In late October 2011, at the age of 52, I was diagnosed with Stage IIIC Ovarian Cancer. Although I had symptoms for several years, I had no idea that the bloating, weight gain, constipation, heavy bleeding, fatigue, night sweats, and general anxiety were anything more than over work and aging. As it turns out, many of these symptoms, when experienced for more than 2-3 weeks can indicate ovarian cancer.
My cancer was found on a Monday afternoon, when my primary care physician referred me to a local ER after I presented to her with what I thought was blood clot in my leg and an intermittent pain under my left rib cage. I was admitted to the ER and after an ultrasound of my leg, and x-rays of both my chest and abdomen, I was told that the blood clot was minor, but it appeared that I had ovarian cancer. I was released to a local cancer center to confirm the diagnosis with CA-125blood testing and a CT Scan with a biopsy.
I met with the Gynecologic Oncologist on Thursday who reviewed the test results and confirmed the diagnosis of stage IIIC Ovarian Cancer. A port-a-cath was inserted on Friday and I began Chemo therapy on Tuesday, November 1st.
Over the next 2 months, between 3 rounds of chemo, I worked full time, accepted a new job, cherished the holidays with my family, and lost all my hair. When I returned to my oncologist in early January, I had a follow-up CT scan and we learned that although my CA-125 was dropping, the new scan showed the cancer was growing.
After three second opinions, on Valentine’s Day 2012,I underwent a 10 hour surgery with a surgeon who had recently moved to Memphis to offer a cancer treatment that had not been performed in the Memphis area. The procedure is called HIPEC (Heated Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy). My ovaries, uterus, appendix, gallbladder, spleen, right colon and part of the omentum were removed. Then the medical team circulated heated saline and Oxaliplatin, a chemotherapy drug, through my abdomen for over an hour. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital and then went home to continue my recovery from surgery. In April, I began 12 rounds of prophylactic IV Chemotherapy.
In early September, I returned to work part-time whileI finished up chemo. Then, in October 2012, nearly one year after my original diagnosis, I finished my last round of Chemo and I returned to work full-time in November.
I have been diligent about my CT scans every 3 months and was thrilled in January 2014 when my oncologist said I could go 6 months until my next scan. However, in early July a new PET scan confirmed that the cancer is back and growing in my abdomen. So, we are headed back to surgery on September 2nd. This time, we are going to get it all.
I am preparing for my 3rd HIPEC surgery on June 11, 2019 and will be making future entries on MyLifeLine. You can find me here: https://www.mylifeline.org/LaurelNiday
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