Sabrina’s Story

Site created on May 6, 2020

I have Metastatic Colon Cancer. Words I would have never expected to hear, especially at 37 years old. Let me start by telling you how it all began. On April 14th I woke up with very bad upper abdomen pain on both sides. The kind of pain that makes moving and breathing painful. The pain was also in my back and my upper right shoulder. At that point I thought it might have been gallbladder issues, because all signs pointed to my gallbladder based on what the internet told me and it was a seemingly simple fix. It was then I went to the Gastro One clinic to properly/officially diagnose my beliefs... I was fortunate to get in the very next day. By that time the pain had subsided and was only a dull ache in my upper abdomen and back and at that point, I would have normally cancelled the appointment and moved on with my life but I had friends and family that told me to follow through and have the issue diagnosed.

Once at the doctor, and after a quick exam, she also thought it was a gallbladder issue and started the initial tests to confirm. I had blood drawn that day and the very next day went in for an Ultra Sound. A couple of days later the doctor called and said the gallbladder was clear but that they found several abnormal spots on my liver some small and some as large as 7 cm. At this point my doctor felt the spots were benign liver tumors that could have been a result of long term birth control or just a tumor that most people have and don’t know it. So, next step was an MRI to get an even deeper look into the spots.   I went for an MRI a few days later. The same afternoon as the MRI I received another call from my doctor. Turns out there were spots on my liver as well as a spot on my colon. That is where the story takes that unexpected turn you never want to take. They now think it may be colon cancer that has spread to my liver.

The doctor immediately referred me to an Oncologist at the West Cancer Center and I went to my first appointment on Tuesday May 5th. What an experience. That day lead to a CT scan and a biopsy of my liver. Results came back and the cancer diagnosis was confirmed. The spot in my colon is relatively small but my liver has several large masses on both sides and smaller ones throughout. This makes surgery not an option at this time. Great news is the cancer has not spread to any other parts of my body. Chemo will start June 3rd to hopefully stop the spread, shrink and kill the cancer tumors and once this is accomplished, we will possibly move on to the next phase of this unexpected journey. Initially, we are going to fight hard at this with the chemo treatments every 10 days through at least mid-October. I am young and healthy and the doctor thinks this will be the best option to attack the cancer and tumors. We will adjust as we go and may add medications if we need to.

I have always believed that things happen for a reason and that events never affect just one person. This life “speed bump” does not change that. I plan on fighting this with every “super power” that I have in me and then some. God has a plan for me and I know I have so much more to do in life. Living each day with that gives me internal peace and positive thoughts for now and forever.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Brody P

Hello everyone, Brody here….I’m back with some amazing updates.  It has been so long, but with Mom back to work it is really hard to get my paws on the laptop!!  My Mom is apparently a very strong human and amazing, but most of you know that already.  Not only did she go through a year of chemo treatment and then go through a major, major surgery to take out all the bad stuff, she was back functioning pretty normal in record time.  Even her Doctors have had to tell her to slow down a take it easy but it is hard to keep her down so sometimes I just had to crawl up on the lap part that was not sore so she cannot get up and make her rest.  Works every time, sometime for hours.  Jack tried too but he was too big so Jack had to do side snuggles.  In a little over four weeks after the surgery, Mom needed to feel normal again and begged the Doctors to give her permission to go back to work and they finally did but only from home and to only do very specific job things.  Now after almost three full months, Mom is driving again, planning on visiting the office as she can, but still cannot pick me up or pick up anything that would put strain on her body parts.  Mom has been to her Oncologist and to her Surgeons office for a couple of visits each and even had a CAT scanned again (darn cats!!) and of recent, with the exception of some scar tissue and small pockets of fluid around the liver parts, everything looks amazing.  The Doctor said that the pockets are nothing to worry about right now, unless Mom gets a fever which could mean infection, they should gradually go away but that they will watch those bad guys to make sure they are not going to make any trouble.   All her Doctors are very pleased with the cancer lesion free results and that Mom recovered so well.  Mom says it is still very hard to realize that the bad stuff is gone and she is Cancer free.  Mom still has a lot of unique pains she has never felt before and those worry her but Mom takes notes when it happens and will ask the Doctor if it is normal and considering how deep and long her surgery site is and all of the nerves and muscles that have to come back it is expected but better safe than sorry.  After all, this all started with a sharp pain in her right shoulder/back area that would not go away so Mom tells everyone DO NOT ignore those signs.

Even though the Doctors will have to monitor her for a long time, if something does sneak back  in it will not have long to live.  Mom’s Oncologist is keeping a very close watch and is going to take very special care long-term.  It all seems like a wonderful doggy dream to me but she tells me to remember that it was God’s work and the miracle of all the prayers, well wishes and support.  Mom did not do this alone, plus Jack and I helped a lot with all the doggy snuggles and pooch smooches.  That was our magic medicine!! 

I will try and do better and make sure everyone following Mom’s progress is updated.  I have just been chasing my tail trying to make sure Mom takes care of herself and gets even better.  I miss my regular walks but for my Mom, Jack and I will make the sacrifice plus it is too doggone HOT on our feets!!  Until next time…Brody out.

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