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| Phone Calls that Rock-Your-World! |
THE PAST FEW DAYS
I’ve considered myself one of the healthiest people I’ve ever met. I’ve never missed school because I was “sick”. I’ve never been to the emergency room or had a broken bone. Until recently, I could say I’ve never been to the hospital or the doctor for anything other than routine check ups.
On Thursday, July 18th I went to Northwest Community’s Outpatient for a routine surgery removal of a uterine polyp. I was put under and recovered very quickly, was at work the next morning and with friend’s downtown on Saturday feeling better than ever! My doctor commented on how smoothly everything went and how great everything looked.
On Monday, July 22nd (a day I will never forget), I received a call at 10:21am from my Ob/Gyn that they had biopsied the polyp (which is routine) and the results were not good. The polyp was cancerous. My doctor requested that I meet with her within the hour and bring my husband. I immediately called Andrew, my mother, and my brother. Oh, and my boss at the park district, to tell him I might be late.
At 11:30am, I met with my doctor along with my mom and husband. The cells showed that I have a very rare cancer that is found in 1 in 750,000 women OVER the age of 70. It is extremely aggressive. My doctor had never heard of a case of someone in there 20’s! The type of cancer is called MMMT of the uterus for short. She immediately made an appointment for me with a specialist at Loyola University Hospital in Maywood with a Gynecologist/ Oncologist.
I took my cell samples to him by hand on Tuesday and anxiously awaited my appointment with him on Friday.
Oh the emotions! Monday, was by far the hardest day. I was still in shock as I made it to work by 1:00pm and managed to stay until 7:30pm by keeping myself busy. The evening was difficult as Andrew and I both had many moments of tears and my eventual verbalization that “I, a 29 year old healthy female, have CANCER!”, the scariest word in the English language. Many sleepless nights and tears followed. You can do a search of “MMMT of the uterus” and see what the prognosis is. I’m not going to go into the unhappy details here.
I met with Dr. Ronald Potkol at 12:45pm on Friday with the best support system anyone can have. Andrew, my mom, and my brother joined me for the news (second-opinion) from this specialist. Everything the my doctor told me was confirmed.
It turns out that Monday was the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (rather than the worst). The MMMT was found extremely early. He outlined three options, each with varying levels of risks. We chose option 2 which was the doctor’s recommendation. More on that to come. If I had gotten pregnant, this cancer would never have been caught. The hormones from being pregnant would have made the tumor grow exponentially and I’d be writing a very sad note to you a year from now. Listening to my body SAVED MY LIFE!
WHY ALL OF THIS IN AN E-MAIL?
I write this in an e-mail because it will be difficult to tell all of you in person and at the exact same time. I am at a strange peace with all of this and can actually speak very easily about it. But, I can’t keep track of who I tell and don’t tell so this makes it easy. If you are receiving this, it’s because you are an important part of my life and I know you will join my support system in some capacity. I’ve realized that my life will never be the same. I will forever have to check “CANCER” on those health forms. I consider myself an extremely strong person who rarely needs to rely on others, but I know that cancer is fought as a team with many cheerleaders!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Well, we keep in mind that I am only 29 and extremely strong, that I have an amazing support system, and doctors at the fore front of medicine. We remember that my brother’s wedding is in 4 weeks and that it’s the beautiful celebrations in life that keep us going. We stay thankful that this was caught in the summer so that I am not “out of commission” from my wide-eyed first graders. Pray (if you’re a religious person) or think positive mind- body thoughts (if you’re following Oprah).
Medically speaking, I will be going in for a partial hysterectomy on Monday, July 6th. They will remove my uterus, fallopian tubes, and lymph nodes around the area. They will leave my ovaries as long as everything looks good. This will allow me to still have biological children through surrogacy and hopefully not go through menopause at 29. This cancer is so aggressive that there is no time to wait. If it were to break through the lining of my uterus, I would go from a stage I cancer patient to stage III and the likely hood of it moving to my colon, lungs, and rectum would be very high. We’re not willing to take that risk!
They will be using new technology to remove my uterus lyproscopicly. I will be in the hospital for two full days and on a clear liquid diet for 3. They clearly don’t know how I get when I’m hungry!!!! I will have everything done at Loyola Hospital and then be home bound for a week.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Andrew and I have always gotten through life with humor and we continue with that now. As we left the first doctor’s office last Monday, we joked that there isn’t even “a walk” or “a website” or “a foundation” for MMMT. So you won’t be getting any of those “contribute to a great cause” e-mails.
I joined a support group online and the youngest member is 56 with most of the members writing for their mother’s who are all in their 70’s. There are about 150 of us. So no support meetings for you to join me on.
I will need you to continue to be a friend, an ear to listen, and a shoulder to cry on. Know how difficult it will be for me should I need to miss something or be late because of the doctor’s appointments. Know that I’m staying extremely positive and not thinking about all of the “horror/ sad” stories and reports on the internet.
Know that Andrew and I will begin having children the “unconventional way” immediately after I recover. It’s a lengthy and extremely expensive process. We will be meeting with fertility specialists to begin IVF and then shopping for good wombs. Let us know if you know of an available womb that we could borrow for the next 10 months!
Treat me like nothing is different except for my appreciation of this world and each and every moment. Forgive me if I seem spacey and forgetful (a lot on my mind). Remember my family who are struggling along with me. I think it’s almost harder to be on the sidelines.
Know that I will update you whenever something new is learned and I’m not a fan of “how are you feeling” although, I’m finding I don’t have a choice in hearing that. I really do feel fantastic!
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I know it’s long. I’m a writer by nature, so this is a good outlet for me. Don’t be afraid to ask me questions, to offer a hug, but at the very least, enjoy your day. You never know when you might get a phone call at 10:21 on a Monday morning that rocks your world!
More updates to come!
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Posted by cancersucks on 2009-06-28 19:01:23 | Rating: | Views: 1433
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