Scary word I know and one I never thought would be part of my world.
I check a different box now and this is my story......
After many months of some different issues and just feeling so tired all the time I decided I needed to do something. After some testing we found that my fibroids were growing again and didn't seem to be stopping. I had one the size of a golf ball. And my uterus was the size of someone in their second trimester. Also, being that I had Pickle with no help at the age of 45 the odds that I was going into menopause any time soon seemed unlikely. My doctors and I decided the best options was to do a hysterectomy and keep my ovaries. The decision was made in January and we were scheduled for March 10th. I would take 3 weeks off work to heal and get better and I should be ready to roll by April 1st.
I went into the surgery confident in my doctor but a little apprehensive. G took Pickle to daycare and then came and got me and off to the hospital we went. Our babysitter would meet G back at the home in the afternoon and take care of Pickle and G would have me home by 9 pm.
Everything went as planned. The surgery went great........and then the doctor came in to talk about the surgery..........
She said everything went great but they found something on my bladder when they were looking around so they were sending it in to be tested.
The next week we waited......and waited......and waited......
When my doctor finally called she asked me if I was alone. I told her no that G was home with me and that's when I heard the words that the test had come back positive and I did have bladder cancer. I don't even remember the exact words she said. I actually thought I might pass out. I will always remember exactly where I was standing .... in the kitchen. And all I could think was that I couldn't leave my little baby behind......I just couldn't. After I hung up the phone G came to me and I just held onto him a cried. And cried. And cried. I was so scared.
I have a wonderful doctor though. He also said the one sentence I wanted to hear........."you aren't going to die from this". I trust him with every bit of my being. We went right in that next week and removed all that was left with a large margin around it. And now I just go in every 3 months for a check up to see if anything has come back. Then after 2 years if we don't find anything I get to wait longer in between check ups. I don't have to do any chemo or radiation or anything else. Lucky am I in the big scheme of things
Here's the funny thing. I knew something was wrong me. Didn't know what but I knew something was wrong. NEVER in a million years did I think I had cancer. I always thought it was my heart or something along those lines. Did I have any symptoms of bladder cancer? Nope - not a one.
I would of never probably known I had the cancer until it was too late had I not had the other surgery. So I am thankful and grateful and ever other word you want to throw in here? You bet.
Am I still scared. Yes. Will I ever look at anything the same again. Probably not. Does it still shake me to my core that I have had cancer cells in my body. Yes. Do I consider myself very lucky. Yes.
Everything happens for a reason people......everything.......I shutter to think what would of happen if I would of never had the first surgery......
As corny as it sounds this changed me but it does not define me.
And the journey continues........
