My story is unique and extremely upsetting when I was 1st diagnosed on February 23,2021 (my mom's birthday). For the last almost 4yrs I've been sick with what my doctor's diagnosed a " Blood and Iron" condition basically my body would not retain iron, make enough red blood cells and what cells were made were abnormally shaped so my body would attack. My symptoms included weakness, bruising extremely easy, feeling tired all the time, fluctuating weight, dizziness, neuropathy, always being cold, not having a good sense of thirst extremely heavy menstrual bleeding 5-10 days and sometimes spotting in between , occasional bloody stools But I still continued to push through day to day ... At the beginning when 1st diagnosed my doctor at the time made me feel extremely scared took me off work as she felt it was unsafe for me to work due to my weakness and dizziness, had me go through several testing, stress test, I had to wear a heart monitor, have blood drawn every week life was scary and very unpredictable it got to a point where my doctor even looked at me and told me..." Carmela there is no name for what you have but live every day to your fullest" I was like WTH am I dying what's wrong with me... So after about 2 months of being home without pay going through several test NOTHING...I was cleared to go back to work and " Carmela we will just follow you and check your levels when you are low you will go to the ICU due to your immune system and get a steroid iron infusion and blood transfusion and we will just monitor you" this was my life for 2yrs until April of 2019 when I was finally referred to a gynecologist for the severe menstrual bleeding thinking maybe he could help and that's when my procedures started..April of 2019 I had a uterine ablation that was too minimize the bleeding but did nothing but cause pain and infection, so that year I continued with my treatments and feeling miserable 2020 was a horrible year Covid hit my mom was once again diagnosed with cancer in February 2020 after beating breast cancer 6yrs prior, this time it was kidney cancer and she had surgery to remove the kidney and spleen , I ended up getting sick with Covid in April and it was a rough road to May 29th when I finally tested negative. Then my son was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation and his journey was just beginning several different doctors, neurosurgeon, neurologist, sleep therapy, opthalmologist, ENT, radiology, all these appointments while I was still battling my condition now dealing with covid after March 26th was no longer able to work due to my immune system due to my condition.. 2020 was a rollercoaster of health issues for my family but I pushed through my stuff because I'm mom and I needed to be there for my son whom after all of his obstacles and appointments ended up needing a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy in July 2020 and in September Brain Surgery for his Chiari Malformation and also a epidermoid cyst in his frontal cortex but unfortunately due to his stature and neck flexibility the surgery was only semi successful and only the Chiari portion of the surgery was successful and this year will need another. We attempted to make 2020 the best of all the good days my bleeding continued and in October 2020 I had a hysterectomy 💔 very emotional but necessary unfortunately I was still needing treatments, so FINALLY the doctors listened and scheduled me for an EGD and Colonoscopy that was the happiest day until I of course had to drink the colonoscopy drink 🤮 but the day came in November and I was ready hospital gown, IVs, everything until the doctor came in and 💔 "sorry Mrs Rodriguez we will proceed with the EGD but the colonoscopy will need to be rescheduled due to being too close to your hysterectomy surgery" I was angry heartbroken but nothing I could do... So he did the procedure and nothing there .. fast-forward to January of 2021 my mom is very sick in the hospital I'm thinking it's something to do with side effects of her recent battle with Covid but mom end up being in the hospital for a week and things are not good her levels are low and doctors test her cancer and notice that its become aggressive and it's spread something I did not know.. so on January 13,2021 I receive a conference call from my mom's hospital doctors while they are in her room as she was in an Indianapolis hospital.. this was a hard day the doctor begins to talk and basically tells us the cancer to her kidney has come back and spread to her lung and became extremely aggressive to the point there is nothing else we can do 💔😭... I wanted to break down and cry I wanted to scream but I'm the oldest and I knew my mom needed me to be 100% the doctor asked what she wanted to do she had 2 option continue treatment but it truly won't due anything or switch to hospice and allow her body and mind to easily and comfortably fall into rest .. I didn't know what to think this is my mom this can't be happening so I asked the doctor In his experience what is my mom's time frame his reply 💔 "months" so I basically told my mom .." Mom I want you here let me care for you and be comfortable" so that's how it was 1-15-21 mom was transported via ambulance from Indianapolis and set up in my home on hospice her days at the beginning were rough until hospice found the right medical treatment to keep her comfortable but mom was slowly going I was her full-time caregiver and my husband was my only support he was my Rock , on 2-5-21 after not sleeping for almost 2 days because I could see she was bad I took a shower anf and my husband forced me to take a nap my was resting I knew it was close her body was spungy her breathing was gurgling my heart was breaking I didn't want to sleep but I was exhausted my husband Joe had taken the kids to family it was just us and mom I dozed off and at 11:20pm he woke me up to tell me that mom was gone I was heartbroken and went numb ..The following week was horrible I was not myself I started feeling sick stomach was hurting appetite was non existent I wanted my mom .. The pain was starting to be unbearable to the point my stomach was so loud it could be heard on 2-13-21 I went to the ER in the morning only to be given some iv meds and get told " you have a stomach virus go home and rest" I was like ok BUT that was not the case the meds wore off and I was I excruciating pain screaming, crying tossing puking so my husband rushed me back to the ER thankfully a different doctor this time,Got me comfortable with meds and after a cat scan I had a colon obstruction and needed surgery and to be transferred to a different hospital well of course with Covid I needed to test and of course my luck I tested positive but was asymptomatic..From 2-13 to 2-23-21 I was hospitalized with a colon obstruction, Covid ended up getting a colorectal surgery that removed a fraction of my colon and a decent sized tumor, within 2 days covid symptoms kicked in and it was bad I needed a plasma infusion, blood transfusion, several infusion of potassium,iron, etc I was treated for so much while up there as my body started to give up, my heart was acting up, my BP and heart rate were not steady, my adrenal levels were effected I was stopping these doctors and keeping all of them on their toes all while unfortunately having to be in isolation and not being able to see my husband or my kids my heart was breaking my strength was drained I wanted it to be over..The hospital staff was amazing but I just wanted to feel my family's arms around me..FINALLY the fevers slowed down, then I was diagnosed with Addison Disease an Adrenal deficency and the most heartbreaking was on the day I was released 2-23-21 my colorectal surgeon came in to tell me that the biopsy results came back and It was Cancer 😞 That's how it all began.. when I finally did my follow up with my colorectal surgeon he in turn told me that my " Blood Condition" was actually the cancer and that he wished they would have listened to me and did the colonoscopy because maybe the cancer could have been found at an earlier stage giving me better chances Instead of where I currently am.I am diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer and had my doctor's just listened Instead of just going by my age maybe it would have been diagnosed earlier but now I'll never know.. Cancer has no age limits, race,sex it attacks everyone and doctors need to listen to their patients..I had the chance to see that initial doctor who said it was just a "blood condition" and yes I gave her a piece of my mind because I needed that to be free and able to fight this but also because I wanted her to open her eyes and maybe if someone else like me goes to her she can rectify the wrongs she made with me..I know my journey is long but I now have an amazing oncology team my medical assistant Kali, my nurse Amanda and my doctor's have such a personal and Truthful touch to their patients and their families and for them I am thankful..I fight for me, I fight for my husband, I fight for my 6 kids, my sister and her family, my brother, my in-laws and every single person who has stepped up and proven to me that they are TRUE because I don't have time to waste on unecesary people.So this is just the beginning of my story I guess thank you all for following along 💙💗)
Weeks like this suck mentally I’m not all there so much stress and worry emotionally I’m a mess and financially we are at a place where do we put gas in the car or have dinner
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