Cancer x 3

November 30, 2018December 1, 2018

The Plan Forms….

20181126_193251 — This is my colon, loosely. The dashed lines are about where he will cut and the dot between them is the tumor.

I met my surgeon on November 26. Dr. Ellis is amazing. He is positive and upbeat and confident that we can manage this.

On Tuesday 12/4 I go in for surgery to remove the section of my colon that is housing the primary tumor. Dr. Ellis will be able to reach it primarily laparoscopically with minimal hand assistance. He is also confident that I will not need an ostomy, which is incredible! I will be inpatient 3-5 days.

What do we need?

In the past several days Chris and I have done a great deal of talking, to each other and with others, and this question keeps coming up. What do you need? What can I do? Our standard answer has been that we do not know. We still don’t, not really, but this might help.

Time – we are still learning and processing a lot of information
Don’t forget the kids – we have 3 kids. Please don’t forget to reach out if you see them. They need to feel include too.
Remember us – this doesn’t stop with diagnosis. this process will take many months to go through.
Misc –
1. Gas cards – We primarily use 7-11.
2. Food – please ask about allergies! There may be a meal calendar created soon.
3. Company – for me particularly during the day but only when you’ve called first please.
4. Transportation – mostly for kids but sometimes for me
5. Phone calls – sometimes just call for no reason but to check in
6. More to come
Watch Chris’s performance schedule. Go see him! He’s really good and I might need friends to be there for me.
Chris and I each have Venmo, the Cash app, and are comfortable with accepting donations via Facebook or regular mail if you are more comfortable helping that way.

November 30, 2018December 3, 2018

Colon Cancer at 41?

Did you know that those between the ages of 35-50 yrs are the fastest growing group of people to be diagnosed with colon cancer? That’s what my oncologist told me yesterday. Crazy, isn’t it?

Never in a million years would have I have thought that waking up with a pulled muscle in September would have lead to this. That’s how it began.

In September I visited my primary care physician for some help with a pulled muscle. He prescribed muscle relaxers and we hoped that would handle it. A week later with other symptoms beginning to appear, and the medication was not working, I returned to the office, this time seeing his PA. My stomach hurt. Not my abdominal cavity as a whole but my stomach. My intestines were in that place where I felt like I was getting sick but not exhibiting symptoms as well. You know that crampy feeling…

I was sent for xray, a urinalysis, and blood work to rule out infection. The easy diagnosis was constipation and a UTI. Neither surprised me as I have battled a slow colon my entire life. I was started on an antibiotic and a prescription strength laxative. Here’s when the trouble started… After just a couple of days blood appeared and I was back to the doctor.

Fast forward to October and I was in to see a gastroenterologist, Dr. Elvin Hardy at Mercy in OKC. He also diagnosed me with chronic constipation, with the off and on blood being internal hemorrhoids, and sent me on my way. I was instructed to call if the blood, which had stopped at this point, returned and he would order a colonoscopy. The blood returned and my test was scheduled for December as we had no reason to rush.

November 13 and I am back in the GI’s office. I feel awful, I’m not sleeping, and something needs to be done. We change the colonoscopy to colonoscopy and EGD. He orders an abdominal ultrasound and I get in for that on November 16. It was 2 or 3 hours later when Dr. Hardy personally calls with results. Nodules were found in my liver and near my pancreas. He wants a CT, STAT, and my scopes are moved up to November 19. I am in the imaging center by that afternoon.

Scopes confirm what we were now beginning to suspect. Cancer. Mass on the left side of my colon with nodules in the base of both lungs, liver, and possibly pancreas. Oncology referral was put in.

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018

The History….

BeFunky Collage — Ian at age 3 1/2 – 1 day post surgery and Ian in August 2018 – starting 11th grade

In the Spring of 1998 my then young family moved into a new apartment. We had been there a matter of days when my husband found a lump that should have been something pulled from all the lifting and hauling we’d done in the days before.

The details are fuzzy now but he eventually got in to see a surgeon about repairing the damage only to have the surgeon find lymph nodes the size of small golf balls.

With our young daughter in tow we embarked on what we now know would be our family’s first battle with this beast. My husband underwent 6 months of chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and is now 20 years off treatment.

Fast forward to July 2005. On July 2, 2005 our youngest child was born. What should have been the beginning of adjusting to life with a newborn quickly turned chaotic when just 2 weeks later our then 3 1/2 year old son proudly announced that his “pee looked like a strawberry slushie.”

Welcome to battle number 2. Diagnosis to surgery happened in approximately 48 hours. Pathology revealed a stage 3 Wilms Tumor, a childhood cancer of the kidney. You can read about our son’s journey at http://www.caringbridge.com/visit/ianblack. Regrettably I do a terrible job at updating now but the treatment portion is complete. He is now nearly 17 and doing amazing.