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More testing!!!

4/27/2015

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I went Friday for a blood test to determine my level of HCG.  Apparently a doctor's test which they give prior to any medical procedure is very sensitive.  If it comes back as 5 or below you are considered not pregnant and 25 or above is considered pregnant.  So the test they gave me came back as "not, not pregnant" basically.  This stalled any medical procedure which could be dangerous to a fetus.

When I went in to get my blood test done, my results came back at a level of 7 for HCG so I am in the grey area.

As I originally thought my gynecological oncologist and radiation oncologist confirmed that I was not able to become pregnant due to the treatment I have undergone.  My radiation oncologist told me I would have had to have ovaries of steel!  We did a direct dose of radiation to my left ovary due to a mass and my right ovary would have received high level of radiation as well due to the location of the mass on my right side.

So what does this mean?  Today I am getting another HCG blood test to compare to the results from my test on Friday.  They are also going to test for FSH which deals with the pituitary gland.  Apparently the pituitary gland can output low levels of HCG in post-menopausal women.

I asked if I should be concerned and they told me although this is a bit unusual to see, once we get the FSH and HCG data to verify that this is pituitary we should be able to get all of this straightened out so that I can get my stent exchanged.

It is all so strange, yet funny at the same time.  I feel like I will need to carry around a card that says "Yes, I really am in menopause and your pregnancy test is wrong.  Please do my medical procedure!"

Looking onward to more information soon!

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Your test said what?!

4/24/2015

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Below is a post I wrote Friday but I had to wait to post it until I had some more information:


As I sit here typing this I know I cannot publish it yet.  I am trying to bring all my emotions into check.  I went in this morning to get my regularly scheduled stent exchange which I have every three months for the rest of my life.
I go in and it starts like any other early morning stent exchange I've had.  I go in and present my insurance information and shortly after I am called back to get changed into my hospital gown.  They ask the obligatory "when was your last menstrul cycle" question and I, while laughing, reply that I am in menopause.  I haven't had a period since June 2014 so I tell her that and then go along with getting changed into my ever stylish surgery gown and slip resistant socks.  

Everything goes as planned to begin with, I give the urine sample and get my warmed blankets and get setup in the pre-surgery area.  As it nears my surgery time they access my port and I meet the antestiologist.  When it gets close to my surgery time they ask my mother in law to leave and head to the waiting room assuring her that they will be out to speak with her after the procedure.  This is all normal operating procedure.

When the nurse returns I realize that this is not going to be a normal day.  She sits down next to me and says there is a problem with my urine.  Now, when she said this I expected a few different things.  My first thought was another UTI, then I thought maybe the MRSA had shown back up in my urine.  What I never expected was what came out of her mouth next.  She said that my pregnancy test was positive.  I assured her, she must be wrong.  

Let's take a step back.  In 2012 I had the trachelectomy which would preserve fertility but would certainly make it more difficult to become pregnant.  In 2014 when I was diagnosed with the reoccurrence we conceded that the treatment that I needed to save my life was going to take away any options of conceiving future children.  We came to terms with that last May and started the course of treatment.  I went through the six rounds of carbo/taxol/avastin and began having symptoms of menopause early on in treatment.  By the end of summer I was started on a hormone replacement medication to minimize the hot flashes and night sweats.  Later in 2014 I started my course of pelvic radiation and cistplatin chemotherapy.

When you factor all of these things in it is NOT possible for me to be pregnant.  So, my urologist calls the oncologist who simply says "oh shit".  They opt to post-pone the surgery so that I can get this sorted out.  So I find myself in a stressful situation.  It is Friday, the day that my oncology nurse isn't in the office.  I call my radiation oncologist next, he is on vacation.  After I stress about the situation some more I decide to turn to the internet and do some research.  I should know better, it really isn't a good idea.  I find a few things which could be causing this false positive and none of them are good.

So, I decided to call the oncologist and speak with another nurse.  She quickly gets the background story and goes to speak with my oncologist.  They get my setup so that I can go and have blood drawn so they can test my specific HCG levels and try to determine what exactly is going on.  This test takes 24-48 hours to give results so I am here, in a holding pattern.

It feels like my life is always in some sort of holding pattern that I cannot escape.  I finally had news that I was in remission, for the second time, and now I am having this.  Whatever this is.

As I come out of shock I just move into the holding pattern.  All I can do is wait. 

