i am not even sure how to begin this series of post or what direction it will take, but i am certain that i need to blog about it because it has been a BIG event in my life. i am not an eloquent writer so i am confident this will not due justice to my emotions, lessons learned, and blessings gained through this journey, but at least it will be documented before i forget some of the "juicy details."
sarcoma defined by google, a malignant tumor of connective or other nonepithelial tissue- cancer.
sarcoma defined by stephanie bowlin, an unforeseen medical diagnosis that has changed me and shown me how blessed i am.
i guess i should start at the beginning (for myself and for the other two of you who might be interested)... i was 22 weeks pregnant and i thought i was having some strange side-effect to the pregnancy where just my left leg was swelling. after a couple of days of this swelling i decided i should call the nurse and ask about it because in the back of my mind i was thinking it could be something that might not should be ignored, like a blood clot. my nurse then passed along my symptoms to my doctor who then ordered me to go to the hospital for some evaluation in labor and delivery. i was annoyed at this point. the last thing i wanted to do on a friday night was sit in labor and delivery, but i did as the doctor requested. after a couple of hours in labor and delivery, several hundred questions later, plus some poking and prodding i was released. l & d doctor and nurse saw no reason to be overly concerned so they sent mark and me on our way and told me to follow up with my regular obgyn on monday. once again, i was a good patient and called my doctor first thing monday morning. :) she decided that she wanted me to have a dopler test on my leg to rule out the possibility of a blood clot. so that afternoon i went back to the hospital for the dopler test. i confidently thought they would find nothing and i would be sent on my way. when the technician finished the test she told me that there was no blood clot, but that my obgyn wanted to see me upstairs in her office. i was not alarmed by this at all, and went upstairs to visit with my doctor. i assumed that she would examine my leg and give me the clear to go home. i went upstairs and i was immediately ushered into a room where the nurse explained that they found a large vascular mass in my leg and that i needed to see a vascular surgeon today! today? ok, now i start to think things are not ok at all. the nurse explains that i have been "worked in" at dr. sanders office and he can see me in about 30 minutes. i leave from there, call mark, tell him to come to the hospital, and walk across two hospital buildings and find myself waiting to meet with a vascular surgeon. thankfully it was not long before mark showed up. at this point i have a piece of paper in my hand that concludes the findings from the dopler and explains that there is a mass measuring 18 cm long in my leg. i am still not panicking, but i am starting to process things and wonder what this doctor is going to tell me. soon we are called back to an exam room and we meet dr. sanders. he explains that the dopler test is very inconclusive, but that he is concerned about the mass. he can't tell us what it is or what the treatment will be, but he refers us to dr. casas who is sarcoma specialist and an orthopedic vascular surgeon. dr. sanders also orders that i have an MRI done to get some more information about the mass. i am scheduled to have the MRI that same week. the MRI was fine. not something i want to do often, but painless and not as uncomfortable as i thought. the days that follow the MRI are some of the longest days i've ever experienced. i was waiting for dr. casas' office to call, i was waiting to hear if he would even take my case, i was waiting for the results of the MRI. lots and lots of waiting. i don't like to wait and my husband likes to wait even less than i do. finally, we got the call from dr. casas that he would take me as a patient so we scheduled an appointment with him for the following week. now more waiting! did i mention the waiting was the worst part!! we met with dr. casas (one of a small group of sarcoma specialist in the metroplex). he explained that the MRI gave more clues as to what the mass could be, but i would need to have a biopsy to diagnose it accurately. he explained that he felt very strongly that it was one of two types of masses and that either one would require surgery as soon as possible to remove it. so back to the hospital i went and met dr. appel, radiologist. i had a biopsy where dr. appel took a few samples of the mass out using a needle. the procedure was a lot better than i was expecting and surprisingly not very painful. i began processing the idea that surgery was in my near future and that now i am 24ish weeks pregnant. i was not concerned about my body, but consumed by the thought of putting stress on this little girl growing and developing inside of me. we had to wait until our next appointment with dr. casas to get the results of the biopsy. about a week later, at our next visit with dr. casas, we learned that i have a sarcoma tumor, cancer!!! ok, so now we know. mark and my family i am sure a completely freaking out, but everyone is staying calm for me. i want it out of my body as soon as dr. casas will schedule me for surgery. we schedule surgery for october 18, 2012. 3 days after the official diagnosis of sarcoma...
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