Lately there has been a six letter word haunting my life, changing my days, and taking my time. There are millions of words in the world, but never did I think one single six letter word would have the power over my life that this one does.
Perhaps I should start from the beginning shying away from the humor and sarcasm for a bit and focus on the facts... Facts however, are boring, and can in fact be a bit scary.. Those who already know the facts may want to take a brief intermission for this part... Go grab a snack, a drink, or take a potty break, I promise this won't take long.
THE FACTS:
Hello, my name is Kimbra, I am 29 years old and on June 7, 2012 I was diagnosed with Edometrial (Uterine) cancer at the time of my diagnosis, I was not a candidate for surgery due to extremely poor, and dangerously low blood counts, so I began monthly injections of Lupron and Cytoxan to slow tumor growth while I underwent vitamin therapy in order to raise my blood counts to safe levels. I recently was informed that my blood counts have now reached a safe level and my surgery (hysterectomy) was schedule for August 9, 2012 this is NOT an ideal day for me, as this is the 1 year anniversary of my sweet Boogie going to Heaven, but despite the day, the nerves, the anxiety, etc. I am ready to get on with this part of my treatment and get it over with. At this time it is unknown as to whether or not I will need more or even different treatment once surgery is over, this will be determined after surgery.
Well after those facts, I am sure there are questions. So I will try to answer them... I have already been asked several so I will try to remember those, and we can go from
Will you loose your hair? Well yes and hopefully no... I have indeed started loosing hair, fortunately for me I had extremely thick hair before all of this started, so as long as my hair is pulled up, it is truly rather hard to notice the hair I have lost.... I have however come to the conclusion that if I do indeed loose a considerable, or extremely noticeable amount of hair, I will proudly wear hot pink, and possible even polka dot wigs around town!
Are you going to die? Well yes I am going to die... Eventually we all die. However, NO! this cancer is not going to kill me. Survival rate for my type of Cancer is 95% not to mention I still have far too much fight left in me to lay down and give up now. So the short answer to this question is absolutely NO!!!!!
What stage is your cancer? Well since I have not had surgery yet, a total staging has not been done, however looking at my biopsy results my doctor believes I am either stage 1 on stage 2 for those who do not know much about cancer staging believe me when I say that this is good news!
How are you feeling? I think that is sort of a loaded question... I have my good days, and I have bad days... There are days when I feel almost normal and other days where simply getting out of bed is just too hard... People have asked me to try and explain how I feel, and symptoms I am facing but these feelings are some what indescribable (unless you've been through it yourself) ... However, for those who seem to want a vivid detailed illustration the best illustration I can give is to tell you to imagine the absolute worst sickness you have ever had (for example the flu - with the body aches, vomiting, etc) and multiply the way you felt times a million, and that might give you an idea.... Most days fortunately are not that bad, and some days I feel fine but can not seem to stay awake no matter how hard I try.
Well I believe I have answered most questions, at least the most common questions that I have been asked so far... I am sure there will be many more to come, especially now that I have found the courage to publicly let everyone into my life. I had chosen to tell only a select few people but with the strong persuasion from several, I decided that today was the day that everyone knows!
Perhaps I should start from the beginning shying away from the humor and sarcasm for a bit and focus on the facts... Facts however, are boring, and can in fact be a bit scary.. Those who already know the facts may want to take a brief intermission for this part... Go grab a snack, a drink, or take a potty break, I promise this won't take long.
THE FACTS:
Hello, my name is Kimbra, I am 29 years old and on June 7, 2012 I was diagnosed with Edometrial (Uterine) cancer at the time of my diagnosis, I was not a candidate for surgery due to extremely poor, and dangerously low blood counts, so I began monthly injections of Lupron and Cytoxan to slow tumor growth while I underwent vitamin therapy in order to raise my blood counts to safe levels. I recently was informed that my blood counts have now reached a safe level and my surgery (hysterectomy) was schedule for August 9, 2012 this is NOT an ideal day for me, as this is the 1 year anniversary of my sweet Boogie going to Heaven, but despite the day, the nerves, the anxiety, etc. I am ready to get on with this part of my treatment and get it over with. At this time it is unknown as to whether or not I will need more or even different treatment once surgery is over, this will be determined after surgery.
Well after those facts, I am sure there are questions. So I will try to answer them... I have already been asked several so I will try to remember those, and we can go from
Will you loose your hair? Well yes and hopefully no... I have indeed started loosing hair, fortunately for me I had extremely thick hair before all of this started, so as long as my hair is pulled up, it is truly rather hard to notice the hair I have lost.... I have however come to the conclusion that if I do indeed loose a considerable, or extremely noticeable amount of hair, I will proudly wear hot pink, and possible even polka dot wigs around town!
Are you going to die? Well yes I am going to die... Eventually we all die. However, NO! this cancer is not going to kill me. Survival rate for my type of Cancer is 95% not to mention I still have far too much fight left in me to lay down and give up now. So the short answer to this question is absolutely NO!!!!!
What stage is your cancer? Well since I have not had surgery yet, a total staging has not been done, however looking at my biopsy results my doctor believes I am either stage 1 on stage 2 for those who do not know much about cancer staging believe me when I say that this is good news!
How are you feeling? I think that is sort of a loaded question... I have my good days, and I have bad days... There are days when I feel almost normal and other days where simply getting out of bed is just too hard... People have asked me to try and explain how I feel, and symptoms I am facing but these feelings are some what indescribable (unless you've been through it yourself) ... However, for those who seem to want a vivid detailed illustration the best illustration I can give is to tell you to imagine the absolute worst sickness you have ever had (for example the flu - with the body aches, vomiting, etc) and multiply the way you felt times a million, and that might give you an idea.... Most days fortunately are not that bad, and some days I feel fine but can not seem to stay awake no matter how hard I try.
Well I believe I have answered most questions, at least the most common questions that I have been asked so far... I am sure there will be many more to come, especially now that I have found the courage to publicly let everyone into my life. I had chosen to tell only a select few people but with the strong persuasion from several, I decided that today was the day that everyone knows!
Just know that prayers are continually going up for you My sweet Kimbra....Love you!
ReplyDeleteI admire ur courage on this matter in your life. Just kno u have a lot of prayer warriors on ur side my dear. Keep on being the strong courages person u are. <3 ya girl
ReplyDeleteCan we vote? I vote for Polka dots. I'm sure everything will work out. Remember I'm always thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteJust know that we are always praying for you even though we are so far apart.
ReplyDelete