On June 30, 2011 I had surgery at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring to determine if I have ovarian cancer. From now on referred to as the 'oc'. I knew NOTHING about 'oc'. I went to my primary care because I had bloated so badly I looked pregnant. She sent me immediately for a CT scan. The CT scan showed an enormous amount of fluid and a very large mass. I knew something was wrong as I waited. The nurse came in and said the radiologist was calling my doctor.
Soooo... long story short... I do have 'oc'. I was directed to a gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Albert Steren. Dr. Steren successfully removed the 5 liters of fluid, the 6 inch mass, completed a hysterectomy and an appendectomy. Pathology was sent to the Holy Cross lab and then to Johns Hopkins.
I saw my oncologist, Dr. Hudhud, yesterday. Some history... Dr. Hudhud was my mom's oncologist and saved her life 9 years ago. My mom had stage 3 rectal cancer. She had a much rougher time than I should have. She also had radiation. Ovarian cancer is not treated with radiation. Whew! But... it can come back. Yes, without ovaries I can still get ovarian cancer again.
Soooo... because of the incredibly large size of the tumor, the excessive amount of fluid that was drained from my abdomen during my surgery and the fact that there could be a cancer cell hanging around in there somewhere... Dr. H wants me to have 5-6 rounds of chemo. He said it does not make sense that I just had my gyn annual physical this spring and that it grew that fast.
Dr. H hope's to start on Aug 11th. I will have chemo every 21 days after that. The cancer center is in Mt. Airy on Center Street. Prior to the 8/11 appt. I will have a PET scan which scans the entire body for cancer. I will also have a port put in to avoid them poking my "incredibly tough and disappearing" veins to get blood and put in IV's.
Everyone wants to know what they can do for me. Please pray. God is great, but sometimes life ain't good (Martina McBride). My faith will get me through this. I have gotten much closer to Him. I have learned to pray and meditate much more. Thanks to Pastor Dan I have learned to meditate on one word or a couple words... I have chosen "Come, Lord Jesus, Come" or "Maranatha". Our Praise Band at church sings a song with the lyrics: "Come, Lord Jesus, Come" and I can hear them singing these words as I meditate.
More to come... you all may get tired of hearing from me. This is very therapeutic.
<3 U all,
jude
I luv U big siter and you know that even before anything happened you and all your loved ones were already in my prayers, and will continue to be. By, the way Bilingual prayers too. Keep on shinning and irradiating that beautiful light of yours, always making things better for everyone, for the ones that mean good and for the one that not...you are a tremendous human been and I am proud to be called Judy's friend...yes! the latino looking-petite one...that's me. Luv U Sis ♥X♥X
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