I am writing this one Month and one day after my Surgery. I have been spending the last month practicing being in the moment with every step of this journey. There are so many beautiful souls that have been with me on this roller coaster ride from the Get Go. Out of Respect for these individuals I will not use their names but what is important is how each and every one of them have played an important role in me getting this far with my spirits still soaring and yet for the most part at total peace with this whole process. (Lessons Learned are the exceptions that will highlight just a couple of less than stellar moments in this journey)
After over a year of not feeling even 60% of my normal self it all came to a turning point. I had experienced a cyst rupturing and I that is when I demanded answers back in late February.
After a pelvic and abdominal scan, the very next Morning @ 8:00 Am the culprit were glaring back at us. Two huge ovarian masses which were pressing on several other organs was all the confirmation that I needed to know this was the source of my illness. A CA125 blood test came back with an elevated number as well. While they tell you that they can not confirm for sure that it is carcinoma until surgery, I knew intuitively 110% that this was going to be a big fork in the road of my journey. Hard part would be telling family and friends that my journey had taken another turn down Cancer Row after having had Thyroid Cancer several years back.
Originally my appointment with a OB/GYN was scheduled for Late April but after more prayers that I could be seen sooner, that door opened up and was able to be seen in Early March. Immediately this Doctor said I am afraid I am not able to help you. I believe this is much more extensive than what I am able to do surgery wise. She then said, If a doctor is willing to do the surgery and if you can handle Chemo and if..... My dear friend and I listened to these words and became numb for a few minutes. Then the Dr said your options would be MD Anderson or San Antonio. Immediately San Antonio sounded like the right choice for me. So she made some calls and I was set up to go see an OB/GYN Oncologist on the 14th in San Antonio.
In order to be seen they required that several Legal Medical documents be dawn up.... Nothing like be told to do that to make you feel that you are going to come out of this a winner, LOL. I know these are becoming much more common place but none the less it felt like another Nail was being added to the possible death sentence.
However once I met with the attorney and her assistant, this process was beautifully powerful in so many ways... I was not only able to meet two wonderful people but a meaningful and very special almost Historic event in our views, resulted as of this signing of the documents. This single event brought me more peace than any of us could have ever imagined to this point...
Once we met the surgeon and she agreed to do the surgery, Another hurdle conquered. So surgery was scheduled for April 5th, and several more tests needed to be run to be cleared for the possible 3 hour event that turned into 6 hours.
LESSONS LEARNED: ALWAYS FOLLOW UP AND DON'T ASSUME EVERYTHING HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF.
Long story short I called my regular PA to make sure everything was faxed to SA only to find out that she was out of the country and her assistant didn't really know what to do with the results and wanted to wait until the following Monday(the day before my surgery) to have her sign off on them... WHAT????? we can't wait till the day before surgery to get all of that up there, what are you going to do.. she really had no idea... she said I guess I could have another medical provider look at your results, REALLY??? I then suggested that she have the Physician that is over my PA sign off on that and she said she wasn't sure if she could... WHAT??? Anyone that has dealt with HIPPA rules it's like jumping hoops to get things done but eventually this was resolved as well.
Tuesday the 5th of April we leave Rockport at Midnight in order to check in at @ 3:30 am... Only to find out that the clerk didn't have me in the system... She said maybe you are at the wrong hospital, WHAT???? this is nuts.... Thank Goodness I had my copies of the paperwork and then she was able to process me once she located my account number.
When every possible try to get copies of any documents you can, this step literally has saved me more than once already.
Next Post: Surgery and Recovery
After over a year of not feeling even 60% of my normal self it all came to a turning point. I had experienced a cyst rupturing and I that is when I demanded answers back in late February.
After a pelvic and abdominal scan, the very next Morning @ 8:00 Am the culprit were glaring back at us. Two huge ovarian masses which were pressing on several other organs was all the confirmation that I needed to know this was the source of my illness. A CA125 blood test came back with an elevated number as well. While they tell you that they can not confirm for sure that it is carcinoma until surgery, I knew intuitively 110% that this was going to be a big fork in the road of my journey. Hard part would be telling family and friends that my journey had taken another turn down Cancer Row after having had Thyroid Cancer several years back.
Originally my appointment with a OB/GYN was scheduled for Late April but after more prayers that I could be seen sooner, that door opened up and was able to be seen in Early March. Immediately this Doctor said I am afraid I am not able to help you. I believe this is much more extensive than what I am able to do surgery wise. She then said, If a doctor is willing to do the surgery and if you can handle Chemo and if..... My dear friend and I listened to these words and became numb for a few minutes. Then the Dr said your options would be MD Anderson or San Antonio. Immediately San Antonio sounded like the right choice for me. So she made some calls and I was set up to go see an OB/GYN Oncologist on the 14th in San Antonio.
In order to be seen they required that several Legal Medical documents be dawn up.... Nothing like be told to do that to make you feel that you are going to come out of this a winner, LOL. I know these are becoming much more common place but none the less it felt like another Nail was being added to the possible death sentence.
However once I met with the attorney and her assistant, this process was beautifully powerful in so many ways... I was not only able to meet two wonderful people but a meaningful and very special almost Historic event in our views, resulted as of this signing of the documents. This single event brought me more peace than any of us could have ever imagined to this point...
Once we met the surgeon and she agreed to do the surgery, Another hurdle conquered. So surgery was scheduled for April 5th, and several more tests needed to be run to be cleared for the possible 3 hour event that turned into 6 hours.
LESSONS LEARNED: ALWAYS FOLLOW UP AND DON'T ASSUME EVERYTHING HAS BEEN TAKEN CARE OF.
Long story short I called my regular PA to make sure everything was faxed to SA only to find out that she was out of the country and her assistant didn't really know what to do with the results and wanted to wait until the following Monday(the day before my surgery) to have her sign off on them... WHAT????? we can't wait till the day before surgery to get all of that up there, what are you going to do.. she really had no idea... she said I guess I could have another medical provider look at your results, REALLY??? I then suggested that she have the Physician that is over my PA sign off on that and she said she wasn't sure if she could... WHAT??? Anyone that has dealt with HIPPA rules it's like jumping hoops to get things done but eventually this was resolved as well.
Tuesday the 5th of April we leave Rockport at Midnight in order to check in at @ 3:30 am... Only to find out that the clerk didn't have me in the system... She said maybe you are at the wrong hospital, WHAT???? this is nuts.... Thank Goodness I had my copies of the paperwork and then she was able to process me once she located my account number.
When every possible try to get copies of any documents you can, this step literally has saved me more than once already.
Next Post: Surgery and Recovery
RSS Feed