How my story begins: I started passing giant clots while shopping in a store. The bleeding continued for a month. During that time, while doctors were trying to figure out what was going on, I was hospitalized twice and required blood transfusions. I was told it was fibroids more than once. During a 13 day hospitalization, a biopsy confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.
Life before my diagnosis: Before being diagnosed, I was constantly on the go as a full-time realtor, mother of 3, PTA volunteer, "dugout mom" and animal rescue advocate. I was a gym rat and lifted weights 5 days a week. I was also a runner.
How I felt after diagnosis: I felt determined after the diagnosis. I wasn't very worried. I had faith in my medical team and the plan of treatment. I approached it as a speed bump in my life that I needed to prove wouldn't hold me back.
My treatment: I began radiation immediately. I had daily radiation 5 days a week and chemo weekly. At first the radiation felt like 'nothing'. It didn't hurt or seem to effect me. A few weeks into it, I began to feel the exhaustion it caused. The chemo (Cisplatin) made me extremely nauseated. I would throw up and have no appetite for two days after each infusion. Then I would have 5 days of feeling okay. I lost a lot of weight. I continued working throughout the entire course of treatment. My treatment wrapped up with 4 rounds of internal radiation (brachytherapy). By the end of that I was in quite a bit of pain. I couldn't sit without feeling stinging, stabbing pains in my vagina and cervix. It felt like hot lava when I urinated. Every inch of tissue was fried by the radiation - even wearing underwear hurt!
How I felt after treatment: After a couple of weeks of pain, the tissue began to heal, inside and out. Within 6 weeks of finishing treatment, I was back to my old self almost completely. A few months later, after complaining about leg pain and swelling at every follow-up visit, I ended up in the ER unable to walk. My femur was fractured. It was due to a metastatic lesion. A biopsy of my femur proved it was squamous cell carcinoma. Cervical cancer had spread to my femur.
The craziest part is, we don't know if it had been there the whole time or developed after treatment because PET scans only run "eyes to thighs" as they say, and this area was out of the scan's reach. With this new development, I was Stage 4 Recurrent and Metastatic - the most advanced stage there is. I went through a new treatment plan and was told the odds were slim I'd survive. One provider actually told me there wasn't much point because "it would just keep coming back". I changed providers. Multiple doctors told me the chances of this type cancer spreading to my femur were so incredibly tiny that they had never even seen it. (These were leaders in the industry at MD Anderson and Mayo Clinic). I told my doctor that if I was the rare 1% of having this type of spread, I had to believe I could also be the 1% who could survive it. I took on another treatment plan, lost all my hair, had my femur and knee removed and replaced, learned to walk again, continued working, traveling and living...
I have now been cancer free for almost a year.
What was most difficult for me: The most difficult thing was finding anything positive about stage 4 cancer. Every internet search or group seemed so dismal.
What I did to help myself: To help myself, I surrendered entirely to God. I accepted mortality. From there, I began to live. I learned how to worry about things only when they were actually happening. I became proactive instead of reactive. I added complimentary therapy including traditional Chinese medicine of cupping, acupuncture and herbs. I meditated and prayed and read every possible inspiring thing I could find. I blocked out refused the negative. I developed systems to manage my anxiety and I shared my hope with everyone who would listen. I work on re-framing, establishing support systems, checking in with myself and accepting all of my up and down emotions as valuable and important to my recovery.
My life after cancer: I still work full time and love what I do. I cherish every day. I hug my children and tell them I love them a hundred times a day.
Where I am today: Today I am on a maintenance treatment plan. I still get infusions every 3 weeks. I am scanned every 3 months to be sure I'm still in remission.
How I will try to help others: I prayed for God to use me and I feel he is, every day. I speak with other cancer fighters almost daily. I share my story and the hope of being able to not only survive cancer but to thrive with it! I refuse to let this cancer experience have happened in vein. I want to touch as many people as possible to show them I'm living proof that you can LIVE with cancer and even more, THRIVE.
Any additional information you'd like to share: I have a Facebook page documenting my journey. I share tips and tricks that worked for me dealing with the emotional side of it all.