This isn't how I planned to turn thirty. That is the thing about cancer, it doesn't care about your plans. Cancer comes, it disrupts life. It is officially my 30th birthday now. I have an alarm set for 4:30 am today so that I can get up, shower in the special surgery soap, put on my cream to numb my port, and head to the hospital for my surgery. This surgery is an attempt to manage my third occurrence of cervical cancer. I was diagnosed at 27, 28, and 29. This is the year I don't get diagnosed! Thirty is going to be my year.
Plans. In March when I got my all clear scan I felt like it was safe to start making plans again. I scheduled a summer robotics camp for my kids at school. I got approval to attend a training to learn more about robot programming. I had ideas for an epic 30th birthday party weekend. In May we found the new cancerous spot. Like I said, cancer doesn't care about your plans.
I have had a special week this week. On Sunday I went and had pictures taken by the fabulous Cindy Johnson, before they carve my stomach open later today. On Monday I had met with two fabulous empowering woman who are cervical cancer survivors. We developed a plan to bring cervical cancer awareness to Indiana and officially started Hoosier Cervivors. On Tuesday my husband had the whole day planned out for me in celebration of my 30th birthday. He started by getting up and taking our dog to the groomer and scheduling for our house to be cleaned. He took me to a fabulous breakfast at a local diner, BBI. Then we headed to a secret location, which ended up being Woodland Bowl. It seems like JR moved mountains to make my celebration happen. He had scheduled canoes but we woke up to the rainiest day ever! He swiftly redirected all our friends, without me knowing and they came in waves to the bowling alley. After a day full of hours of bowling with old and new friends we played laser tag (something I have never done). He had even built in a nap time for me! After a quick nap we went to KSR, a local bar I used to work at. It was a night full of surprises with wonderful company all evening. I am so blessed to have a strong group of support, I felt that support even from my friends and family who were not able to make it up for the celebration.
Today started when I woke him up at 8:30 to go and get me McDonald's breakfast. I had to start my pre-surgery bowel prep at 9:00 so I wasn't going to be able to eat starting at 9:00 am. I woke to find a special woman had lost her fight against cancer last night, she was one of the first women to reach out to me once I was diagnosed and let everyone know. Today has been a strange day. I've spent most of it watching tv and talking with family and friends on the phone and Facebook.
As I sat in my shower I reflected on what it means to me to be thirty. What it means to be battling cancer, again. I am hopeful. As I said, this is the year. This is the year we beat this cancer once and for all.
Thank you for your continued support. This is an extensive surgery, the doctor will make an incision from approximately my belly button and go down 6-8 inches. This incision is in an area which has been previously radiated but this was the best course of action to try and eradicate this disease from my body. My gynecologic oncologist will be doing an exploratory laparotomy and resection of retroperitoneal lymph node. The explanation I got is basically the incision will go down approximately 1/2 way through my body so they can get to the impacted area. Typically this surgery last 2-3 hours and I will be in the hospital 2-4 days. As I mentally prepare for this surgery and recovery I continue to be ever hopeful. We will prevail.
Although my 30th birthday definitely didn't go as planned, my celebration was spectacular. I will always remember this day, the actual day of my 30th birthday. Today is the day I am going to be given the gift of life. This surgery is going to save my life. That is what I have to focus on.
Plans. In March when I got my all clear scan I felt like it was safe to start making plans again. I scheduled a summer robotics camp for my kids at school. I got approval to attend a training to learn more about robot programming. I had ideas for an epic 30th birthday party weekend. In May we found the new cancerous spot. Like I said, cancer doesn't care about your plans.
I have had a special week this week. On Sunday I went and had pictures taken by the fabulous Cindy Johnson, before they carve my stomach open later today. On Monday I had met with two fabulous empowering woman who are cervical cancer survivors. We developed a plan to bring cervical cancer awareness to Indiana and officially started Hoosier Cervivors. On Tuesday my husband had the whole day planned out for me in celebration of my 30th birthday. He started by getting up and taking our dog to the groomer and scheduling for our house to be cleaned. He took me to a fabulous breakfast at a local diner, BBI. Then we headed to a secret location, which ended up being Woodland Bowl. It seems like JR moved mountains to make my celebration happen. He had scheduled canoes but we woke up to the rainiest day ever! He swiftly redirected all our friends, without me knowing and they came in waves to the bowling alley. After a day full of hours of bowling with old and new friends we played laser tag (something I have never done). He had even built in a nap time for me! After a quick nap we went to KSR, a local bar I used to work at. It was a night full of surprises with wonderful company all evening. I am so blessed to have a strong group of support, I felt that support even from my friends and family who were not able to make it up for the celebration.
Today started when I woke him up at 8:30 to go and get me McDonald's breakfast. I had to start my pre-surgery bowel prep at 9:00 so I wasn't going to be able to eat starting at 9:00 am. I woke to find a special woman had lost her fight against cancer last night, she was one of the first women to reach out to me once I was diagnosed and let everyone know. Today has been a strange day. I've spent most of it watching tv and talking with family and friends on the phone and Facebook.
As I sat in my shower I reflected on what it means to me to be thirty. What it means to be battling cancer, again. I am hopeful. As I said, this is the year. This is the year we beat this cancer once and for all.
Thank you for your continued support. This is an extensive surgery, the doctor will make an incision from approximately my belly button and go down 6-8 inches. This incision is in an area which has been previously radiated but this was the best course of action to try and eradicate this disease from my body. My gynecologic oncologist will be doing an exploratory laparotomy and resection of retroperitoneal lymph node. The explanation I got is basically the incision will go down approximately 1/2 way through my body so they can get to the impacted area. Typically this surgery last 2-3 hours and I will be in the hospital 2-4 days. As I mentally prepare for this surgery and recovery I continue to be ever hopeful. We will prevail.
Although my 30th birthday definitely didn't go as planned, my celebration was spectacular. I will always remember this day, the actual day of my 30th birthday. Today is the day I am going to be given the gift of life. This surgery is going to save my life. That is what I have to focus on.
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