May 10, 2020 – #3

I have stage 4 ovarian cancer and yes I have the cancer gene. In March 2018, I woke up early one Monday morning and said to Steve “I need to go to the emergency room.” I don’t know why I insisted on going to the emergency room as I was feeling no pain and was more or less the same as always. We went to the emergency room where they did a CT scan. I knew I was in trouble when, after the scan, the technician came out and asked me if there was any cancer in my family. A little later one of the hospital doctors came to my room and told me I had cancer in my ovaries which had masticated to my other organs and he gave me about 2 1/2 months to live assuming it was too late for surgery.

Steve found a surgeon who was willing to give it a shot. His plan was to open me up, remove all the tumors he could see, then finish with lots of chemotherapy. A few days later I underwent that six-hour surgery. He found cancer in my colon, removed it, and sewed the two loose ends together. Evidently, he should have taken smaller stitches because feces leaked through the suture causing various daily infections that could not be stopped without another surgery. After ten days Steve and the doctor met in my room to discuss this trauma. Concerns centered around my ability to survive the operation vs my ability to survive without an operation. I remember nothing about this conversation or anything since the first operation. However, Steve says I sat up in bed and announced I wanted the operation. So it was I had my second surgery resulting in a permanent colostomy. The anesthesiologist left me on the respirator telling Steve I may never come off of it.

This blog is proof that I did come off the respirator and did survive. All in all, I was in the hospital a month spending most of the time in intensive care. One glorious day I was discharged and returned to my wonderful home.

After a few weeks, I started my six-month prescription for chemotherapy.  While my cancer scores improved with chemo, I could not tolerate the treatmentl   I was in bed all day every day and lost 30 lbs  Steve hooked me up to an artificial food IV every night to keep me alive.  After about four months I told the doctor I couldn’t handle the chemo anymore and was even starting to think about suicide.  He took me off the chemo and started me in an oral drug designed to keep cancer from growing.   After a couple of months, I began to feel better and could get out of bed and walk to the kitchen.  My appetite came back and I ate ravenously.  We went out on Thanksgiving day to have dinner with friends.  I knew I was climbing out of it.

Was there anything good that came out of this? Yes, during this time I fell in love with my husband of 60 years all over again. He was the best caregiver ever. He was so good to me doting on my every whim. We appreciate each other so much more now. We have maintained this new closeness and cherish our moments together.