Would organ removal shock your life?

LINDA: 2009, AGE 47: Jun 24, 2009 | Age: 47

My HPV Variant Test story begins on a misty evening in November 2008, the 2nd, to be exact. I know this because I had to leave a Rascal Flatts concert early due to some severe pain during the show. Before this moment, I had the virus but didn’t do anything about it. I decided to take the next step and get a CA125 Blood Test, which led me to more exams to find the truth.

We left the venue hurriedly because I just wanted to lie down. My husband, Jon, and friend, Lisa, insisted I go to the emergency room. But…me being stubborn, insisted on NOT. I offered to go home and take some bowel cleaning agent to see if this would help relieve the pain. It did not, but I was afraid they would tell me I had some bowel movement problem or, worse, gas. I didn’t want to be laughed right out of the hospital. Sometimes I wished I had gone. Not that would have made too much of a difference.

I continued with this pain in my side for another eight weeks or so, living on Tylenol and Motrin. Never seem to find the time to see my doctor. I own a beauty shop, and the holidays are approaching. Business was good and getting better.

Christmas was over, and I got so frustrated with the pain that I picked up the telephone and called my family physician. He took me the next day.

Coping

After arriving and trying to explain the pain I was having in my left side, which radiated down my pelvic area and lower back to my nicely padded seat, he scratched his head, leaving me to wonder whether he knew what I was talking about. He had no answers and ordered a few CA125 Marker Medical Home Test kits. I guess he thought it was all related to my womanly parts, sending me for a pap smear, a mammogram, an MRI of the back and, of course, the result that revealed it all: an ultrasound of the pelvic area and abdomen.

If there were one thing I would like to see the medical profession do for women, it would be to make ultrasounds a routine HPV Lab exam along with Paps and Mamos. Anyway, my Pap results came back fine, as did the mammogram. If the ultrasound had not been done, they might not have found the tumour, which was attached to the colon wall, thus causing the pain I was experiencing.

A week later, I returned to my doctor for my results.

He told me they had found something on my left ovary but was not sure if it was only a cyst. It was a very common thing for women to have this cyst, and they usually erupt on their own. Not knowing for sure, he ordered another ultrasound after I completed my next menstrual cycle. By the way, FYI, I would do a pelvic ultrasound over a mammogram anyway.

Again, we get the same results. Something there. He sends me to an OBGYN to confirm that it is a mass. But whether it is cancerous or not, she does not know. She orders more kits. Now, she orders a CA125 test to check for cancer.

Grave news

Another week passes before I see her smiling face. She does not believe it to be cancer because the CA125 Lab result came back negative. She suggested that we do a total hysterectomy since I’m past the childbearing years, and I had a few cysts on the right ovary. At this point, we just needed to relieve the pain. I agreed with the same confidence that she had.

It was all set. We were glad everything had indicated no sign of cancer. Surgery would take place on March 10th. Sure, I was nervous, but I couldn’t wait to be relieved of the pain I had already endured for some five months. I knew I would be out of commission for a few short weeks, but then life would return to normalcy.

Well, God had other plans for me.

He had been trying to tell me to slow down for quite some time, and I was just, well, simply defiant. Now, he was going to force me to. I can’t quite figure it out yet, but there has to be some reason for this madness.

I was officially the CA125 Blood Test result, which has been proven. On March 10th,2009, I was informed that the tumour that had been found was indeed cancerous. Still thought they had caught it early enough, which left me with lots of hope for a recovery. I was thinking to myself, it’s not such a bad thing, and I’m young and healthy except for the tumour, which they had removed. I thought I’d be fine; thank God they found it early. We’ll take things one day at a time.

These doctors were quite concerned. Only days after my surgery, they had me running here and there and everywhere for this and that exam, leaving me no time to rest up from the surgery.

Healing

At this point, I was referred to an HPV Oncologist test centre. I returned to see her a few days later for the results. Not good, not good at all. She sat me in her small, white, very cold office to give me the news. She tried very hard to gently break this news to me, but she took me by surprise no matter what she said or how she said it. No one on this earth can understand being told you are going to die unless you’ve been down this road. A gut-wrenching HPV illness flows through every ounce of your being.

I left her office in a very dark state of mind. Can’t even imagine what it must have been like for my husband to hear that he will lose his wife and not grow old together as planned. He held up well for me, I’m sure, telling me not to give up hope and that CA125 and the cancer treatments have come so far that I’ll be around a long time. I love him so much for that. To this day, he still reminds me to stay strong. Don’t ever give up.

I have lots to live for: a very beautiful daughter, however old she gets, who needs me and a very sweet eight-year-old granddaughter whom I would like nothing more than to be at her high school graduation, wedding and around for the first great-grandchild. They need me to stay strong and fight, fight, fight, which I intend to do for them and myself.

My final message

So, as this HPV Cancer Virus story goes on, I will continue to have hope and faith that the good Lord will take care of me. But, in the meantime, although I have faith, I can’t stop thinking there is a reason for all this happening. My goal in life is to always put a smile on someone’s face, even for a short second; this does not change. I will always try to see the beauty of the rose and not its thorns. What am I supposed to do? All I can come up with is to continue to make people smile through my strength and to ask medical professionals to work on ultrasounds for women before it is too late. I’m not sure yet, nor will I ever know, what my purpose here on earth is, but I hope I’ve started by telling my HPV story to you.

Please know, so far so good. Just finished with my second round of chemo. I’m doing well thus far and have made a cute little bald lady.

I thank you for letting me tell you my HPV story. Together with CA125 home tests, we have a great solution for screening. It is good therapy for me to write this. I wish you all good health and love. Leaving it up to the good Lord. Release your HPV Urine test burdens to Him, and He will handle it all for you as He does for me. Continue to pray.