So here’s the short version of my story if you didn’t or don’t want to read my previous posts.
During the month of November 2010, I started experiencing back and hip pains. Throughout the month it progressively got worse. Around Thanksgiving, I started having sharp abdominal pains and noticed that my stomach was sticking out more than usual. I didn’t know what to think, I thought maybe I was getting fat and maybe the symptoms were just PMS or random pains that would go away. They didn’t, and the pain got worse and worse to the point where it became too much too often even for me. I went to the ER on December 5, 2010 and that’s when they saw a large tumor in my abdomen thru a CT scan. They told me it was the size of a volleyball.
On December 8, 2010, I had surgery to remove a very very large tumor from my abdomen. That tumor was so large that it was taking up 85% of my abdominal cavity and had moved down towards my reproductive organs. My right ovary was tangled with the tumor and needed to be removed as well as the fallopian tube. During surgery they also found a smaller cyst growing off of my left ovary, but it was small enough where they could remove it and save my left ovary. The tumor was 3lbs. and the size of MY HEAD. I had both stitches and 23 staples.
On December 17, 2010, thinking that I was just going in for a follow up appointment and to get my staples taken out, I was given news that I was not expecting. My doctor had told me that looking at the frozen section of my tumor, the pathology report showed that it was malignant and cancerous. She told me I had ovarian cancer. Following PET CT and CT scans, it showed the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes or any other organs in the body, so it was just stage 1a. No further surgery would be needed, but chemotherapy would, which I started on January 24, 2011. I went through 3 cycles of chemo treatment that I finished in March 2011.
This site serves a few purposes.
It gives me something to do and acts as an outlet to vent.
It allows me to update my friends and family.
It gives me a chance to share my story and maybe give some insight and perspective to those that have family or friends going thru it or maybe they’re going thru it themselves.
This is my starting point to raise funds and awareness about cancer.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions please don’t hesitate to speak your mind.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Spread the word and continue to support the cancer movement and research. We can only fight this disease together!
