In 1981 my Dad died with cancer.
He was 83 years old.
In 1990 my Mother died with cancer.
She was 80 years old.
With this history I assumed that one
day, far in the future I too would
have to deal with cancer.
Little did I know how soon.

In 1991, when I was 49 years old,
I made the decision to have a hysterectomy.
I had been diagnosed with a condition
that could turn into cancer within 5 years.
I decided not to take the chance, given
my family history, and scheduled the surgery,
for December 9, 1991.
That was a couple of months away,
and gave me time to qualify for the
Year End Convention of the company
I was employed by. It was to be held
over New Years, so I would have
a good amount of recuperation time.
I did not at the time see God's hand
guiding my decision.
While I was in surgery they called my
husband, Marvin, out of the waiting room
to come to the surgury floor.
Of course he knew something was wrong,
and rushed , along with our minister, and
a friend, to find out what.
When I started coming around for some
reason, I asked what they had found in there?
He stalled for time by just telling me that
they had found that they needed to take
out my appendix also.
I was still so drowsy that I didn't
question why.
Late in the afternoon, they woke me up
to give me another shot and of course
that one really put me out , so much so
that I couldn't stay awake to talk with
some friends who had stopped by to be
with me.
My Doctor eventually showed up and sat
on my bed and started telling me what
had gone on in the operating room.
Barely listening I finally heard the word,
Cancer!
I was so out of it I had to have him
repeat his story. He assured me that they
had removed all of it and it was in the
appendix.
I think I was probably the only one that
got a good night's sleep that night,
thanks to all the sedative they kept giving me.
In the morning they told me I would
need another surgery the following week.
This one would be to remove 1/3 of my
colon. The following day they told
me that when they put the ovary under
the microscope that they found "seeds"
of the cancer so I would need to see
an Oncologist.
This is when I found out how rare
appendix cancer was and that we would
be treating it as a colon cancer.
This was because usually appendix cancer
is very hard to diagnose and is not found,
in many cases until it is to late to treat.
Therefore they really didn't know how to
treat it. I was told that if I had the
surgery a month before mine would not
have been visible. If I had waited 6
months more to have the surgery it would
have been to late so you see why I say
God was guiding my decision to have
the surgery and the time to have it.
I made my trip anyway and when we
returned home I made another one.
This one to see a Doctor at Mayo's Clinic.
I wanted more information but not
neccessarily what I got.
He told me we were talking "control"
not "cure". Not!
God had led me to find this cancer early
for a reason and I was not going to let
Him down!
Apparently God had led me to find the
right oncologist also, because he agreed
me! The Doctor in Mayo's said to wait
for the cancer to come back, and it
would, and then try to control it with
5 FU, a chemotherapy that they were
using to try and buy people time.
My oncologist and I decided that the
time to fight it was when there wasn't
much of it to fight rather that giving
it time to take the advantage.
The War was on!
We started the Chemo the second week
in January, with a "push" each day
for a week. This was a small amount
put in each day through a port that was
inserted in my upper right chest under
the skin before I left the hospital following
my colon resection.
After this week I had a "push" each
week for six months. It was like
getting the flu every week.
I did get permission from my Doctor
to miss a week so I could go to Hawaii
for a few days. I highly recommend this
treatment. It was wonderful!
This was the longest six months of my life.
It sounds so simple when I write it now.
Near the end of my treatment I was
driving to receive my push and found
myself going the wrong way to reach it,
I turned around and then proceeded to
drive past it. I really did not want to
go and get it that day!
The Doctor at Mayo's had told me that
if you have to have cancer this is the kind
to have. That's because it is the slowest
growing kind of cancer there is.
It is also the lonelist kind of cancer there
is. It is so hard to find anyone alive
that has it. I finally contacted a lady in
Dallas, Texas that was diagnoised about
the same time as I was and I thought
we could be support to each other.
However, everyone she had found had
died on her and I could tell she really
didn't want to go through that again.
I understand.
I was told if I lived 10 years,
I would be famous. I'm coming up on 8!
I also was told if I made it twenty years,
they would consider me cured.
That's my goal!
I finally found a site on the web called
"Brian's Story"
It sounds like he has had it rougher than me.
Last time I checked there hadn't been an
update in quite a while.
I could use a success story but .....?
When you get a cancer diagnosis you get
a lot of stories. Most of them you could
do without. I had one young man come
up to me at a sales meeting, meaning to
help, I'm sure, and tell me that this was
the kind of cancer his Dad had. Not
thinking, I asked how he was doing.
His response was, "Oh he died".
Just what I needed to hear!
A lot of people don't know what to say,
sometimes it's what you don't say that is
the most comfort.
Some people think because you have had
cancer and are still alive, you will know
just how to comfort a friend or relative
of their's. I don't. Everyone has to
find their own way of dealing with
a cancer diagnosis.
The best I can recommend is that you
make sure they know you love them and
stay in touch, tell them a joke, give them
a hug, and listen if they want to talk.
My way of dealing with it was to ask
myself "What's the worst thing that can
happen? Can I deal with that?"
My answere is this. "I could die and go
to Heaven. I can deal with that!"

Update: December 1999- I visited an oncologist in Little Rock who is familiar with Appendix Cancer and had a ct-scan and a cea blood test and they both came back good.

Dee's Story