A
little back story – My husband and I have been trying to get
pregnant since we got married in March 2010. We stopped using any
sort of prevention, but didn't have any luck. A year after we got
married, I decided to go to a doctor, just to see if anything was
wrong. My monthly periods had been all over the place since before we
got married, never regular, never normal. I saw a doctor who just
told me that I needed to lose about 150lb, and then I'd be able to
get pregnant. He didn't examine me or run any tests, was rude and
mean. It turned me off from going to another doctor for a while.
About
2.5 years ago, I went to visit an ob/gyn for a normal pap smear, and
to talk to him about why we hadn't been able to get pregnant after
over 4 years of trying. That doctor told me that I had PCOS,
polycystic ovarian syndrome, meaning that my eggs were turning into
cysts in my ovaries, instead of dropping down to be fertilized. He
told me to focus on losing weight, even though it would be hard with
PCOS, but after I lost some weight we could focus on helping me get
pregnant. He didn't run any tests, told me that my pap results came
back normal, and just told me to work hard at losing weight.
We
moved to Corpus Christi about a year and a half ago. A few months
ago, I decided to find a new ob/gyn. I had lost some weight after
seeing the last doctor, but then I'd gained it all back after we
moved down here. I decided I just wanted to see a new doctor, since
it had been a while.
I
went to the doctor at the end of April. She was really great. I told
her that my previous doctor had diagnosed me with PCOS, but hadn't
done any tests to confirm the diagnosis. She told me that it was
stupid and lazy to not confirm a diagnosis, so she'd run some tests
to try and find out what's going on with my body. My periods had
still be completely random, longer than they should be, more
frequent.
She
gave me a pap/pelvic exam, and told me that I had polyps on/in my
cervix. They're small growths, fairly common in women of fertile age.
She said she wanted to schedule another appointment to biopsy the
polyps, just as a precaution. She also told me that my uterus was
large for someone who had never had children, so she recommended an
ultrasound. She made a joke that I could already be pregnant! She had
my blood taken, first to check for pregnancy, and to check me for
anemia, check my thyroid levels. With my weight, and my difficulty in
losing weight and keeping it off, she was actually upset that none of
my previous doctors had ever thought to check my thyroid.
I
went in just a few days later to get the polyps removed and biopsied.
She also had the results of my blood work back. I'm not pregnant, but
I am anemic, and I should start taking iron supplements immediately.
She also says that my thyroid level is off the charts in a bad way,
so I need to start taking thyroid medication the next day. But having
a crap thyroid is one of the reasons my weight has been hard to
control and hard to lose. This thyroid medication isn't a weight loss
medication, but I should have an easier time being healthy and active
once it levels out my thyroid. I was so excited to finally have a
doctor who was taking me seriously, who wasn't just telling me to
lose weight and all my problems would be fixed!
They
scheduled my ultrasound for week later, a Friday. The Wednesday
before my ultrasound appointment, my doctor called me and said she
had the pap and biopsy results in, and she wanted to see me the next
day. She said the results were concerning. They moved my ultrasound
appointment for the next afternoon, since I was already going to be
coming in to talk to the doctor about my results. Brian took off work
to go with me, because he is awesome. We go in the next afternoon,
and my doctor decides to do the ultrasound first, and then go over
the results after. First, she tells me that she doesn't think I have PCOS. Then She tells me that I have a mass in
my uterus. It's a rather large mass, and the reason my uterus is
larger than it should me. She also told me that my pap and polyp
biopsy results came back, and they aren't good. I have AGUS results,
which are atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance.
Those results only show up in 0.18-0.74% of all pap smears. The
biopsy showed that the mass is stage 1 adenocarcinoma, endometrioid
type. Meaning, the mass in my uterus is a tumor. And it's cancer.
My
doctor recommended that I go get an MRI done immediately, and
scheduled me for the next appointment they had, the following Monday.
Once she got the MRI results, she'd call me back in. I went to the
MRI, and saw my doctor the next day. She had bad news, and a little
good news. The bad news – it's definitely a tumor. It extends from
my cervix all the way to the back of my uterus. And the results
definitely point to a malignant tumor. The good news – it hasn't
spread. It's completely contained in my uterus. She said that she
believed I'd either have to have my uterus removed, or they would
remove the tumor and treat me with chemo or radiation. Both of those
options pointed to us not being able to have children in the future.
She
referred me to a gynecological oncologist that she knows in San
Antonio, who would be able to get me in soon. I had to wait and get a
referral from my primary care provider, but they were able to get me
in the Monday after I called. He wrote up my referral right away, and
said he'd expect the oncologist to give me a full hysterectomy within
the month. Not really what I was hoping to hear, but thanks to his
immediate referral, I had an appointment with the gynecological
oncologist this past Friday.
We
drove 2.5 hours away to see the gynecological oncologist. He was
great. He looked over the biopsy results, and the MRI results. He
said the MRI results were a little confusing, so he also examined me
and gave me an ultrasound. Just so he could also get a sense of what
was going on in my uterus. He said that I DO have PCOS, polycystic
ovarian syndrome. And one of the problems with PCOS is that it limits
my body's production of progesterone, and gives my body too much
estrogen, which caused this cancer and tumor. But his first concern
is taking care of the cancer, and then we can start treating the
PCOS. He said that, with women my age, he's had great results with
treating this type of cancer without surgery, without chemo, without
radiation. I start taking a pill twice a day, and if everything goes
right, this medication will shrink the tumor until it completely rids
my body of the cancer! It usually takes about a year of taking this
medication, but at the end, I should be cancer free and maintain my
fertility! Short of them telling me that this was all a mistake, this
was the best possible news I could have gotten!
I
started taking this new medication Saturday, and I'm scheduled to go
back to the oncologist in 3.5 months. At that appointment, I'll have
a cell biopsy test and they'll measure the tumor again. Hopefully, it
will have already started shrinking. Now, there is a chance that it
won't shrink on this medication, and if that happens, we'll discuss
other options like surgery at that time. But in my oncologist's
experience, a woman taking this medication has never had tumor growth
or spreading. So, that's where we're at right now. I'm living with
cancer, taking my medications, and going back in 3.5 months. I'm
going to focus on being healthier and losing weight, and kicking
cancer in the ass! =)
