CATEGORY: Confessions of Cancer
He had on two different shoes and had no idea. His wife was with him and apparently she had not noticed either. It was very obvious that they were two different shoes. There were color and style variations. They were two shades of brown. One had mesh and one cloth. I noticed it immediately when I was examining his legs for swelling. He looked down as I was examining him as did his wife. I thought they may say something about it but they didn’t. I pondered mentioning it, making a joke to lighten the mood but thought better of...
He was in a car accident and hurt his back. At the hospital, he was found to have peculiar lesions on his spine. She noticed that she was getting more and more tired. When she finally sought help, she was very anemic. He noticed that he was urinating more and more but then it became less and less. Lab tests revealed he was in kidney failure. What did they all have in common? They all had Multiple Myeloma. And neither of them had ever heard of the disease. This seems to be an often occurrence. In my experience as a...
I was in shock. How could this be? No one in our family had this diagnosis. Ovarian cancer? Are you sure? As far as I knew, my mom had two first cousins who had breast cancer. I also knew that my dad’s sister had it. Otherwise, there was no other cancer in the family that I knew of and definitely not ovarian cancer. Late-stage ovarian cancer. The kind where surgery was not even a consideration because the disease had spread already. No wonder mom couldn’t eat much and got full fast. Cancer was taking over her abdominal area. Invading space...
On August 12th I celebrated 7 years as a nurse practitioner in hematology and oncology! I remember the excitement and the trepidation I initially felt as I started my nurse practitioner journey. I was new and eager to learn. I was excited to have landed a nurse practitioner job in my number one specialty choice. It has been therapeutic and enlightening. It has also been challenging and rewarding. My journey to oncology started with the diagnosis and passing of my dear mother to ovarian cancer. Mom Had Cancer Mom Died From Cancer When I started working with current practice, I...
So it was January of 2006. Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and proceeded to start treatments of chemotherapy. I was pregnant with our first baby at the same time; due in mid-March. He was to be my mom and dad’s first grandchild. I wasn’t working at the time so this allowed me to plan more freely to aid in mom’s care. Our lives consisted of frequent visits to the cancer center in Montgomery, Alabama. My hometown is Wetumpka, Alabama. It sits about 20 minutes north of Montgomery. This is where my parents lived. Mom and I spent a lot...
In January of 2006 my family received devastating news. After many months of my mom having vague gastrointestinal symptoms we finally learned of her diagnosis. Her symptoms included nausea, vomiting, bloating, early satiety, weight loss and abdominal pain. She was incorrectly diagnosed with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Finally, we learned of her true diagnosis of ovarian cancer. I was in shock! Then my wheels begin to turn as I thought to myself how in the world could my mom have ovarian cancer when she didn’t have OVARIES! Just a few years prior she had a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oopherectomy (BSO)....
