My Cancer is Back…and it’s Not Playing Nice.
I come to you today with a heavy heart.
You haven’t heard from me in a while, and I apologize for that. I haven’t been feeling great (understatement) and wanted to wait until I had answers before saying anything.
There’s no easy way to say this.
After five months of remission, my cancer is back.
I went to my oncologist when I started experiencing pain in my torso, fatigue, and difficulty breathing. A scan revealed a large amount of fluid around my lungs and in my abdomen.
Last week I was admitted to the hospital to drain some of the fluid and have it tested. The news was not good. They found cancer cells.
My ovarian cancer has metastasized to my lungs, which means I’m now in Stage 4.
Sidebar: I should really quit calling it “my” cancer. I don’t take ownership of it. I never wanted it. I don’t think of it as being a part of me in any way. It’s a parasite and it needs to go.
Currently, I’m on meds for pain and will have to get my lungs and chest drained as needed when it becomes too uncomfortable (since it’s cancer, it’s going to keep coming back unless it can be put back into remission). I’m extremely fatigued and am having a hard time doing even basic daily life stuff.
My oncologist is looking for clinical trials I may qualify for. If there aren’t any right now, I’ll start back on chemo in about a week. It’ll be the same aggressive treatment (6 cycles) as before with an additional drug tossed in to keep things spicy.
Our goal is to put the cancer back into remission, where it’ll hopefully stay for a little longer this time.
This is obviously terrible news. The only good thing I can think of is that at least I have a better idea of what to expect during treatment this time, as well as areas where friends and family will be able to help Mr. R and I out.
I’m going to do my best to keep up with this blog just like last time, but please be patient.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support. You helped me get through this before, and we’re going to get through it again.
Onward.