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Celebration!

4/6/2015

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Taking a walk across the Jeffersonville/Louisville Big Four Walking Bridge, one mile ramp to ramp so about a two mile walk! Enjoying life!

Celebrating Life!

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Carrying my fifty pound son around at the zoo on spring break, who would have thought I could do that again!?
I haven't posted in a while, not because I don't have anything to say but because I have been busy.  As of the middle of December I am now back to work full time.  The three months between when I finished up my last radiation treatment and was able to get a PET scan seemed like the longest three months of my life. 

As I mentioned, I am now back to my full time life.  I have a busy five year old boy to keep up with and a new marriage on top of my full time job.  I am a special education teacher in the area of math in grades 4th-8th grade at an inner city school in Indianapolis.  I also coach our school VEX IQ robotics team.  All of these things I kept up with as much as possible during treatment but since treatment ended I have thrown myself full force into them.  I coordinated our robotics program during treatment and was lucky enough to attend several practices and all the competitions.  Of the three teams at our school two of the teams qualified for the World VEX IQ Championships which are quickly approaching.  So, as you can see, it has been busy.

Today was my follow up with the radiation oncologist, exam, and pap smear.  This is the first pap smear I have had in over a year because once we found the cancer reoccurrence we jumped right into treatment.  I am interested to see the results of the pap smear.

The radiation oncologist took the time to show me my PET scans.  These scans compared a few key points in treatment.  The first scan we looked at was the CT scan from April 2014, this is the scan which was used to identify the cancer had returned.  The second scan was a PET scan from September.  This scan determined that there were still multiple lymph nodes active with cancer as well as a mass on the right side of my pelvis.  The final scan was the post-treatment scan.  This scan looked fabulous and the doctor said I should go out and celebrate tonight!

I asked what we would do as a follow up.  I had major concerns because when I was diagnosed with stage 1b2 cervical cancer in October 2012 we treated in November via the trachelectomy and I had several follow up appointments.  When I transferred to a new doctor due to insurance change in October 2013 he did an exam and that was all, no scans.  Then my story began again around Christmas when I found blood in my urine with the ultimate diagnosis of a reoccurrence.  Something I learned along the way is that they don't re-stage you once you have cancer, however, according to the staging guidelines this reoccurrence would have been stage 3b.  My doctor simply said "how did it get this bad when I just saw you in October?"  Well, I didn't want to get to that point again.  So my first question of the gynecological oncologist was what do we do now to maintain the remission status.  I was concerned at the lack of scans previously from that office.  This doctor assured me we could do PET scans again in three months.  The radiation oncologist reiterated what I heard that we would closely follow the scans because my cancer was aggressive and didn't really act like it should have before.  We don't want to get in that situation again!

It was the suggestion of both specialist that "less is more" and as long as the stent continues to work for me that we should continue that course of treatment for the missing portion of the ureter.  The concern is that if they were to attempt a repair we could end up in a much worse state than I am currently in.  The existing plan is to continue with the stent exchanges every 3-4 months indefinitely as long as it continues to be functional for me.  This is a fairly minor procedure, although I have to be put under for it, the procedure is short and I just rest for the day.  A minor inconvenience to have a working kidney.  There is still hydronephrosis of the right kidney which is something I need to discuss with the urologist.

I am continuing to work on my health and have even began Weight Watchers again.  When I ended treatment I gained about 20 pounds in three weeks.  I am doing Weight Watchers again just as a management system mostly.  I needed to lose about 8 pounds to get back to my weight from before cancer so I could fit into my clothes!  I am a huge weight watchers advocate.  I did it before and lost 100 pounds!  I plan to continue to advocate that you get your check ups and pap smears.  I will always be here if you have any questions and will probably post as things progress. 

I am happy beyond words that we have a plan to monitor me and I am cancer free again! 
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    Author

    Erica is a 32 year old cervical cancer advocate who is out living cancer for the third time. When she isn’t advocating for cervical cancer and HPV awareness as a Cervivor Ambassador, she previously oversaw the STEM program at the school where she was an educator; she now helps coordinate the robotics program. Erica enjoys spending time with her husband and son in their Indianapolis neighborhood, as well as pursuing new and adventurous hobbies. She can most recently be found fawning over kayaks and daydreaming of returning to whitewater kayaking with First Descents, an organization for young adults impacted by cancer. 

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