Last night I received some scary and upsetting news. My older sister Dawn has been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. She is one of the most outgoing, thoughtful, caring and giving people I know. She does a ton of things to help others through her church, and has been doing cancer walks and such for years now.
But now she needs our help. This is a note she put up on her facebook this morning.....
A phone call changes everything.
Early yesterday I was whining about the long day I was going to have because of the staff meeting over my lunch hour. I take it back. The meeting is not what made my day incredibly long. The phone call from my doctor was.
Four months ago I found myself in incredible pain with a huge distended abdomen. A CT scan and ultrasound ruled out appendicitis, but diagnosed a 2 1/2 inch ovarian cyst that had bled into my belly. Since they often go away on their own, the plan was to monitor it and do another ultrasound in a few months. Two weeks ago I had another painful episode and a follow up ultrasound. It showed the cyst had grown to about 3 inches. (No wonder my pants are tight!) My doctor said we needed to remove it and my right ovary. Not fun, but not a big deal. To cover all the bases, we had blood work done, including the test for the CA125 marker for ovarian cancer. The doctor didn't like that there was a more dense area in the center of the cyst.
Yesterday morning I got the call with the results. Positive for cancer. Normal CA125 range is 0-35, and mine is 288.
Now I am in that horrible waiting stage....till my appointment on Friday with the oncologist. Until then, I don't know anything more than I will most likely be having much more major surgery, and sooner than I had wanted.
My normal response would be to keep the details to myself and handle it. It's what I do.
But I was reminded, or rather scolded, last night that cancer is not something you do on your own. You let the people around you help in whatever way they can.
I have an amazing group of family and friends around me. People who are willing to drop everything and come to my side if that's what I need. Yesterday's tears of fear are replaced by today's tears of love.
This note is so I'm not doing it alone. Today I am riding high on all the prayers and positive energy that was sent out to me. I'm going to try to keep doing that, so bring 'em on! I was asked by several people about sharing my info with their friends....please do! Cancer does not discriminate and neither do I. I have prayed many times for people I have never met.
I will keep you posted on any major info.
While we all wait, I am working on having the most awesome arm muscles! I can't do any of the ab work at Jazzercise so while everyone else is doing theirs, I am adding extra arm weight work. Getting ready for my TKO of this evil disease.
Love to you all!
So I'm asking my friends to keep my sister Dawn in their thoughts and prayers through this difficult time. Friday we find out more, and my niece and I will be making the trip to Portland to be with her on the day she has her surgery. I will keep this updated with any new information.
Thanks everyone.
