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FIGHT TO WIN
In the late summer of 2001, I started getting cramps in the pelvic area. They would come and go. One night though, I thought I would have to go the Emergency Room, but the cramps finally left.
I told my doctor. She sent me for a pelvis test. They tried three times. I was told it wasn’t suppose to hurt. Each time they tried, it would hurt. So they quit. Maybe if I said it didn’t, maybe they could’ve done it. Report came back saying it was muscle spasms.
At Thanksgiving time my parents and I went to Jerry and Bonnie’s for dinner. I didn’t eat big portions of anything. But by the time we got home at 5:00, I sure felt over stuffed. Same thing happened at Christmas time.
Earlier, before Thanksgiving, I went to church with my neighbor. During the Sunday School hour I began to feel weak. I thought I was going to pass out. I decided it was best for me to come home so my neighbor brought me home.
I was in the shower one night when I noticed my stomach began to float. Then another night when I was waiting for something to heat up in my microwave, for my back, I noticed my arms and legs were thin but my stomach was bloated. I’m asking - what’s going on?
In mid January of 2002, I went back to my doctor’s office because my back was bothering me and I was breathing heavy after climbing stairs.
The week after that, my sister Dottie called to say she was coming to spend a few days with us while her husband was on a business trip in Pa. We met at Bob Evans Restaurant for breakfast the next morning. She took one look at me but said nothing at the time.
She came back with us and later things started rolling. After playing Skip-B0, she told me I should change doctors. It took her, Clara, Mom and Dad a long time to talk me into changing doctors. Before I went back to my apartment, I said I would. [I’m sure now that I did the right thing ].
The next morning she aimed to talk to my doctor but my doctor wouldn’t talk to her. She knew Dottie was a nurse because I told her. The P. A., who I had, often talked to Dottie. She sent us over to Convenient Care for later that day. We went at 4pm. That doctor had a laproscopic test done on me. Then he had me lay on the examining table. He examined my stomach. He told us there definitely was a mass there. That was on a Friday night. We didn’t get out of there until 7:30 that night.
Earlier that day, Dottie called over to Fisher Ave and talked to some doctor about my situation. She also got me a woman doctor. She was Indian and a very good doctor.
The next day Dottie and I went to talk to a doctor in the Emergency Room. We had an appointment with him. We told him everything we knew. He said he wasn’t doing a sonogram but a CAT scan. I was to go the next morning at 8. That was Sunday morning.
Then an x-ray. When I got back to the Emergency Room, I was told I was going upstairs. I was being all hooked up to IV.
The doctor who ordered the CAT scan, came to tell Dottie and me that I had cancer. Another doctor came over to see me. He talked, then did a exam. He said he was sending me to Dr. Musa in Syracuse. He was making an appointment for me. He did too.
In the meantime Dottie told me she was staying for my surgery. Her husband came back and they went to my brother Bob’s in McGraw to fill the others in on the situation. Dad and I went to get Mom then went down. We had a family get together.
The next morning Dottie got a call about my appointment with Dr. Musa on Tuesday in the afternoon. Then Dad and I went to Fisher Ave so I could get my medical records transferred from Euclid Ave to Fisher Ave.
That afternoon Dottie came up to spend some time with me. She didn’t like my breathing. If she was with me at lunch time, she probably would’ve called Dr. Musa sooner. I had some trouble eating lunch. I’d eat some, had to take a deep breath, more of the same.
Needless to say, I was on my way to St. Joseph’s hospital that night at 6:00. My brother Bob was picking Dottie and me up there.
They were ready for me up there to be admitted, then I was taken to my room. Then we were talking to a woman doctor. We both, again, told her all we knew. Then Dottie went to stay with my sister Barb in Weedsport. Then Bob went home.
The next morning at 9:00, I was taken down to see Dr. Musa. We talked, then he examined me, we talked again. He told me he was going to try to get me scheduled for the next day for surgery. I told him my legs were killing me. He said it was because the tumor was pressing on my legs.
He wanted to do a biopsy on parts he would be taking out. I said to go ahead and I signed the papers to give him permission. He then said he wanted to see my family and I told him they would be there in the afternoon.
I had Dottie call Pastor Comings and my friend in the Volunteer Office the night before. So while Dad, Dottie and Barb were with Dr. Musa, Pastor Comings and Judy were with Mom and me. Dr. Musa told Dad that if I didn’t have surgery, I could drown in my fluids. Pastor and Judy stayed with us until Dad came back then they left.
