Becky's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Hey Everyone! This is one of those awkward situations that I never thought I would have to explain, but here I am!
So If you know me, you realize that I have been overweight at the very least for 90% of my life. When I discovered I had degenerative disk disease, I went through a long, arduous, expensive, pain-in-the-ass process to get Gastric Bypass surgery so I could live a longer, better life with no (or less) chronic pain. I had that surgery on December 1st 2015, and 3 days later I had to go back inot the ER for complications.
I got a CT scan which revealed that I was having some swelling at a surgery site that could be resoved with a few more days in the hospital and some steroidal treatment. But it also revealed that I have a mass near my left kidney, and that had to be looked at immediately.
Once the swelling/blockage from my Gastric Bypass surgery seemed to be clearing up, I got a suprise surgery consult from an Oncologist. They said I needed to have surgery to remove what was maybe a lipoma, but was 90% more likely to be a lipo sarcoma. And while no body said it at that first meeting, I realized that I had fucking cancer.
The full story is that, like many situations with a mass or a tumor, you can't possibly know if you have cancer until they are inside you removing it. It really doesnt matter, because I have to get treated like it is malignant.
I have no idea how to handle this, so being a graphic designer for 20 years, I did what I usually do and made an infographic diagram.
The tumor or mass (which I will from this point forward refer to as "Voldemort") has added insult to injury by looking like it is right on my renal artery. P.S. I know the lableing is backward, but thats how they showed me trhe CT scan and that's how I see it in my head now.
My surgeon, Dr. Fowler tells me that I am very lucky to find it this early, but the flip side of that is you have to cut out EVERYTHING around it, and you have to get it first try. That means I have to lose my spleen, 60% of my pancreas, and what might be a perfectly fine kidney ( i.e. "Kidney Potter" since "Neither may live while both survive") Fortunately, I have a good second kidney. Its the weaker one as it does 43% of the work, but the right kidney (i.e. "The Highlander) should be perfectly fine.
My surgeon's goal is to perform the surgery between Christmas and New Years so this is super freaking urgent. I am not even remotely the kind of person to ask for help, but to be honest, every resource I had and could beg, steal or borrow just went to my gastric bypass surgery, and I am now already in debt from the complications.
The good thing is, if I hadn't decided to have that surgery and hadnt had a minor complication, this tumor/mass/Voldemort would not have been found until I had pain from it, and then it would be inoperable and I'd have zero chance for survival.
I know this all sounds scary, but please know I am in the best fucking mood of my life and I really feel like the gears of the universe turned in just the right way to make this as easy as possible to find and get rid of. I'd be thrilled to have the shortest run of cancer on the history books.
Thank you to everyone for reading this, and thank you inadvance for any good vibes, love, prayer, removal of hexes or anything else you can send me way. Also money would be unbelievably helpful.
I love you all.
Here's a sexy picture of my French Bulldog, Maude, in a festive elf costume, as a special thank you for making it through all of this.
So If you know me, you realize that I have been overweight at the very least for 90% of my life. When I discovered I had degenerative disk disease, I went through a long, arduous, expensive, pain-in-the-ass process to get Gastric Bypass surgery so I could live a longer, better life with no (or less) chronic pain. I had that surgery on December 1st 2015, and 3 days later I had to go back inot the ER for complications.
I got a CT scan which revealed that I was having some swelling at a surgery site that could be resoved with a few more days in the hospital and some steroidal treatment. But it also revealed that I have a mass near my left kidney, and that had to be looked at immediately.
Once the swelling/blockage from my Gastric Bypass surgery seemed to be clearing up, I got a suprise surgery consult from an Oncologist. They said I needed to have surgery to remove what was maybe a lipoma, but was 90% more likely to be a lipo sarcoma. And while no body said it at that first meeting, I realized that I had fucking cancer.
The full story is that, like many situations with a mass or a tumor, you can't possibly know if you have cancer until they are inside you removing it. It really doesnt matter, because I have to get treated like it is malignant.
I have no idea how to handle this, so being a graphic designer for 20 years, I did what I usually do and made an infographic diagram.
The tumor or mass (which I will from this point forward refer to as "Voldemort") has added insult to injury by looking like it is right on my renal artery. P.S. I know the lableing is backward, but thats how they showed me trhe CT scan and that's how I see it in my head now.
My surgeon, Dr. Fowler tells me that I am very lucky to find it this early, but the flip side of that is you have to cut out EVERYTHING around it, and you have to get it first try. That means I have to lose my spleen, 60% of my pancreas, and what might be a perfectly fine kidney ( i.e. "Kidney Potter" since "Neither may live while both survive") Fortunately, I have a good second kidney. Its the weaker one as it does 43% of the work, but the right kidney (i.e. "The Highlander) should be perfectly fine.
My surgeon's goal is to perform the surgery between Christmas and New Years so this is super freaking urgent. I am not even remotely the kind of person to ask for help, but to be honest, every resource I had and could beg, steal or borrow just went to my gastric bypass surgery, and I am now already in debt from the complications.
The good thing is, if I hadn't decided to have that surgery and hadnt had a minor complication, this tumor/mass/Voldemort would not have been found until I had pain from it, and then it would be inoperable and I'd have zero chance for survival.
I know this all sounds scary, but please know I am in the best fucking mood of my life and I really feel like the gears of the universe turned in just the right way to make this as easy as possible to find and get rid of. I'd be thrilled to have the shortest run of cancer on the history books.
Thank you to everyone for reading this, and thank you inadvance for any good vibes, love, prayer, removal of hexes or anything else you can send me way. Also money would be unbelievably helpful.
I love you all.
Here's a sexy picture of my French Bulldog, Maude, in a festive elf costume, as a special thank you for making it through all of this.
Organizer
Becky J McGarity
Organizer
