Post-op on 5/16/11

I'm sorry I haven't wrote in awhile. I wanted to make sure I was lucid enough to not write something I would regret later. Then I waited because I had today's appointment coming up. I was really nervous going into this appointment today not sure what I would hear in regards to the pathology report and especially didn't expect to hear what I did. It started off great with my doctor coming in and asking "Are you ready to hear some really good news?" Uh.... HECK YEAH! So the really good news was that the pathology report on all 16 biopsies came back as negative. They have not found that it traveled out of my "girlie regions" and my doctor stated there is no reason I can't be fully cured of this. 

The thing I wasn't expecting to hear was that I literally had 2 cancers simultaneously. I had Endometrial Cancer stage 1B Grade 2 and Ovarian Cancer 1A Grade 2. This was a little hard to swallow for me since I know how deadly Ovarian Cancer can be. The more I think about this whole thing the more blessed I feel that I am alive. Had it not been for the signs from the Endometrial Cancer I would have not gone in and been checked out. I had no clue this other tumor was growing inside of me and I now know why Ovarian Cancer is called the "Silent Killer". My tumor had already grown from a softball size when I had the PET Scan last month to 20.9 X 12.7 X 9.4 cm. I am a visual person so I asked the doctor about what size is that and I almost hit the floor when he showed me. I have seen premature babies this size. When you are talking cm's it is hard to envision because we use inches a lot more so it is like 8.2 X 5 X 3.7 inches if you can better picture that.

My doctor stated that if I just had the Endometrial Cancer he would see me back in 6 months for a check-up and if I just had the Ovarian Cancer he would start me on chemo/radiation as soon as I was healed from my hysterectomy but since I had/have (no clue which one it is anymore) both he wants to get opinions of his colleagues as to which to do and how much. He said he doesn't want to give not enough but then again he doesn't want to do too much. We have 4 weeks before we will meet again and start me on whatever he thinks is best. Until then I will focus on staying positive and get some things done while I have some energy. 

I would like to thank everyone that has been following my blog, commenting with encouraging things, saying prayers for me and my family, keeping us in your thoughts, driving me/us places, sending me BEAUTIFUL flowers and cards, bringing me dinners, planning my dinners, visiting me in the hospital, getting me a private room in the hospital, staying with me and lovingly taking care of me for a month without fail, calling and checking on me, texting me and Facebooking me! You all are absolutely wonderful and I thank God everyday for you!!!! I love you guys!

The Big Surgery

Well everyone, the time has come for my big surgery. I went today and did my pre-op at the Dr.'s office and the hospital. The doctor advised that he will be taking the cervix, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, all the lymph nodes (which I just thought he was doing biopsies on), and of course the other mass they found I like to call Osama Bin Tumor. My team of navy seals will be going in to get him tomorrow. The doctor also advised that there is a possibility that they will have to go back in after this surgery so that was a bummer to hear.

My Baptist pre-op was interesting, to say the least. Sitting in the little waiting room and watching what was taking place led me to believe it would be a rough attempt at getting blood work done today. I am not an "easy stick" as I have been told but this nurse... So she attempted, very painfully, to get blood. As she stood there with the needle in my hand for the second time, rolling it around to hit the vain she decided she was done and raised her white flag. This was a great decision on her part as I was just about to ask for someone else. So in comes the nurse manager who was able to get it the first time and not nearly as painful! Finally after an hour and a half of pre-op I was done and walked out to the waiting room. I must have looked a hot mess with all 3 of my band-aides on because my mom asked me who won. Needless to say, if this particular nurse comes in to do my IV I will have to insist on anyone else.

I wanted to let everyone know that I found out in my last appointment that when we women go to our yearly pap smears they test for cervical cancer but not uterine. You have to request it or be having symptoms in order for them to check for uterine. This seems to be a huge disservice to women considering if we wait until we are having symptoms the chances of us already having some form of uterine cancer is highly likely. Please make sure you pass this information on to all the women in your life.  

I will be in the hospital until either Saturday or Sunday and I will post again after I am home and lucid. Again, I appreciate all the well wishes, prayers and dinners people have volunteered to bring. Please also be praying for another woman who is around my age and in there for the same exact thing. Her name is Jessica and I met her today at pre-op. She is very nervous about tomorrow and has other things that she has had to deal with that have come up with all her testing. Thank you again!