Dottie and Barb stayed until late. I had to drink a large drink that was to clean me out after I had a catheter put into me. The drink was hard to get down. I got most of it down but then most of it all came back up. All of a sudden I felt weak and almost passed out. They sent down for the lab to come up. My sodium level went down. Dottie and Barb stayed until 10:00 before going home.
I got up twice. Luckily, they had a commode beside my bed. The next day I was to have surgery at 2:30. But Dr. Musa had an emergency so couldn’t do it until later. I was beginning to think I was stood up. Then they came after me at 6:00.
He called in another doctor to take out my gall bladder. My appendix was also taken out and I had a complete hysterectomy. From what I heard , they finished with me at 10:00. After I responded, I was hurting. They told me to push the pain button and not be afraid to push it. It wouldn’t break. I didn’t remember anything until Friday morning.
I was to go home on the following Tues but I got sick in the morning. Another doctor had come in to see me. I told him what happened. He told me I should stay put then for another day. Later in the morning, A woman doctor who I had seen before, came in to see me. She told me that Dr. Musa was free the next day so wanted to put a port into me.
I had it done the next morning, which was Wednesday. My youngest brother came up to see me shortly after I came back to my room. He stayed for quite awhile.
I went home the next day. I was not to bend over, reach up, or lift anything. I was stapled together where they opened me up. It also was decided for me not to use the stairs so I used the elevator.
On the following Monday I went to see my new doctor for an appointment. The nurse told me they didn’t get my records yet. I said - what! You should’ve had them two weeks ago. My doctor told me she normally wouldn’t see me without them. She would though, being it wasn’t my fault that she didn’t get them. But I was to get them soon.
They got them the same day I went to see Dr. Musa which was the next morning.
My youngest brother-Phil called my former doctor before the three of us went in to see Dr. Musa. After Dr. Musa told us all that would be done, he took Barb and me down to a treatment room. [Before then, he told me I was at stage 3] to meet the chemo nurse.
She explained everything and gave me five books on cancer. To make the long story short, she told me I needn’t worry about being sick from the chemo. [I wasn’t either]. She had given me prescription for chemo pills that I was to take night before each chemo. Then she gave me pills to take for two days after chemo day. They all worked good. I was to take Sennecott for 5 days after chemo from chemo day until Monday.
I had my chemo the following week. Two days later, I woke up with one side of my face and neck all swelled up. It looked like I had mumps or was in a fight. I called Mom and Dad. They came up. I called my doctor but she wasn’t in. So I called the triage at Fisher Ave. They saw me in an hour. Mom went in with me. The nurse came in and did my vital signs. Then the P.A. came in and I almost passed out.
She had me get on the examining table. After she talked with me and checked for blood sugar, Dad had come in She went to get the doctor[I have now]. He took one look at me and asked how I was. I said I wasn’t ready for a race. He said he was admitting me in the hospital through the Emergency Room. He called the ambulance for me. This was on Friday.
They discovered I had infection. I finally got to my room by 3:00 or so after blood tests and so forth. They did e-cultures on me. Monday morning the swelling had gone over to my ear and it was very painful.
At 8:00, my doctor who admitted me came in, took one look and said Oh no! He left the room and called for a CAT scan. I was on my way down in 10 minutes. When it was done, this one surgeon came over and told me my port had to come out. I had a choice of either St Joe’s or Cortland to have this done, since the surgeon here could do it.
Dad was there when my woman doctor was talking to me. He agreed with me to have it done here. Next morning before I went down.; Dad, Mom, and Barb came over
The surgeon was very good. He came up to see me a few times and was very good about answering questions. My doctor was also very good about answering questions, keeping Dad posted, called Dottie in Michigan. They were also keeping track of my weight. When I had surgery, I went from 134 to 108 That was because of 15 liters of fluid in me.
Two weeks after I came home, I got a call from St. Joe’s. I was to go back up there for pre-test. I was to have my second port put into me the next week, then chemo the next day. I had five regular treatments. I was on my secpmd maintenance treatment in August, when I was told I was in remission. I was to finish taking the next eight treatments. They worked.
In May of the next year I was still in remission. Dr. Musa decided to take the port out in 2004. After I went off chemo, I started to lose some weight. I didn’t lose very much hair. The Lord was very good to me and still is.
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