Every Thing's Gonna Be Alright
Donation protected
In 2008, at the age of 31, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. My son at the time was 11 years old. I couldn't believe it! I was very active and healthy. I didn't even get so much as a cold.
For 6 months I had been going back and forth to doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I had a lot of pain and had a drastic change in bathroom habits. They sent me for scans and I was told that I was constipated to take laxatives. (They wouldn't listen to me when I told them that laxatives did nothing but make me sick.) I was finally sent to a GI doctor and he reluctantly scheduled me for a colonoscopy. Prep day came and the drink made me extremely sick. The GI doctor thought I was a stupid little girl (of course, he didn't say that out loud) that couldn't do the prep and the colonoscopy was cancelled. My pain got worse by the day. Two weeks later, I called the GI doctor again and set up another date for a colonoscopy, this time, I lied and told him the prep went great. ( I didn't even try to do it.) I went in bright and early for my colonoscopy and when I woke up, the doctor was sitting next to me waiting. His first words were, "I'm so sorry. It all makes sense now." I was almost completely blocked off. If I would have waited another week, I would have been totally blocked off and been in for emergency surgery. The next day, I got a call from a surgeon and my actual cancer journey began.
In April 2008, I had resection surgery. They removed 8 inches of large intestine (my sigmoid colon included), 15 inches of small intestine, and my left ovary and fallopian tube. They removed so much because scar tissue had everything hooked together. When my pathology came back they staged me at 2B and scheduled me to start chemotherapy as soon as I recovered from surgery. I was told that chemo was just a precaution because they believed they removed all of the cancer with the surgery. I completed 6 cycles of FolFox (a type of chemotherapy). They wanted me to do 12 cycles, but I was really sick and tired from the chemo and there was nothing they were able to do to help me. I had an 11 year old at home and it was just the two of us. I couldn't be sick and tired all of the time. I had responsibilities.
In 2009, I started having pain again and started going to the doctor again. This time, I was going to the gynecologist because it was pain that would have pointed me in that direction. The gynecologist spent 5 months telling me that I had a cyst in my ovary and it would go away on its own. He was very wrong! I told him I was not planning on having any more children, so he could just remove the ovary and all the trouble would be done. He refused. After his refusal to help me, I decided it was time to find a new gynecologist. I went into the new doctor requesting a hysterectomy. He agreed and told me later that he figured my insurance would deny the procedure and was very surprised that they didn't. In 2010, I had a hysterectomy. I was greeted again when I woke up by a doctor waiting. My fallopian tube on the right side was extremely large and full of fluid. He said it was no wonder that I was in pain and he was surprised that I was able to function normally. Needless to say, everything he removed was full of cancer and I was headed for more chemo. I completed 11 cycles of FolFiri out of 12. Every cycle had me down and extremely sick for 5 days. By the 11th treatment, I was dehydrated and my body said, "no more." FolFiri shrank the cancer down, but did not make it completely go away.
In 2011, I was back in for scans and the cancer had grown and spread. My abdomen was loaded with tumors. I started researching and decided that a surgery called HIPEC would be my best bet. The problem was finding somewhere that would perform the surgery because it was still experimental. After talking to 3 different hospitals, 1 finally agreed to do the surgery. I was not fond of the surgeon, but had absolute faith in the rest of the staff. In 2012, I had the HIPEC surgery. I was in the hospital for 1 month. I came home hooked up to TPN (basically nutrition in a bag) because I had an ileus and was unable to eat. The day after I got home, I started getting sick. Scary sick because there was nothing in me to come out. I ended up back in the hospital for 10 more days. This was the absolutely hardest time for me. I missed my son terribly and wasn't sure if I was ever going to make it home again. I had to deal with the ileus for about 6 months. I still have major complications from this surgery and they are things that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life.
It wasn't very long until my scans started showing the cancer growing again. So, more chemo for me. This time it was a new drug that had just been approved. This drug did nothing. It didn't even shrink what was there.
2014 called for more surgery. First, it was my right lung, then it was my left lung, and finally a tumor in my abdomen was removed. I wouldn't wish lung surgery on anyone! It was a very painful recovery. Five months after these surgeries, I went in for scans. Cancer showed up again, in my right lung and abdomen. I started searching for clinical trials.
This gets me to where I am now. I finally found a clinical trial. It is immunotherapy and treatments are going to be over 4 months and then 6 months of follow-ups. I live in Saint Louis and will have to travel to Houston for treatments and follow-up appointments.
Honestly, I think the worst part is that since I don't look sick, people don't think that I am or they think everything is okay and under control. The past 7 years have been extremely hard on my son and myself. Keeping a roof over our heads and ensuring that he has everything he needs is what has kept me going this whole time. Once he was old enough to get a job, he started helping out with bills. Literally, his first 8 months of paychecks went on bills. He didn't complain once. I am truly blessed to have the child I was given. He deserves all the best!
