Medical Bills
Donation protected
This past year, the short(ish) version ...
As many of you know, this past year has been a life changing time for me. In July of last year I got the news that cervical cancer had been growing in my pelvis. Getting the "cancer" diagnosis is never something anyone wants to hear about anyone especially themselves. But, from the moment of my diagnosis I chose never to take on the victim role. This was just someting in my life at the time that was there to make me stop and think.
Most cervical cancers are slow growing, so I may have had it for quite some time. The diagnosis was stage 1B1, which is an early stage, but the so called "cure" for it was a radical hysterectomy. All the doctors we spoke to pretty much said this was the best option for my diagnosis. Of course that meant no children. I was in the middle of planning my wedding, so I had to take a moment to really decide if that was what I wanted to do.
I didn't immediately go thru with the surgery, because I felt I needed to do some soul searching first. And, when I finally came to terms of what needed to be done, I was ready. So, at the end of December I went in for my radical hysterectomy. But, to my surprise, as I woke up from the anesthesia, I was still in tact, mostly. There had been a possibility told to us that once they went in they had to biopsy the lymph nodes around the area where the cancer was to see if they were infected. Well, the lymphs were positive, and they stopped the surgery. The doctor only took out my fallopian tubes and 7 lymphnodes that were in that area.
Waking up to this was a bit disappointing, but I was still ready to fight. The next step was to have chemotherapy and radiation-external & internal. After 6 weeks of recovering from the surgery, and some other scans, I had another surgery to put my mediport in that would be used to give me the chemo. The following week I began my treatments of chemo & external radiation.
I was scheduled 6 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 days of external radiation.
I endured a grueling 6 weeks of nausea & bowel inflammation, along with no appetite. I had two weekends that I recieved shots in my stomach to increase the production of my white blood cells. But, I fought through it and survived the 6 weeks.
They gave me a week to rest before my next treatment would start, the internal radiation. That was the most physically hard treatment. I only had to have 5 of them, but they really took it out of me. I would arrive between 8-9am. They would get me set up in a bed & give me anxiety meds & morphine for the first part of the treatment. I had to be somewhat aware of what was going on, so they couldn't fully sedate me. It was so uncomfortable to get the apparatuses put inside. Then off to a CT scan to make sure of placement, and then waiting for the physicists & doctors to come up with a plan of treatment for that day. The actual radiation treatment was maybe 10 min, and I couldn't feel anything. After they removed what was in me and flushed out my port I was on my way home around 2 or 3, still out of it, and would sleep the rest of the day.
A month passed and I had my follow ups. Everything looks great! I'm on my way back to healing myself back to normal. Still fatigued a bit, but on my way! However, the reason I am posting this here is because I haven't worked at all this year, and I do have some support from my parents, but the medical bills are coming in and I'm already falling behind. My healing is going to be a process, and stress is definitely something that is going on in my mind about my medical bills. I know I will be returning to work, but already in debited to the medical community. Some people have asked me if I needed anything to let them know. Well, I'm asking for your help now in making a donation of what ever amount. Every little bit helps, and I'd really appreciate it.
I have faith that my prayers will be answered, and that I continue to heal. I've learned alot and keep learning about life. Having gone through this I have a new perspective about life and how I want to live it. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, loved, & supported me. Love you and God Bless!
As many of you know, this past year has been a life changing time for me. In July of last year I got the news that cervical cancer had been growing in my pelvis. Getting the "cancer" diagnosis is never something anyone wants to hear about anyone especially themselves. But, from the moment of my diagnosis I chose never to take on the victim role. This was just someting in my life at the time that was there to make me stop and think.
Most cervical cancers are slow growing, so I may have had it for quite some time. The diagnosis was stage 1B1, which is an early stage, but the so called "cure" for it was a radical hysterectomy. All the doctors we spoke to pretty much said this was the best option for my diagnosis. Of course that meant no children. I was in the middle of planning my wedding, so I had to take a moment to really decide if that was what I wanted to do.
I didn't immediately go thru with the surgery, because I felt I needed to do some soul searching first. And, when I finally came to terms of what needed to be done, I was ready. So, at the end of December I went in for my radical hysterectomy. But, to my surprise, as I woke up from the anesthesia, I was still in tact, mostly. There had been a possibility told to us that once they went in they had to biopsy the lymph nodes around the area where the cancer was to see if they were infected. Well, the lymphs were positive, and they stopped the surgery. The doctor only took out my fallopian tubes and 7 lymphnodes that were in that area.
Waking up to this was a bit disappointing, but I was still ready to fight. The next step was to have chemotherapy and radiation-external & internal. After 6 weeks of recovering from the surgery, and some other scans, I had another surgery to put my mediport in that would be used to give me the chemo. The following week I began my treatments of chemo & external radiation.
I was scheduled 6 weeks of chemotherapy and 28 days of external radiation.
I endured a grueling 6 weeks of nausea & bowel inflammation, along with no appetite. I had two weekends that I recieved shots in my stomach to increase the production of my white blood cells. But, I fought through it and survived the 6 weeks.
They gave me a week to rest before my next treatment would start, the internal radiation. That was the most physically hard treatment. I only had to have 5 of them, but they really took it out of me. I would arrive between 8-9am. They would get me set up in a bed & give me anxiety meds & morphine for the first part of the treatment. I had to be somewhat aware of what was going on, so they couldn't fully sedate me. It was so uncomfortable to get the apparatuses put inside. Then off to a CT scan to make sure of placement, and then waiting for the physicists & doctors to come up with a plan of treatment for that day. The actual radiation treatment was maybe 10 min, and I couldn't feel anything. After they removed what was in me and flushed out my port I was on my way home around 2 or 3, still out of it, and would sleep the rest of the day.
A month passed and I had my follow ups. Everything looks great! I'm on my way back to healing myself back to normal. Still fatigued a bit, but on my way! However, the reason I am posting this here is because I haven't worked at all this year, and I do have some support from my parents, but the medical bills are coming in and I'm already falling behind. My healing is going to be a process, and stress is definitely something that is going on in my mind about my medical bills. I know I will be returning to work, but already in debited to the medical community. Some people have asked me if I needed anything to let them know. Well, I'm asking for your help now in making a donation of what ever amount. Every little bit helps, and I'd really appreciate it.
I have faith that my prayers will be answered, and that I continue to heal. I've learned alot and keep learning about life. Having gone through this I have a new perspective about life and how I want to live it. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, loved, & supported me. Love you and God Bless!
Organizer
Crystal N'Cole Lopez
Organizer
San Antonio, TX
