My story begins on October 9th, 2014. I went to my regular doctor’s
office, because of some abdominal pain I was having. My stomach was also
sticking out and was very hard! I did not know what to expect but I was very
scared. I went inside the doctor’s office probably around 11am. My nurse wanted
me to take a urine test because she thought I might be pregnant. I knew this
wasn’t the case but I took one and waited for the results with my mom.
About 30 minutes later the nurse came back into the room and
told me she thinks I am pregnant. She told me how the test came back slightly
positive, so she thought I had something called an ectopic pregnancy. An
ectopic pregnancy is where the fetus grows outside of your fallopian tube. It
is very dangerous and life-threatening, and my nurse wanted me to get an ultra
sound done right away.
I remember immediately just freaking out and crying. I was
so shocked because my mom was calm throughout this and I thought she would have
been freaking out and yelling at me. I was even more nervous because if it was
an ectopic pregnancy, I would’ve had to have emergency surgery that day. I
never had surgery before and I didn’t want that to be my first! After the ultra
sound was all done, I just remember sitting and waiting for what seemed like
hours. We had to wait for the results to come in so we knew what the next steps
were.
When my nurse finally came down, she called me and my mom
out in the hallway and asked to speak with us privately. She had a worried look
on her face which made me so nervous. “Ok so after looking at your ultra sound
we found something that looks very worrisome”. Those were her first words. I
couldn’t breathe and I started shaking. “We found a large unidentified mass….”
That was it. That’s all I heard before I started tuning her out. I could feel
the tears rolling down my face. All that was in my mind was cancer. I screamed
out and asked her if that was what I had. I was so nervous and scared. My nurse
reassured me that they believe I had something called a teratoma tumor, which
is 98% of the time benign (non-cancerous). All I would need was surgery and
then I would be fine. After we had a long talk, I went and got my first ever
CAT scan done, so they could get a better look of the mass. (I hate that
word!).
The very next day, October 10, I got accepted into the
Disney College Program! I was so excited and remember thinking that this
acceptance couldn’t have come at a better time! I thought of it as God’s way of
telling me everything was going to be ok. Even if it didn’t look good now, it
will all be good in the end. Because I am destined to do great things!
That following week I met with an Oncologist who was going
to be handling my surgery. My nurse thought it would be best if I went with an
Oncologist just in case my tumor was cancerous. They weren’t expecting it to
be, but if it was, that way I wouldn’t have to keep changing doctors. When I met
with my doctor who was going to be handling my surgery, he was very nice and
friendly. He just went over what the procedure was going to be like and
answered any of my questions.
On October 21st 2014, I had my surgery. I
remember being afraid and crying a lot that morning. I had an early surgery, so
I got to the hospital extremely early. Maybe around 6. I was scared about
getting Anesthesia, because I was afraid I wasn’t going to wake up. I told all
the nurses around me how I got accepted into the Disney College Program and
they talked to me about that until I passed out from the Anesthesia.
When I woke up in the recovery room I just remember
wondering where my mom was. She was the last family member I saw before I passed
out so I was wondering why she wasn’t by my side. I also remember asking the
nurses if I had cancer, but none of them would tell me. When they finally said
they were going to take me to my room I was so excited so I could see my
family!
While I was in recovery my doctor came out to tell my
parents how they were wrong on my original diagnosis. I did not have a teratoma
tumor, but he thought I had Ovarian Cancer. He wasn’t sure exactly what type,
but he thought it was a rare kind the girl’s ages 7-20 get. My parents and
doctor made the decision not to tell me I had cancer until I was fully
recovered from the surgery. A lot of people asked me if I was mad that I didn’t
know, but I was actually happy they didn’t tell me. Being in the hospital was
so hard for me. If I had the stress of knowing I had cancer while I was in the
hospital, I think I would have had a longer recovery time.
Being in the hospital was probably one of the hardest things
I have ever done. Way harder than chemo. Not because of the staff though. I had
amazing nurses and also an amazing doctor! I hated not being able to eat
regular food. I was on a liquid diet for 2/4 days I was there. And then when I finally
was able to eat solids, I didn’t have the appetite for it. Nurses would come
and wake you up every 3 hours starting at midnight to 6 in the morning, making
it so hard to sleep! I also felt bad making my mom have to stay there the whole
time and my dad having to travel from work to the hospital and then back home
to take care of my brother. I felt very dependent on people and I hated not
being able to do a lot on my own. I had a pretty long scar with staples in my
stomach after my surgery. And I refused to look at it until I got home. I don’t
know why I didn’t want to look, I was just scared I guess ha.
I went home on October 24th, and the very next
day my parents told me I had cancer. While in the hospital I was told that
there’s a chance I could have cancer but the doctor wasn’t sure so he had to
run some more tests. That day was very hard for both me and my parents. We
weren’t exactly sure what type of Ovarian Cancer I had. There are 3 different
types of Ovarian Cancer, and my doctor thought it was a rare pediatric ovarian
cancer. On October 28th, I went to my doctor’s office to get my
staples out and also find out what type of cancer I had. After I got my staples
out, my doctor informed me that I had a 13lb tumor that they had taken out. It
was stage 3 dysgerminoma Ovarian Cancer. The cancer had spread to both my
ovaries, one fallopian tube, and a lymph node. Along with the tumor, I had one
ovary and a fallopian tube removed. I plan to meet with a fertility specialist
soon to talk about my chances on having kids.
The next step was planning my treatments. There were 3
different types of treatment plans I could have done. My treatment consisted of
3 different treatments for 3 days on a 28 day cycle. I started my treatments in
Early November and ended in early January! *silent cheer for being all done*.
For each one of my treatments, I ran into a problem. My first treatment was
definitely the worst. I had an allergic reaction to one of my chemo meds during
chemo! It all happened so fast. I just remember sitting there with my dad and
then suddenly hardly being able to breathe. I kept having to grasp for air! I
called my nurse and within 30 seconds there were about 15 nurses in my small
room trying to stop my reaction! Definitely one of the scariest things that has
happened to me! My second treatment wasn’t anything major; I had to get stuck
with an IV needle 12 times for the 3 days I had chemo! L I didn’t bring my
veins with me for that treatment and so it was really hard for the nurses to
find a vein that was good enough to use. For my last treatment that I just had,
my white blood count was too low to receive a treatment. Instead of holding off
treatment for a week, I got a shot today that helps my bone marrow make more
blood cells. The shot was painful and has a couple minor side effects…but I am
just glad to say I am officially done with chemotherapy!
It has been a long journey, one that isn’t over yet, but I am
happy to say I am starting this New Year off right! Cancer free J
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