So here I sit as summer starts to fade away, ready to welcome the crisp fall weather and colors. I would like to share my cancer journey through diagnosis and treatment. The story is quite long, so I have split it into two separate posts:
Diagnosis
I was diagnosed with Stage 2A Ovarian Cancer in March 2018 at the age of 60. Since childhood I have dealt with Irritable Bowel System, or as my mother liked to call it – a nervous stomach. Bloating, constipation, diarrhea, were all common symptoms that I learned to ignore through my life. However, as I look back, I did have a feeling of fullness even when I ate small amounts months prior to my diagnosis, plus bloating, couldn’t seem to lose weight and had a slight pain on the left side, which I attributed to a strained muscle when doing crunches. The picture below is from my 60th birthday in Oahu when I ignored the bloating and fullness feeling.
My son lives in South Korea and he had vacation time in March and wanted to visit Angkor Wat and Vietnam but didn’t want to go by himself. My husband suggested that I go. The travel arrangements were made, and I went to apply for a Visa to Vietnam when I realized that my passport would expire in March! The only way to get a passport in time was to drive up to Detroit to renew in person. Prior to the three-hour drive I experienced that pain in my left side I noticed a few months earlier. This time the pain would not go away, and intensified after the six hours of driving. Since the overseas trip was only a few weeks away, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have a hernia or other health issue.
Right after my drive to Detroit, I went to my medical center’s urgent care. The on-call physician examined me, and said yes, she could feel something there, but wasn’t sure what it was. She brought someone else in and she too said yep there’s something there! They ordered an ultrasound on the spot. The technician started with an abdominal ultrasound, but after seeing something she switched to a trans-vaginal ultrasound.
She examined both my left and right sides, at the time I didn’t understand why. Following the exam I joked about feeling like I had golf balls inside, but she said, no the cysts were more like grapefruits. Back into the doctor’s office I called my husband who came right away and we spoke with the physician who confirmed I have two ovarian cysts and scheduled an appointment with a gynecological oncologist for me. The doctor was so sweet and concerned for me and wanted to make sure she could get me in to see the best doctor at the earliest time.
My appointment with the GYN oncologist was one week later on March 5th. The specialist confirmed that I have two ovarian cysts and will need to have surgery. Of course, I asked if they could just aspirate the cysts since I have a trip planned the following week. No, that was not an option! She explained there are two courses of action - Plan A) do laparoscopic surgery to remove the cysts or Plan B) what I refer to as gut me like a fish – an open surgical procedure with a vertical incision. Total debulking of the area – ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, lymph nodes, and fatty tissue in the area. She then ordered lab tests, including a CA-125. Surgery was scheduled for March 15, 2018.
When we got home, we called both kids (our daughter lives in Los Angles and son in South Korea) and let them know I was having surgery and gave them the information from the doctor regarding the two possible scenarios. I told my son that the trip would be postponed, but we would still go. my story continues next week......
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