The Nitty Gritty About My Cervical cancer

Met with Dr. Westin today. She was very positive and upbeat. Finally some answers. The good news is that the cancer has not spread to other organs based on the CT scan. There are some lymph nodes that show up along my neck, some in the sternum, some in my abdomen, and the inguinal area. The CT report reads: as follows:

“There are multiple enlarged lymph nodes along the retroperitoneum involving the bilateral paraaortic chains extending down along the bilateral common iliac chains and external iliac chains and external iliac chains, predominantly on the right. Smaller but enlarged lymph nodes are also seen in the right superficial inguinal chains. The largest at the hypogastric chain on the right measures approx 2.5 X 1.5 cm.  Smaller subcentimeter lymph nodes are also noted at the perirectal chains.”  This information helps the cervical cancer diagnosis re-occurring in the neck more understandable because the path makes sense.

The slides from my original cervical cancer were read in Houston and read “endocervical adenocarcinoma in a background of adenocarcinoma in situ.” Basically there was cancer in my original cone biopsy in 2004 but this information helps us understand this diagnosis. For the cervical cancer to reoccur in this fashion after this many years is not common. Dr said “.000001%”.

Chemotherapy Is The Answer

So what’s next – chemo. I met with the research nurse for the clinical trial. Likely, I will be let in. I want to be let in. She will process the paperwork but she has to check and make sure the radioactive iodine treatment I had for my thyroid cancer isn’t an issue. She doesn’t think it will be an issue because it was 9 years ago.

I will receive the chemo by iv 1 day every 3 weeks are Alimta and Cisplatin. I’ll write details about them at some point but want to get the info to everyone. The side effects are – nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. I will be given medicines to help minimize the nausea. My first treatment is next Thursday.

This Thursday I will receive a B12 shot and folic acid that I need to take for 7 days prior to the treatment. The chemo is a 6-hour infusion. After every second cycle of chemo (every 6 weeks), I will be scanned. I can exercise if I feel like it. I may feel tired 5 days after chemo and it may last for 5 days.

Healthiest cancer Patient Around

Tomorrow I will hopefully see an audiologist because I’m having trouble hearing out of my left ear. I have for some time. In addition, the bone scan will hopefully take place tomorrow. There were some insurance authorizations that were pending that are creating an issue.

The research nurse said she rarely sees people as healthy as I am. Funny, right? My bloodwork looks great, still active, etc. Except I have cancer. Today I feel like my battle is now an uphill battle. I have felt that I have been on even pavement for some time but now the fight begins. I think it’s uphill for a while.