From the beginning (read at your own risk)

For those of you who don't know the whole story, here goes:

I originally went to the gyno because I was bleeding for a whole year. The reason I did not go sooner was because the bleeding started when I had a birth control (called implanon) implanted in my arm. They told me that my bleeding would either completely stop or I would bleed everyday for 3 months. So when the 3 months were up and I was still bleeding, I just figured it was still from the implanon. Then after about a year and 2 months, I started to experience a lot of pain. More than just cramps, just a dull pain that never left. One night in March, I was in the shower and all of a sudden I started bleeding a ton. It didn't hurt but it was certainly cause for concern. The scariest part was a lot of it was blood clots. I called my mom crying and freaking out and she said to lay down on the bed for an hour and if I bled through my pad I needed to call her back right away. 20 minutes went by and I was already bleeding through. She and I both decided I needed to go to the E.R.

My roommate Rikki took me to the E.R. The wait was unreal. We were in the waiting room for more than 3 hours. When they finally took me back, it took them another 2 hours to take my blood for testing. Finally they were ready to do the exam and then realized they put me in the wrong room, so I had to get up and walk to a different bed across the E.R. in my gown!!! Then it took them another hour to come see me. When I finally had the exam, the doctor told me that I did in fact have abnormal bleeding. He said "go home, take a vicoden and you will be fine." He also said that maybe I should check in with an OBGYN and get my implanon out. They left me in the room for another hour before finally releasing me. I was in the E.R. for a total of 8 hours that night!!!!!!! My poor roomie had stuck by my side through it all. Thanks Girl!

After the awesome E.R. trip I put off seeing a doctor because I have no medical insurance and I knew my hospital bills were going to be ridiculous ($2600 to be exact). So I let things go for a couple more weeks until things made a turn for the worst.

I was experiencing crazy bleed outs like that night 2 or 3 times a week at this point. And then the pain got worse and more severe. I always had the dull pain, but when I needed to pee or after I had just eaten I would get sharp stabbing pains that would last 10 minutes sometimes. I went to work one night and was telling some of the girls casually about everything going on and the owners wife, Paula, showed a lot of concern. She told me I needed to get checked immediately and she didn't care about the cost. She would help in any way she could, she just wanted me to get some answers. I called the next morning and scheduled and appointment.

When I arrived at my appointment I was confident they were just going to tell me that I needed my birth control out. I told that to the OBGYN and he agreed. He said he wanted to do the pap just to be safe but it probably was just my implanon causing problems. During the exam I had a lot of pain. More than the normal exam amount. And I saw his expression turn from normal to concern. I asked if it was just the birth control and he said he would talk to me in a minute. After the exam he sat me up and said "This has nothing to do with the implanon, I see a large mass on your cervix. It could be nothing like a cyst or just benign mass, but it could be something like a cancerous tumor. We need to do a biopsy and have a CT scan done to be sure." I then said "ok, well just so you know, I don't have insurance so of course I will do what is necessary but if there is anything we can skip please let me know." To which he replied "Then I am going to be extremely honest with you. This is not good. I can tell it is a tumor and based on the size and the way it bleeds when I touch it, I am 98% positive this is cancer."

CANCER. That word is the scariest word to me. I know barely anything about cancer and now I may actually have it. After I left his office I felt beaten down. I just sat in my car in the parking lot trying to process what just happened. Eventually I called my mom and we decided I should call my doctor in Seattle and see what she thinks. She called me immediately the next day to tell me that based on  my age it is highly unlikely that it is actually cancer. I decided I trust her opinion the most and knew she would do whatever it took to help me without losing the ability to have kids, so I flew home. She saw me the following morning (on her day off!)

Half way through that exam I saw the same expression on her face as the gyno in Phoenix. When she finished she asked me to sit up and before she could finish telling me she started to choke up. I cried, she cried, and then we made a plan. I only add this in here to show how much I love my doctor. She is someone who truly cares about my health and my future. I am not just another patient to her, I am a person in need of great health care. She also could tell just by the size and tenderness of it that it was going to come back malignant. So when I got the news the next morning that sure enough it was a tumor and was confirmed cervical cancer, I wasn't too surprised.

That is when I went to see my new cancer specialist. She determined it was stage 2B. There are only 3 stages and they go 123 and abc. So I was smack dab in the middle. We still have not figured out why it has grown so much so fast. My Dr. told me, the size of my tumor is what she would expect to see on someone that has had it for 10 years and mine is less than a year. We know that because I had a pap done when they originally put in my Implanon. Being in the 2nd stage of this cancer meant surgery to remove the tumor would be pointless due to the fact that it had grown into the tissue surrounding my cervix, which means I need radiation to get rid of it there. So we decided to do a surgery to move my ovaries up higher into my body, in hopes that the radiation will miss them and I will not go through menopause. THAT WOULD SUCK! She also decided since I was already under the knife, to check my lymph nodes in my abdomen to see if the cancer had spread. It didn't :)

As you can see, the last month has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. Thankfully I have an amazing support system back home in Arizona and here in Washington. My job has been more than understanding of this whole situation and have told me to take as much time as I need. My family and friends have all helped by getting me to appointments and providing me with anything I need. I may seem strong but the truth is I couldn't do this without every single one of you!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!