My Diagnosis Story
What symptoms led up to your diagnosis?
I felt a “pop” in my chest area and then had a hard time breathing. Thought it was due to the heat and humidity. Left work and went home to bed but the next day was feeling the same and went to the ED.
What tests did your doctor do, and what was this experience like?
While in the ED, I had a chest X-ray which showed fluid in and around my lungs. A procedure was done to extract that fluid which relieved my breathing symptoms. They extracted 3 liters of fluid. I was then admitted to the hospital for further testing.
A full body CT scan as well as an ultrasound were performed as well as many blood tests. My Ca125 came back over 1,000+.
Upon learning about your diagnosis, what happened next?
A gynecologist and oncologist came into see me in the hospital. I was scheduled for a complete hysterectomy. After release from the hospital, I began 6 rounds of chemotherapy. At the time of my diagnosis I asked the stage of my cancer but my Doctors told me not to worry about numbers just work on getting better. So I did. After all was said and done, I found out I was stage 4. I was happy I didn’t know this beforehand cause I probably wouldn’t have pushed to get through my chemo. Today I am 16 1/2 years cancer-free!
