The Crowd Screams and my body cries in agony!

My Leicester City story of Valery

The goalkeeper dives, and the net swells. Goal… The crowd screams, but I only hear my HPV Test footsteps on the green grass. I run, rejoicing with all the breath I have in my body. My teammates follow me and surround me, interrupting the race. They hug me, and I suddenly find myself on the ground. I’m there, lying, surrounded by their scent. One by one, in silence, I savour and distinguish its essence. Time stops. I’m enchanted.

My Leicester, Ranieri’s team from the Premier League, made everyone dream! This is what I can say about cancer: a health setback, an experience, a sacrifice like many that fate asked me to face, nothing more. Something ordinary that does not deserve anxiety and worry in the face of the extraordinary nature of life. She, only her, gives me a different nuance every day. And I discovered that I love and respect her infinitely, moreover to the point that the cancer in front of her is small.

Addressing the Underestimation 

This does not mean underestimating the infection. But that CA125 blood test levels show that everything else is too much more important. This is why I have always spoken very little about ovarian type cancer, not because it is a taboo topic or something to hide but simply because I had and have other priorities to talk about. From the beginning, it was nothing more than a detail of my existence.

I never felt sick, and I never called him a bastard.  It would have been too easy to rage against him or find a scapegoat. Giving me that HPV Variant that has been attacking my body for years? I had only one choice: to keep living. Yes, I told myself that maybe it had to come; it was written. And I accepted that CA125 for Ovarian HPV cancer testing was there. It wasn’t a war but my football game with a smile. My football team did the rest: each of my loved ones put in their effort so that everything was as normal as always so that I could face the match carefree and receive the right balls to score.

I played having fun, chasing my passion for football without ever thinking about who my opponent was, I only cared about my teammates and scoring goals twenty and a thousand more times. He tried to provoke me; he tripped me on the pitch. I fell and got up again. Without anger, I continued running, waiting to pierce the net and celebrate with my team. Happy, with something more than a scar and a hormonal cure: an unforgettable smile, faithful companion who asked me to make a sacrifice to lift that FA Cup, with them, my loved ones, my team, my Leicester.

Sonia’s testimony

My encounter with cancer dates back to just under a year ago.

Since January, I have had a constant low fever due to an infection, which was subsequently treated with hospital admission and taking antibiotics for three weeks. All this ended with a laparotomy for a presumed endometriotic cyst, which turned out to be an ovarian abscess.

During hospitalisation, they had ruled out the presence of tumours.

Chemotherapy: A Necessary Ordeal with Light-hearted Comparison

On March 14, 2014, when I went to collect the histological report, the two doctors who checked and then operated on me wanted to talk to me. They welcomed me into a room and hurriedly told me that the result showed traces of ovarian adenocarcinoma; in short, I had a malignant CA125 tumour! With my morale already at the bottom from the previous intervention, I was shocked!

I remember she left the room visibly shaken, and I called the person who had accompanied me that day.

I asked the doctors again to repeat what they had said because I was no longer connecting. The Ca125 doctors repeated the Tests and completed the diagnosis, using many technical terms they did not even know. They told me it would be better to follow me to the HPV Oncology Test hospital.

Putting myself in the doctors’ shoes, I imagine it was not easy to give such news. But, at that moment, just a word of hope and comfort would have been enough for me; instead, I had the sensation of being a postal package sent from one hospital to another.

Encounters of Compassion and Resilience

During the journey to the oncology hospital, my thoughts flowed very quickly, but the most pressing one was stuck at the two words: malignant tumour! In those moments, I thought I couldn’t face the weight of the boulder that had fallen on me.

On the same day, I met the HPV director and surgeon of the gynaecological oncology department. His eyes immediately conveyed serenity to me. He welcomed me into his office and, after examining my Ovarian case, asked me how I felt. And I replied that I was psychologically destroyed. He tried to comfort me and told me that I had to react and start fighting, trying as much as possible to stay calm. A positive mind reacts better to the disease. He told me that I would have to undergo another operation to see the extent of the tumour.

Beginning Chemotherapy:

In May 2014, I underwent a second operation, which successfully removed the tumour. Later, they told me that I would need to undergo four rounds of chemotherapy to prevent the cancer from recurring. The word chemotherapy is scary because it is still seen as taboo. However, if we view it humorously, it’s a bit like going to the hairdresser: you queue up, wait your turn reading a newspaper, then sit in an armchair and wait for it to be done—the infusion.

The difference is that you come home with a new look from the hairdresser; however, after chemotherapy, you find yourself directly without hair!

You can play it down; the effects of chemo are exhausting and heavy. They make you out of commission for a couple of days, but afterwards, you can resume your daily activities (with more effort).

Support on the Hospital Floors:

I met wonderful people on the seventh and fifth floors, including doctors, nurses, and patients, who became my travelling companions.

One is my HPV oncologist, a person of great humanity and sweetness. Throughout this period, I have had time to reflect. I have concluded that cancer has transformed me for the better. Thanks to the faith that supported me in the darkest moments and the affection of my loved ones, who united around me like a stainless chain, I found the necessary strength to face the disease.

I feel I can say that after receiving a CA125 Test diagnosis, the first thing to do is arm yourself with strength and courage. Try to advance in the darkness without being afraid.

Empowerment Through Adversity:

In conclusion, I thank you infinitely because this CA125 Levels event has given voice to an Ovarian tumour that has always been overshadowed as it is “little known.”

Ovarian Organ disease is also called the “silent killer” as it is asymptomatic. Therefore, most of the time, we notice it when it is too late.

Lately, cutting-edge technologies and more targeted studies, such as CA125 Blood testing for the BRCA2 HPV gene mutation, have become important. Prevention campaigns that publicize gynaecological examinations and internal ultrasounds are very important for increasing knowledge about this issue. Unfortunately, this tumour is still little known.