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!