Also, note that I am keeping the brand of oils I am using out of this blog. Trust me when I say I am using quality oils that aren't from Amazon (I LOVE Amazon and started with oils from there but switched because of lack of assurance they were authentic and quality assurance). I do have my email listed on this blog if you are curious, but other than that I want people to hear and be encouraged by my story, not feeling like this is a sales pitch for a brand of oils. You will notice that any blend I mention will have the oils in it listed in order from the bottle as a resource. This isn't a place I want people to feel the need to sell their brands, this again is my story and I left my brand out on purpose to keep this a place where my story can be told.
With all that said let's get to what brought me to the blogging side of telling my journey turning cancer from a tragedy to a celebration of God, my faith, family, friends and, yes, oils...
November 12th is that date that will now forever stick with me. It was a Wednesday and after a month of dealing with abdominal pain and FINALLY going in to see my nurse practitioner (OH how I hate going in to be seen...) I was scheduled for a contrast CT. I got to the appointment on time, it was early morning so that took a bit of work being I had 5 children to get up and out of the house to school. I got there and found out that I still had an hour wait as I sat there drinking this "water" for the CT. I texted my best friend Mary throughout that whole hour complaining that this really could have been done at home and how the fake sugar was upsetting my stomach. FINALLY I got in and they did the CT scan, they hurried me out and on my way, which at the time I was glad about but it didn't quite click until afterward why...
I quickly made it over to Costco after the CT Scan and got JUST about to check out when I got the call, it was my nurse practitioner and she needed to see me as soon as possible. I tried hard to get information out of her but couldn't get anything more concrete than "yes, this isn't good news and if you want your husband here, bring him". My heart sank and I still had to check out. I looked around and wondered if anyone else could see the tears or fear I felt. I got out and tried my husband but I knew he was unavailable for most of the day. So I headed 20 minutes back to the clinic praying and called Mary for support.
I sat there as the nurse practitioner told me the results of the CT scan showed ovarian cancer that had spread into the abdomen and possibly on my liver and lymph nodes. I was so numb other than realizing liver and lymph node involvement was DEFINITELY not what I wanted to hear. I listened to her and we went through all the tests we had done before to see if ANYTHING gave a hint to this. But I had already known, something had told me to go in, something had been nagging at me that this could be cancer... I realized then that God had put it in my heart to go in and thankfully I listened because this story could have turned out much different had I not.
So by this time my husband had called and was on his way home to grab my kiddos after school.I had to go back up and see the oncologist my nurse practitioner had made an appointment with. Everything just seemed to lead to something else, and now the fact I was going to see a oncologist the same day I found out I had cancer was SO overwhelming. I kissed my husband and had him say a prayer before I left to head out to the appointment. The whole way I just prayed that I could have the strength and that things weren't as dark as they seemed.
It's almost surreal those moments sitting and waiting to get called back, the oncologist was a gynecological oncologist so I was sitting in with pregnant women waiting to get checked and eagerly awaiting the birth of a new life and then there were some of us there for cancer. That just didn't seem right, I should have been there on the "other side" excited and hopeful and yet here I was just hoping the news wasn't a timeline of the rest of my life, ending in months rather than years...
The doctor was a bit awkward, just something about him was off for me, his nurse practitioner on the other hand was warm and very friendly so I concentrated on her. After a very uncomfortable exam I got dressed and headed to his office where he liked to talk so it was more comfortable. He told me then that I had stage 3c ovarian cancer that had metastasized to the greater omentum (the lining covering your intestines and internal organs), bowel, bladder and possibly some other areas. The good news was he didn't think the liver was effected and that's what kept me at the staging I was at. He wanted surgery to happen right away and chemo to start after I healed from the surgery. He told me he wanted to do 2 kinds of chemo therapy one IV, the other IP or Intraperitoneal directly into the abdomen which had the best outcomes. He didn't give me stats or what this all meant for my future but did say they had the best outcomes with that treatment. I agreed to it, it took all of the time we talked to know I was going to do EVERYTHING I could to be here in the future for my family. I always thought I would go a more natural route until I was placed into this position. My decision was easy. So I headed across the hall where the nurse practitioner was sitting with Nurse Kathy who coordinated all the treatments. At the time Nurse Kathy was friendly but very regimented in handing me papers with surgical instructions and the fact I wouldn't see anyone before the surgery day was new to me. They wanted thanksgiving but I knew I needed that time with family to pray and just go over everything so it went to the next week. I was so numb and overwhelmed and now had a stack of papers with instructions for a surgery that scared me more than anything. I have NEVER had surgery, been in them during paramedic training and throughout my career a lot but never was that me laying on the table. Looking back now I feel bad for the anger and stubbornness I felt as Nurse Kathy handed me everything. She really didn't mean to come off as cold but at the time it was tough to find the compassion I needed right at that point. I felt very alone and not able to process everything properly and didn't have the comfort level with them to ask all I wanted to know about timelines so even though Nurse Kathy told me many times to call with questions, and I had quite a few in the coming days just about timelines, I didn't feel comfortable enough to call and ask.
I went home broken, scared, crying, praying... I called a few people to let them know what was happening and hoping that saying it would somehow change things. I was embarrassed, I am rarely EVER sick and now I was telling people I had cancer. Something about that made it so incredibly personal and hard to say. My life stopped for that day and yet the day kept going... hard to explain but that's how this all started.
Disclaimer: Please understand that this information is for educational purposes only. I am a mom, I am not a doctor, I enjoy passing on the knowledge I have learned in doing these types of projects and through my research. The statements made here have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and they are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure or prevent any disease. Don’t take my word for it…you should always engage conventional wisdom and consult with your medical professional to determine potential drug interactions and safety of use. Always when using essential oils for a medical condition or if on prescribed or over the counter drugs, seek advice from a medical professional (DR./PA/NP/Naturopath/pharmacist) on whether the oils will cause potential adverse reactions.
These practices are what work for me and my family, if you chose to take and use them I encourage you take my research and do some of your own prior to using the tips I give. While I do a lot of research when putting these posts out it generally fits into what I would do with and for my family. If you have specific issues, allergies or conditions these practices may not work or may be detrimental to what you are intending to do for yourself. Again, I encourage wisdom and discussions with your healthcare provider to determine safe use of all posts that I provide that can be used for health reasons.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis of cancer. I said a prayer for you as I read this. Linking up with coffee for your heart. May you find peace and comfort in your loving Jesus Blessings, Tammy
ReplyDeletePlease don't be sorry, I just started this blog but you will see this has been full of blessings, triumph and ability to show how awesome our God is. Thank you so much for the blog hop. :)
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