"I went to my primary care physician in late fall of 2011, thinking I might have a blood clot. I was having some pain underneath my rib cage, so I was all paranoid thinking maybe the blood clot had traveled to my lungs. Instead, when my doctor sent me for x-rays, they found that my abdomen was full of cancer. The next day, I had a biopsy and a CT scan. On Thursday of that week I met with the gynecological oncologist, and it was confirmed that I had stage 3c ovarian cancer. I was in such shock. The prognosis of late-stage cancer is not very good, but I wanted to fight the fight, so I started chemotherapy. I lost all my hair over Christmas that year. After three rounds of chemotherapy, I found out the chemo wasn’t working; the cancer was continuing to grow. I heard about a new surgeon here in the Memphis area who did a procedure called heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC)*, and I had that 10-hour surgery on Valentines Day 2012. They took out my ovaries and my uterus. They also removed my appendix, my gall bladder, spleen, right colon, and my omentum. I didn’t know you could survive without all that stuff, but I did. I had follow-up chemotherapy after that for another 10 months. Everything was going great, but then I had a recurrence last year, so I had a second surgery. I’m getting follow-up scans every three months now and I'm still fighting.
"I’m so blessed to be here. Before this happened, I don’t know that I ever really took time to appreciate and value all the small miracles around me. I continue to do what I can to raise awareness and to pray for my friends and fellow survivors who are going through this. Now I just want to live life to its fullest, and I want to do what I can to get the word out about ovarian cancer and how important early diagnosis is. Even if it only saves one life, it will be worth it."
"I’m so blessed to be here. Before this happened, I don’t know that I ever really took time to appreciate and value all the small miracles around me. I continue to do what I can to raise awareness and to pray for my friends and fellow survivors who are going through this. Now I just want to live life to its fullest, and I want to do what I can to get the word out about ovarian cancer and how important early diagnosis is. Even if it only saves one life, it will be worth it."
From Turn the Towns Teal website:
Special thanks to Kim Skaggs Tutt (seated) for working so diligently to have September proclaimed as Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in Memphis and for obtaining the permit to decorate the town with teal ribbons.
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