Molly

Post-op on 4/21/11 & Upcoming Surgery

I want to first start by apologizing that it has taken me so long to update the blog after my last appointment. Unfortunately, I have been struggling with my depression and some days are good and others not so good. Thank you everyone for your wonderful words of encouragement. They, along with my family and friends, have brought me much comfort and I read over them again and again to draw strength from and to remember I am loved.

So last Thursday I went to find out some news I have been waiting to hear for awhile now, which cancer I actually have. Upon much review from my wonderful doctor and the pathologist they determined I have Endometrial Cancer. So it started in the Endometrium, a lining of the uterus, and grew down into the cervix.

I also found out additional good news which is they will be doing a Full Hysterectomy. I was completely grateful to hear they do not need to do what's called a Radical Hysterectomy, which is a lot more invasive and would be more time in the hospital and a much longer recovery. This was the procedure they were thinking I would need in the beginning. He did advise he is going to have to do a radical dissection and they of course are going to have to cut into my abdomen so they can get the other tumor they found when they did the PET Scan. All in all, I am looking at being in the hospital 3-4 days and a recovery of about 6 weeks. After about my 2nd week of recovery they will be starting,  what is called a "Sandwich" technique which is when they alternate the chemo and radiation so they can make sure they get all the cancer. I received the call today about scheduling my surgery so it looks like the big day is next Wednesday May 4th At Baptist Downtown. I have to go to pre-op on Tuesday May 3rd at both the doctor's office and the hospital and then I have to report for surgery on Wednesday at 10am. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

PET Scan Results

Today was a pretty good day. We got the results of my PET Scan and the cancer has not travelled to any organs or lymph nodes thank God! The doctor did, however, describe my scan as intriguing. Evidently I have a softball size tumor on my right side, above my uterus and bladder that came up extremely hot on my scan. I guess when something comes up as a "hot spot" it indicates where large amounts of the radio tracer they injected me with last Wednesday has accumulated and where there is a high level of chemical activity. This indicates cancer is present. He is unsure if it originated as cancer or if I had the tumor already and the cancer travelled to it. Either way this is something they can, thankfully, remove as far as we know at this point. In the next couple days I go in for a cone biopsy where they will take 3 different biopsies in an outpatient surgical setting and try to narrow down once and for all if this is truly endometrial or cervical cancer. The doctor did indicate that so far almost everything about this is showing signs of endometrial cancer but they just want to try and confirm before they decide on treatments. Thank you everyone for all the encouraging prayers, emails, phone calls, texts, and thoughts. I appreciate them all and am very grateful to have everyones love and support!

PET Scan

Today I went to the hospital to get a PET Scan to find out if the cancer has spread to any other organs in my body. Most of the time this is so surreal, like I am going to wake up any moment and then there are times like today when I get the pleasure of having a syringe encased in lead, full of a radio-active tracer pumped directly into my vein. Something about that just makes this oh so real. They then proceeded to stick me in a room and turn off the lights so I could "relax". When I asked if I could use my phone they told me no only because they wanted me to "relax". If I found out anything today... it is that my being in a room alone with time to think is "not relaxing"! After laying extremely still (or attempting as my arm fell asleep) for 30 mins while the machine moved it's way s-l-o-w-l-y from my feet to my head, I was then told I shouldn't be within 5 feet of other people for so many hours so I took this time to nap. I made sure, however, that I was on time to my 2nd appointment today only to find out that it actually isn't until tomorrow. This was a long day but absolutely loving my mom being here just hate the circumstances. Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

Up To Speed

It occurred to me that while I have invited many people to view my blog, not everyone knew about what happened. So I will step back for a second to explain in as short a post as possible. I went to have a simple outpatient surgery on the 22nd March which ended up not happening and instead biopsies were taken. The following week I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor and was advised that they double checked my pathology results and sure enough it came back that I had cancer. As far as he knew it was endometrial cancer which is the most common form for woman, I was told, and highly treatable. That same week I saw the oncologist for the first time and was advised that they are unsure if it is endometrial stage 2 or cervical stage 1B2 (not the news I was expecting). He advised he wanted me to have some tests done to get some answers and that brings us to today.

Welcome

I just wanted to say hello to everyone and tell you that this blog thing is completely new to me so please bare with me. I was already getting somewhat overwhelmed with phone calls because everyone cares so much but didn't want all my information all over Facebook. While I appreciate the calls of concern and please don't stop calling me altogether, it is hard to handle repeating information over and over again especially when the news is not the best. I hope to be able to keep everyone informed of any updates when I get them so that you all have the information at your fingertips. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers!