This post is about the interesting journey God has taken me on. Back in 2015, I began to have the most excruciating pain in my left foot. Usually it would happen at night when I laid down but sometimes it would continue throughout the day. After weeks of this pain, I went into my Dr. where he took an X-ray and basically told me I was crazy. He said there was nothing in the scan to show that anything was wrong. He put me on some medicine to help with the pain and sent me on my way.
Fast forward a year, in July of 2016 I was offered the Youth Director Position at St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church in Houston TX. As hard as it was to move away from family, I knew this was what God wanted me to do. Mid August, I moved to Houston. That is when I realized not only was I still having pain in my left foot but a lump had begin to grow on my ankle. The lump grew to a pretty big size. I had many people look at it and they all said it seemed to be a cyst. Everything I had read about cysts, didn't make me too concerned or in a hurry to get it checked out. Boy was that a mistake.
In January 2017, once my insurance kicked in, I finally decided to go to the Dr. to get the lump checked out. By this point, it hurt all the time and I couldn't wear any shoes other then sandals. Again my Dr. said he thought it was a cyst and referred me to a podiatrist. The next month I met with the new Dr. She took an X-ray said it was a cyst and scheduled me for surgery. On Friday February 24th 2017, I went in to have the mass removed from my ankle. The mass was almost 8 cm long. A week later when I went to get my boot she told me that it wasn't a cyst and she was waiting to hear back from pathology on what exactly it was.
On March 9th, I went back to have my stitches removed and that is when my whole world flipped upside down. I could tell something was off from the moment I walked into the room. The Dr. was quiet, distant and looked like she wanted to cry. She sat down next to me and told me the original pathology report stated it was a sarcoma. She informed me that they had sent it to MD Anderson for a second opinion and that was all I heard. I left the office in tears. I immediately called my mom and told her what the Dr. told me. I was in shock, I couldn't believe what she had told me. There was no way this was correct, it had to be a mistake.
A few days later we got a call from the Dr. with the final diagnosis. They labeled it a Myoepithelial Carcinoma. This is a rare form of cancer usually found in the salivary glands... mine was located in my ankle. At that point, I knew it was real. The first few days of knowing were a blur. I didn't know what to think. I found myself staring off at nothing, wondering how this happened. I would begin to tear up just thinking about it. My mom came to stay with me and some of my family came down to surprise me.
That was exactly what I needed in that moment. My whole world was crashing down on me. I was a month shy of 28 years old and I had cancer. I knew that I needed to get the best care and I was in the best city for that.
I called MD Anderson and got an appointment in the sarcoma center. The first day was exhausting. 12 hours at the medical center for blood work, CT scans, MRI's, Ultrasounds and to meet my oncologist. A couple days later, I got a call from the nurse telling me my scans showed nothing had spread. For the first time in weeks, I felt relief, but I knew it wasn't the end. On April 3rd I went in to meet with the Radiation oncologist. He informed me, I would have to go in 5 days a week for 5 weeks and receive radiation on my foot. After that was over, I would have a few weeks rest period and then another extensive surgery to clean out the remaining stuff in my foot.
On April 10th, I began my radiation journey. The first week was a breeze, but as time has gone on, I've noticed a difference in me. I'm getting more tired, my foot is red, swollen, dry skin and I have marks up and down my leg. I just finished my third week of radiation. I am more then half way done with this part of the journey. Two more weeks and I will be done with radiation! I can't believe it has gone by so quickly!
I think about all of this and wonder why me? Why is this happening to me? Was there something I could have done to prevent this? Why didn't I get it looked at sooner? Why didn't I ask my first Dr. to do more scans? Through all this, I have had a lot of mixed emotions. Mad because this has happened, happy because I'm lucky I didn't have to do chemo, sad because cancer sucks. I will never really know why, but I do know that God has a plan. He has a plan for all of us. I do know that God wouldn't have sent me on this journey if he knew I couldn't survive it. A few years from now I'll look back and remember this time and be able to say I did it. I made it through that difficult time. I beat cancer.
This chapter in my life is definitely one I'll never forget. I would never have been able to get through this without the love and support from my friends and family near and far. I'll never be able to repay those who have taken so much time out of their busy schedules to take me to my appointments or help me keep my mind off everything that is going on. To all those who have sent me get well cards and gifts. All the calls, texts and messages. I truly am so very lucky to have each and every one of you in my life.
#kickingcancersbuttonedayatatime
Fast forward a year, in July of 2016 I was offered the Youth Director Position at St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church in Houston TX. As hard as it was to move away from family, I knew this was what God wanted me to do. Mid August, I moved to Houston. That is when I realized not only was I still having pain in my left foot but a lump had begin to grow on my ankle. The lump grew to a pretty big size. I had many people look at it and they all said it seemed to be a cyst. Everything I had read about cysts, didn't make me too concerned or in a hurry to get it checked out. Boy was that a mistake.
In January 2017, once my insurance kicked in, I finally decided to go to the Dr. to get the lump checked out. By this point, it hurt all the time and I couldn't wear any shoes other then sandals. Again my Dr. said he thought it was a cyst and referred me to a podiatrist. The next month I met with the new Dr. She took an X-ray said it was a cyst and scheduled me for surgery. On Friday February 24th 2017, I went in to have the mass removed from my ankle. The mass was almost 8 cm long. A week later when I went to get my boot she told me that it wasn't a cyst and she was waiting to hear back from pathology on what exactly it was.
On March 9th, I went back to have my stitches removed and that is when my whole world flipped upside down. I could tell something was off from the moment I walked into the room. The Dr. was quiet, distant and looked like she wanted to cry. She sat down next to me and told me the original pathology report stated it was a sarcoma. She informed me that they had sent it to MD Anderson for a second opinion and that was all I heard. I left the office in tears. I immediately called my mom and told her what the Dr. told me. I was in shock, I couldn't believe what she had told me. There was no way this was correct, it had to be a mistake.
A few days later we got a call from the Dr. with the final diagnosis. They labeled it a Myoepithelial Carcinoma. This is a rare form of cancer usually found in the salivary glands... mine was located in my ankle. At that point, I knew it was real. The first few days of knowing were a blur. I didn't know what to think. I found myself staring off at nothing, wondering how this happened. I would begin to tear up just thinking about it. My mom came to stay with me and some of my family came down to surprise me.
That was exactly what I needed in that moment. My whole world was crashing down on me. I was a month shy of 28 years old and I had cancer. I knew that I needed to get the best care and I was in the best city for that.
I called MD Anderson and got an appointment in the sarcoma center. The first day was exhausting. 12 hours at the medical center for blood work, CT scans, MRI's, Ultrasounds and to meet my oncologist. A couple days later, I got a call from the nurse telling me my scans showed nothing had spread. For the first time in weeks, I felt relief, but I knew it wasn't the end. On April 3rd I went in to meet with the Radiation oncologist. He informed me, I would have to go in 5 days a week for 5 weeks and receive radiation on my foot. After that was over, I would have a few weeks rest period and then another extensive surgery to clean out the remaining stuff in my foot.
On April 10th, I began my radiation journey. The first week was a breeze, but as time has gone on, I've noticed a difference in me. I'm getting more tired, my foot is red, swollen, dry skin and I have marks up and down my leg. I just finished my third week of radiation. I am more then half way done with this part of the journey. Two more weeks and I will be done with radiation! I can't believe it has gone by so quickly!
I think about all of this and wonder why me? Why is this happening to me? Was there something I could have done to prevent this? Why didn't I get it looked at sooner? Why didn't I ask my first Dr. to do more scans? Through all this, I have had a lot of mixed emotions. Mad because this has happened, happy because I'm lucky I didn't have to do chemo, sad because cancer sucks. I will never really know why, but I do know that God has a plan. He has a plan for all of us. I do know that God wouldn't have sent me on this journey if he knew I couldn't survive it. A few years from now I'll look back and remember this time and be able to say I did it. I made it through that difficult time. I beat cancer.
This chapter in my life is definitely one I'll never forget. I would never have been able to get through this without the love and support from my friends and family near and far. I'll never be able to repay those who have taken so much time out of their busy schedules to take me to my appointments or help me keep my mind off everything that is going on. To all those who have sent me get well cards and gifts. All the calls, texts and messages. I truly am so very lucky to have each and every one of you in my life.
#kickingcancersbuttonedayatatime
