Welcome to my CaringBridge site. I've created it to keep friends and family updated. I appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement during this time when it matters most. I appreciate the offers for help. I'm increasingly more aware of my need to rely on you all to support Antonio and myself. Late June 2016 I noticed a a hard lump on the left side of my abdomen that wasn't moving when pressed. I went to the doctor and quickly had a cat scan which revealed that she had two very large masses growing in her. The Dr. scheduled a hysterectomy for June 28th to remove the masses. The surgery went well, however the Dr. noticed that the mass was rooted in the small intestines and partially removed what he could. On July 15th the Dr. confirmed that the tumors were cancerous and I was actually facing small intestinal cancer instead of gynecological. The cancer had begun in the small intestine and as of now it is considered Stage 4 Small Intestinal Cancer because of the size of the masses removed as well as the new masses that developed in the cervix in a quick amount of time. The Dr. referred me onto the oncologist for chemotherapy treatments due to the metastasized cancer. On Monday, August 1st I had my port installed. I started my first chemo treatment on August 4th and will continue to do so for every two weeks for a minimum of six months. As of now. my treatments are being infused at the clinic for 3-4 hours and then I am sent home with a portable IV for the remaining doses of chemo, which takes about 46 hours. Since everything happened so fast, I did not know what to expect or how to best prepare. Since having the first treatment I've experienced what feels like torture, I've experienced a very high level of anxiety and confusion, nausea and vomiting.I do feel much more confident now that I know how to prepare. I'm praying that my body will become more accustomed to the meds, however I've been told by doctors/nurses that each patient responds differently as treatment continues, so I'm hoping for the best in this time of uncertainty.
Here is a sign up genius page I created to manage all the offers to help with my current needs.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e48abab29a3f94-support 