I am looking for help with travel, lodging, and food expenses, as well as help with bills that will keep coming in even if I am not at home. I never imagined asking for help in this manner, but the ladies I work with thought it would be a great idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
For 6 months I had been going back and forth to doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I had a lot of pain and had a drastic change in bathroom habits. They sent me for scans and I was told that I was constipated to take laxatives. (They wouldn't listen to me when I told them that laxatives did nothing but make me sick.) I was finally sent to a GI doctor and he reluctantly scheduled me for a colonoscopy. Prep day came and the drink made me extremely sick. The GI doctor thought I was a stupid little girl (of course, he didn't say that out loud) that couldn't do the prep and the colonoscopy was cancelled. My pain got worse by the day. Two weeks later, I called the GI doctor again and set up another date for a colonoscopy, this time, I lied and told him the prep went great. ( I didn't even try to do it.) I went in bright and early for my colonoscopy and when I woke up, the doctor was sitting next to me waiting. His first words were, "I'm so sorry. It all makes sense now." I was almost completely blocked off. If I would have waited another week, I would have been totally blocked off and been in for emergency surgery. The next day, I got a call from a surgeon and my actual cancer journey began.
In April 2008, I had resection surgery. They removed 8 inches of large intestine (my sigmoid colon included), 15 inches of small intestine, and my left ovary and fallopian tube. They removed so much because scar tissue had everything hooked together. When my pathology came back they staged me at 2B and scheduled me to start chemotherapy as soon as I recovered from surgery. I was told that chemo was just a precaution because they believed they removed all of the cancer with the surgery. I completed 6 cycles of FolFox (a type of chemotherapy). They wanted me to do 12 cycles, but I was really sick and tired from the chemo and there was nothing they were able to do to help me. I had an 11 year old at home and it was just the two of us. I couldn't be sick and tired all of the time. I had responsibilities.
In 2009, I started having pain again and started going to the doctor again. This time, I was going to the gynecologist because it was pain that would have pointed me in that direction. The gynecologist spent 5 months telling me that I had a cyst in my ovary and it would go away on its own. He was very wrong! I told him I was not planning on having any more children, so he could just remove the ovary and all the trouble would be done. He refused. After his refusal to help me, I decided it was time to find a new gynecologist. I went into the new doctor requesting a hysterectomy. He agreed and told me later that he figured my insurance would deny the procedure and was very surprised that they didn't. In 2010, I had a hysterectomy. I was greeted again when I woke up by a doctor waiting. My fallopian tube on the right side was extremely large and full of fluid. He said it was no wonder that I was in pain and he was surprised that I was able to function normally. Needless to say, everything he removed was full of cancer and I was headed for more chemo. I completed 11 cycles of FolFiri out of 12. Every cycle had me down and extremely sick for 5 days. By the 11th treatment, I was dehydrated and my body said, "no more." FolFiri shrank the cancer down, but did not make it completely go away.
In 2011, I was back in for scans and the cancer had grown and spread. My abdomen was loaded with tumors. I started researching and decided that a surgery called HIPEC would be my best bet. The problem was finding somewhere that would perform the surgery because it was still experimental. After talking to 3 different hospitals, 1 finally agreed to do the surgery. I was not fond of the surgeon, but had absolute faith in the rest of the staff. In 2012, I had the HIPEC surgery. I was in the hospital for 1 month. I came home hooked up to TPN (basically nutrition in a bag) because I had an ileus and was unable to eat. The day after I got home, I started getting sick. Scary sick because there was nothing in me to come out. I ended up back in the hospital for 10 more days. This was the absolutely hardest time for me. I missed my son terribly and wasn't sure if I was ever going to make it home again. I had to deal with the ileus for about 6 months. I still have major complications from this surgery and they are things that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life.
It wasn't very long until my scans started showing the cancer growing again. So, more chemo for me. This time it was a new drug that had just been approved. This drug did nothing. It didn't even shrink what was there.
2014 called for more surgery. First, it was my right lung, then it was my left lung, and finally a tumor in my abdomen was removed. I wouldn't wish lung surgery on anyone! It was a very painful recovery. Five months after these surgeries, I went in for scans. Cancer showed up again, in my right lung and abdomen. I started searching for clinical trials.
This gets me to where I am now. I finally found a clinical trial. It is immunotherapy and treatments are going to be over 4 months and then 6 months of follow-ups. I live in Saint Louis and will have to travel to Houston for treatments and follow-up appointments.
Honestly, I think the worst part is that since I don't look sick, people don't think that I am or they think everything is okay and under control. The past 7 years have been extremely hard on my son and myself. Keeping a roof over our heads and ensuring that he has everything he needs is what has kept me going this whole time. Once he was old enough to get a job, he started helping out with bills. Literally, his first 8 months of paychecks went on bills. He didn't complain once. I am truly blessed to have the child I was given. He deserves all the best!
I am looking for help with travel, lodging, and food expenses, as well as help with bills that will keep coming in even if I am not at home. I never imagined asking for help in this manner, but the ladies I work with thought it would be a great idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Organizer
Julie Stutz
Organizer
Saint Charles, MO