Cancer SUCKS!

Cancer SUCKS!  Yes. Yes it does.

My cancer is gone. That filthy, rotten, soul sucking demon was evicted in June, 2021. 

Here's where you should stop reading if you don't want to know the dirty details 😁

Here we go!

After about 10 long years, I finally went through menopause at age 55. Sorry ladies who are just starting your journey, it can really take 10 years! But when I was done I was ecstatic! I made it! Oh sure, hot flashes 🔥 and night sweats 🥵 we're still hanging around but I had finally jumped off that cotton pony 😂

Fast forward to 5 years later when all had finally started to calm down and I started to feel like myself again, I started spotting. This was during the pandemic and it really was impossible to get in to see a doctor. So in January 2021 I had an actual bleed that scared me so much I demanded to see the doctor. 

The usual tests, pap smear, internal ultra sound, showed all was well but the biopsy showed abnormal.  The doctor felt a d&c would make her feel better with more information.

And there they found it. A little cancer. A baby cancer. 

Since it was minor 🙄 she recommended a hysterectomy. But she also didn't recommend that I have it done in South Bend where I live. She didn't have faith in the doctors that were available to perform that surgery because I also needed lymph nodes removed. So she sent me down to Indianapolis. Schwarz Cancer Center. And there I found my doctor to be very young. Very knowledgeable and skilled in the art of video games.

Now why are video games important when you're going to have surgery? Because this was robotic surgery! And during my discussion with him I asked him if it was like playing video games. He laughed and laughed and said it was exactly like that. So I'm glad I had a very young doctor who no doubt was a champion of some sort of video games because he was one of the best in the area... As far as cancer surgery goes 😂 

I never had surgery before, 😳 I was freaking out over that not over the tiny baby cancer. I have high anxiety as it is and you can imagine how it was going through the roof. I kind of counteracted that with humor. It's either laugh or cry right? So I told my kids what was going on by way of saying, "I went to the Dr. and they're going to remove your first home. Do you want me to get pictures so you can say good bye?"  Neither kid was amused. They both said no. (They're no fun!)

At the hospital, they walked me down to the surgery suite and I had to walk into the operating room. No gurney for me! I was healthy enough to walk my naked butt in there and jump up on that table.

Well that was fine. I was doing okay until they put the mask over my face and told me to breathe deep. I didn't have a problem breathing in however when I tried to breathe out it was as if I were suffocating. I started to panic and that's when I went out. Waking up instantly in the recovery room. And sick as a dog. They also didn't tell me that when I had to use the bathroom it would be like a bonfire in my crotch 🔥 🙄😡 

But after an hour or so I was discharged and got to go home. In and out just like any minor surgery except it wasn't minor.

I slept a lot the first couple days and I wasn't in a lot of pain and never took anything more than Tylenol. They told me I would recover quickly and to not pick up anything more than 2 lb and do not go into work for 2 weeks. So I went into work a week later 🤣 I didn't work though. I just went in to see how things were going and they were going great because I had a great team helping me.

So when the pathology came back it also showed that I had cancer in my cervix. On my follow-up talking to the doctor he said if I had to get cancer this was the best kind to get. 🤨 Not sure there IS a best kind of cancer but I had it. So what's next. I opted to get radiation therapy. They were concerned that some of those baby cancers might have went on a walkabout. If it had been contained in just my uterus then no problem but one of those little buggers moved on to my cervix. So radiation it was. Three days. Only 10 min. each time. That's it. I could have opted out of it completely but I guess at the time I felt why take any chances, this was such a short time and I didn't want to take a risk. But don't get me wrong, just that little bit of radiation is still a lot of radiation. After each session they came at me with a Geiger counter to make sure all the radiation went back into the machine thing. This type of radiation is a pin point accuracy, hopefully not affecting any nearby organs. HOPEFULLY. It simply left me with a broken vagina. 

Now, almost 2 years later I'm still going to follow up appointments with the doctors down in Indy, every 3 months. Which is why sometimes my store is closed on a Friday (no employees at the moment to keep it open for me). And fingers crossed that this next appointment, I will get the news that #1 All is well and #2 I can start going every 6 months instead. 

But let me tell you, every 3 months, as the time of my appointment gets closer, I my anxiety starts to rise and I hope that they tell me once again that "Everything looks great! You're doing excellent!"

Oh...A year ago I got 5 tattoos on my surgery scars. Robots. Working on the scars and taking pictures, with a box of tools next to them. They're pretty awesome and a reminder that I won. I kicked ass. Cancer's ass that is. And why it's so important to use non-toxic skincare products. I wish I had started using them earlier in life.