know it, I’ll have enough hair to comb and style!  My eyebrows and eyelashes are coming back in full force.

  
This year we seem to frequent Hospitals as much as others go to the grocery store.  So, we are finishing our year off with a Hand & Palate surgery for Isaac.  Isaac will have his palate repaired, which will improve his swallowing and speech.  He will also have his first syndactyly release to give him index fingers on each hand.  

We are not exactly looking forward to the recovery for this surgery.  Very much hoping that the time goes by quickly.  As much as we love his hands how they are, we are excited to see his development as he goes from a mitten to separate fingers.

We had Family in town for Christmas!!  I will post more on that, but wanted to share a couple pictures.

   
    
 

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A Month of Chemo and 13 Days Post Surgery

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I started chemo a month ago.  I have made it through a third of my treatments, 2 rounds, 4 treatments.  And let me tell you it is not anything I could of imagined.   This past week has been rough, I’ve had a lot of nausea, body aches, and I miss my family being under one roof.  Some days I can’t help but think, “why?  Why now?  Why me?  Why our family?”.  Then I cry for a minute or two, if it’s any longer I get a headache and I don’t want to get dehydrated so I have to stop.  What I do know is that We will come out stronger, and with more love for each other and this life.   I am especially grateful for my Mom, my Brother and his wife, who have been able to help out so much, especially with the kids this past week.

Today has been a better day and I am hoping it will continue throughout the week.  I am so glad I get next week off.  One of my concerns this week was that my blood counts would be too low.  The only thing in my chemistry that was low today was my potassium, which means they gave me potassium through my IV port before administering chemo.  I was able to sleep again for a little bit, so that was nice to help pass some time.  While I was in treatment a lady, who came in for chemo could not receive it today because her counts were too low.  I wanted so bad to go give her a hug, you could just see how disappointed she was.  I have to remember, it happens and that could be me one of these days.

Now on to this sweet little guy  

He is still in the hospital.  He is fighting an infection and continues to spike fevers, he also tested positive for the rhino virus.  He had a Broviac cathether placed last week.  This is a central venous catheter that accesses the large vein that enters the heart.  They are using this to administer his medications.  Zane is being trained on the care and use of the line as he will have it when he does finally come home.  Zane sent me these pictures of him after the procedure was done.

   
 

He is still happy and plays with his toys.  Of course, he does pay attention to the door when nurses and Doctors come in.  He knows that is the way out!  Isaac is a fighter and he’ll get there, it’s just taking more time.

 

Thank you for all the sweet cheer cards, Zane has hung them all up in Isaac’s room!  Thanks to our amazing friend for taking the time to spend with Isaac at the hospital so Zane could come home and get some rest.  Zane knows he doesn’t have to be there ALL the time, but he knows what works best for this guy!

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Chemotherapy Day 22

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Today is my 22nd day since starting chemotherapy.  Today was the first treatment in round 2.  I started out by seeing my Oncologist, who said everything is going well.  We headed upstairs to the infusion center to check in and find a recliner.  After getting settled I checked my phone to see a ton of notifications on Facebook.  What an awesome surprise to see my family wearing shirts to support me!  The first post I saw was of mis Abuelos, as I was being hooked up for treatment, and of course I teared up and laughed!  Then, I scrolled through and saw ALL the pictures.  You guys are the best!  I couldn’t have a better family, LOVE you guys so much!

I am lucky and very thankful to have my brother, Kurt, and my sister in law in town this week.  Kurt came with me to chemotherapy today and Shar entertained the kids.

I was able to sleep for quite a bit, so that made it easier.  I weighed myself before I left and I had gained 6.2 lbs from all the drugs and fluid.  When I woke up, I used the restroom, and when I sat back down I looked up to see this sweet smile come in the room!  Love you Angie!!



Here is my family sporting their shirts in support!!  I know these pictures are on Facebook, but I wanted them to be all in one place that I can look at.  Thank you Shar for doing the shirts.  I am just missing a picture of David & Jamie and my parents, who have been busy moving out of their condo to a house close by.

Don’t worry, we are coming up with the best way for everyone to get their own shirt, just working out the details!

The kids hanging with their Aunt Shar

Zane is normally my partner at chemotherapy, but is Isaac’s partner at the hospital. Love you to death, too!

 

This sweet boy is still having fevers and they are running more tests to try to find out what is causing it.  If you want to do something you can send Isaac a cheer card, just click on his picture above.

 

Kurt, Shar and Kai!

Absolutely love seeing these two! Abuelo looking good in his mohawk!

Aunt Lynne and Winston

  

Alicia and Adrianna

My aunt Cristina and cousin Deana

 

Joseph, Sarah, Adrianna, and Alicia

The newest addition to the Terry family!!

  

David, Jamie, and Matthew

 

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Off Week

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Well, this week is my off of chemotherapy week.  It has been nice.  I have done quite a bit so far.  I went to Isaac’s pre-op appointment on Monday, I took pictures of Isaac, Zane and I took Kyla to see Cirque Du Soleil’s Kurios Wednesday evening, and today we are at Children’s Hospital for Isaac’s second cranial surgery.

Kyla was in awe the entire show!

I have been feeling pretty good.  I do have a constant buzzing in my head, which is very annoying.  I will go see my primary Doctor on Monday for that and see if we can figure that out.  On Tuesday I will start my second round of chemo. 

  
Here is what is most likely the last picture of me with hair.  It is falling out at an alarming rate and Zane has plans to make a nice style before it all hits the floor.

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Ports have been placed

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Well, I had my abdominal port placed yesterday.  It was an outpatient procedure and was painful. 😳 Much more painful then I was expecting.  The abdominal port will allow for chemotherapy to be delivered directly to my abdominal cavity.  This is called intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy.

When I had my chest port placed it didn’t hurt at all and I don’t remember it much.  However, I was already a patient at the hospital.  The one thing I do recall is asking the Doctor if I could swim.  I’m pretty sure he asked me why?😐.  Well, I have four kids, it will be summer, and back in March I signed up for a triathlon that’s in August!😂. So, it is very important that I open water swim!

I asked him again yesterday before I was given any drugs, and he told me that swimming was out.  I need to avoid any risk of infection.  It’s probably better anyway, I really wouldn’t want to make other Mom’s at the pool jealous of my stomach!

I don’t have my start date for Chemo, but my orders have been put in.  So, I should know more this coming week.

I can’t make a post without a picture or two!

 Zane and I at Shanahan’s celebrating our 17th anniversary two weeks ago!  I know what you’re thinking and yes we married very very young!!

  Here we are this past Monday!  Since I’m not quite ready to camp or four wheel, we went out for a drive up 285, had a fire, let the kids play, and enjoyed what we love most (being outdoors).   

Here are some pictures of the kids from Monday!

  
        

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Blindsided Again

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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.