The Diagnosis and Subsequent Shenanigans
When I got that phone call, the world stopped. I was not paying attention, yet I was hanging onto every word. But then I couldn't recall everything. It was a weird juxtaposition. Is that even the right word?? I have no idea.
The surgeon told me that it's rare and she doesn't have much experience with it, so she would refer me to the Oncologist. Her understanding was that I wouldn't need chemo or radiation; I would need one more surgery to remove the rest of the affected ovary that we were trying to preserve and that should be it.
Ok, not bad. I can handle this.
August 29, 2017 - Oncology and Intro to Chemo
Appointment with Oncologist, Dr. R. This is a different doctor from before. This will now be my official oncologist handling my case. There are 3 oncologists on the team, and I had met with one previously when we first did that MRI 2 years ago. So now I've met 2 out of 3, and that ain't bad.
Dr. R said we'd schedule my second surgery as soon as I was properly healed from the first surgery. He'd do his best to use laparoscopic method and would also be doing some biopsies. He may need to make a larger incision if there was too much scar tissue. He may need to remove all of my reproductive organs if there were signs of cancer on them. And then once I was healed from THAT surgery, we'd start chemo.
*Insert record-scratching noise used in every comedy ever*
WHAT? WHAAAAAAATTTT?!?!?!? The questions filled my head like an avalanche, but came out like a light drizzle. I could barely find words.
Dr. R informed me that since the tumor had ruptured, my entire abdominal cavity had been exposed. There could be cancer cells everywhere. He reallllllllly pushed chemo, saying that it was wise to be aggressive now. I realllllllly pushed for not-chemo. Because NO.
It was a really long drawn out decision process that I'll probably get into later, but just know that this initial conversation did NOT go well at all. I was not expecting chemo to even be on the table and I was completely blindsided by his recommendation. The entire rest of the day, I felt like I had just woken up from a coma; dazed, confused, sad, angry.... all kinds of weird emotions. I give it 0/10, would not recommend.
October 2, 2017 - Staging Surgery and Some Other B.S.
Up until this point, I had been holding out hope that we could avoid chemo IF the biopsies during this staging surgery came back clean. During this surgery, they were going to take some tissue samples of anything that looked abnormal to the naked eye, tissue samples of areas that looked normal but were common for cancer cells to root themselves, and do "washings" where they basically fill the abdominal cavity with fluid and then suck it all back out, then send that off to a lab to test for the presence of cancer cells.
I was hoping that these biopsies would all come back clear. That would give me the confidence to delay chemo until a later date. My oncologist advised against delaying chemo because, in his words, he can't biopsy my whole abdomen. So even if the biopsies came back clear, there could be a little microscopic spot a few centimeters away that would have come back positive for cancer.
But I'm stubborn. So I was like "if the biopsies are clear, we are NOT doing chemo!"
Ok so as it turns out, none of that mattered because of the 7 biopsies they took, 6 came back as cancer-positive. UGH. So, chemo really seemed like the only option. Based on how much it had already spread, this was the first time we found out that it was Stage 3. That's a hard pill to swallow. Doesn't that just sound bad? I still have a hard time believing it. Nevertheless, we march on! Can't sit and dwell on it for too long because that doesn't solve anything.
Just gotta keep moving forward.
The surgeon told me that it's rare and she doesn't have much experience with it, so she would refer me to the Oncologist. Her understanding was that I wouldn't need chemo or radiation; I would need one more surgery to remove the rest of the affected ovary that we were trying to preserve and that should be it.
Ok, not bad. I can handle this.
August 29, 2017 - Oncology and Intro to Chemo
Appointment with Oncologist, Dr. R. This is a different doctor from before. This will now be my official oncologist handling my case. There are 3 oncologists on the team, and I had met with one previously when we first did that MRI 2 years ago. So now I've met 2 out of 3, and that ain't bad.
Dr. R said we'd schedule my second surgery as soon as I was properly healed from the first surgery. He'd do his best to use laparoscopic method and would also be doing some biopsies. He may need to make a larger incision if there was too much scar tissue. He may need to remove all of my reproductive organs if there were signs of cancer on them. And then once I was healed from THAT surgery, we'd start chemo.
*Insert record-scratching noise used in every comedy ever*
WHAT? WHAAAAAAATTTT?!?!?!? The questions filled my head like an avalanche, but came out like a light drizzle. I could barely find words.
 |
| Excuse me??? I was told there would be no chemo. |
Dr. R informed me that since the tumor had ruptured, my entire abdominal cavity had been exposed. There could be cancer cells everywhere. He reallllllllly pushed chemo, saying that it was wise to be aggressive now. I realllllllly pushed for not-chemo. Because NO.
It was a really long drawn out decision process that I'll probably get into later, but just know that this initial conversation did NOT go well at all. I was not expecting chemo to even be on the table and I was completely blindsided by his recommendation. The entire rest of the day, I felt like I had just woken up from a coma; dazed, confused, sad, angry.... all kinds of weird emotions. I give it 0/10, would not recommend.
October 2, 2017 - Staging Surgery and Some Other B.S.
Up until this point, I had been holding out hope that we could avoid chemo IF the biopsies during this staging surgery came back clean. During this surgery, they were going to take some tissue samples of anything that looked abnormal to the naked eye, tissue samples of areas that looked normal but were common for cancer cells to root themselves, and do "washings" where they basically fill the abdominal cavity with fluid and then suck it all back out, then send that off to a lab to test for the presence of cancer cells.
I was hoping that these biopsies would all come back clear. That would give me the confidence to delay chemo until a later date. My oncologist advised against delaying chemo because, in his words, he can't biopsy my whole abdomen. So even if the biopsies came back clear, there could be a little microscopic spot a few centimeters away that would have come back positive for cancer.
But I'm stubborn. So I was like "if the biopsies are clear, we are NOT doing chemo!"
 |
| oh hell naw |
Ok so as it turns out, none of that mattered because of the 7 biopsies they took, 6 came back as cancer-positive. UGH. So, chemo really seemed like the only option. Based on how much it had already spread, this was the first time we found out that it was Stage 3. That's a hard pill to swallow. Doesn't that just sound bad? I still have a hard time believing it. Nevertheless, we march on! Can't sit and dwell on it for too long because that doesn't solve anything.
Just gotta keep moving forward.
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