My Wife’s Cancer Journey – A Cancer Story You Should Read
My Wife’s Cancer Journey
A Cancer Story You Should Read
This is the story of my wife’s cancer journey, one that is thankfully positive and relatively short.
My wife pays attention to her body, and she felt she had an abnormality in her female region. On her next visit to her gynecologist, he confirmed she had a cyst on one of her ovaries. The recommendation was to remove that cyst. Surgery was scheduled, and the cyst was removed. From what the doctor observed, the cyst, her ovaries, and the tissues around them, looked normal. No cause for concern.
However, when the biopsy of the cyst returned, there were cancer cells present. The doctor said her level was low – a 1-C – and that he felt we were in the very early stages of the cancer development. Even with this ‘minimal’ cancer diagnosis it was still cancer. The BIG C! Honestly, we were all shocked, the doctor included.
After we caught our breath my wife asked, “Now what?”
The doctor recommended a hysterectomy to remove her ovaries and uterus, and perhaps the lymph nodes around them. And, to ensure that any stray cancer cells that could still be present were destroyed, treatments of radiation or chemotherapy were also recommended. My wife agreed that that was the best course of action, and the surgery was scheduled. She underwent the knife for a second time in less than a month.
The hysterectomy went well. Her ovaries and uterus were removed and the doctor determined that her lymph nodes were not affected, so they remained. My wife is healthy and strong, both physically and mentally, and she came through with flying colors. Tired, drained, but with less cancer risk. Not every woman is strong enough to go through two surgeries back-to-back, and to face the concerns that cancer brings. Thank God my wife was. But within two weeks, the post-op treatments began.
Chemotherapy, not radiation. The lesser of two necessary evils, but an evil none-the-less. Basically, you are infused with poison. A chemical mix of ingredients created to kill any lingering or wandering cancer cells remaining in my wife’s body. Is the treatment worse than the cure? No. But to see the faces of the men and women getting chemotherapy infusions, you would have to wonder. It is a painful, draining experience.
The cancer center is a relatively pleasant, light-filled room, with a nursing station in the center or at the front, surrounded by a dozen or more recliners. Blood is drawn each time so the chemo cocktail can be created specifically for the patient, according to their chemical needs. This is done every time, and the cocktail is created under doctor supervision. The process takes about an hour. During that time the IV is inserted and the patient waits for the cocktail to arrive.
For the next several hours the chemo-cocktail drips into the patient’s veins. Its sole mission is to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the patient’s body. But let’s get back to my strong, healthy wife.
Chemo treatments happen every few weeks. You have your treatment one week, followed by a week of rest and recovery, followed by a week when you do labs, followed by the week you have your treatment. The chemo process for my wife was draining. First, there is the waiting and sitting in the recliner, hooked-up to an IV, a needle in her arm. She was tired and had to go home and nap. Then there were the side effects.
For the first several treatments the side effects came hard and fast. Fatigue set in and stayed with her during the 8-weeks of treatments.
A chemo rash developed after the first week. Red, bumpy sores erupted all over her body, including in her mouth. They were sore and they itched like mosquito bites or measle bumps.
Then bone pain set in. Deep, debilitating pain that made it hard to walk, to sit, to sleep. It was like she could feel the poison going throughout her body.
Neuropathy began to affect her fingers and toes, again making it difficult to walk, to handle silverware, to open doors. A constant, tingling pain.
We are told that chemotherapy affects everyone differently. And from the experiences other friends have gone through, we know that this is true.
Because of the concern about the neuropathy becoming permanent, her doctor changed her chemo medicine after the third week. The side effects lessened and went away, and we wondered why she didn’t get this medicine to begin with. The doctor’s answer was that the first chemo medicine was the ‘standard’. It has been used effectively for years and is the ‘proven’ treatment for cancer.
We were not aware that were different chemotherapy regimens, so shame on us for not asking. But our doctor never informed us about these options either. The lesson to be learned here is to ask about options. Do your research about the treatment options so you can have an educated discussion with your doctor and maybe avoid the weeks of pain and discomfort that my wife endured.
The result of this journey is that my wife is cancer free. Her doctor doesn’t use the word ‘remission’. He says you either have it or you don’t, and she doesn’t have it. But there are lingering aftereffects of this journey.
My wife’s cognitive abilities were affected. Memory, speech, and balance. She is afraid to drive and has fears of things that she never feared before. Thankfully, with help, all these things are improving and her prognosis for a full and complete recovery is very good. My wife is a warrior. She remained strong and positive from day one, and her refusal to submit to self-pity or negative thoughts and feelings, has helped her to get through this potentially devastating illness.
She is my cancer warrior and my love and respect for her has grown every day. As I said at the beginning, thankfully her journey was relatively short even though it continues. She is now mentoring other women who have received a cancer diagnosis. I told you she was strong.
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Written by Joseph Logsdon
Posted by Diana Fuller
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