When I was 16 I started having a lot of trouble when it comes to my reproductive system, I was having a lot of gut-wrenching pain and heavy bleeding. Because I had only had a very short conversation with my parents about my cycle and I thought everything was normal. Fast forward to October of 2019, I was sent into emergency surgery (on Halloween) because I had a tumor the size of a football removed from my left ovary. Being the root cause of my problems, I thought everything was over with. Boy was I wrong.
I was still having problems and pain when I reached my cycle and I decided to go back to my OBGYN. The tumor was growing back, this time in clusters and it was getting pretty serious because we had no idea where these were coming from or why they were developing. Then in June of 2021, two weeks after I graduated high school, I was on the surgery table getting a cluster of tumors removed from the same ovary I had trouble with before. Only this time, the tumors had engulfed my left ovary and Fallopian tube completely.
At 18, I had to undergo a full cesarian section procedure to remove the tumors, along with that half of my reproductive system. The remains of the surgery were then sent off to pathology and not too long after, I got the bad news. That cancer had been sitting in my body for almost 3.5 years and I never knew it. The doctors told me that I had a rare type of progressing stage 1 ovarian cancer. I then had to be sent to specialists, technicians and other doctors as well. The doctors hadn’t seen this type of cancer in someone so young, and with no genetic links, we were very confused about how and why it developed in me.
Because of the intensive care, supervision and self-awareness that I had, I was able to beat this early on. I thank my lucky stars that I was able to be so fortunate and not need chemo or radiation. Beating cancer has been one of the longest ongoing battles I have had to face and the ironic part is that I never knew it was in there until I had to have it removed. However, I am very thankful for the way things have worked out and I continue to seek the care and testing I need to stay cancer free! All I can say is that I am thankful for everyone that has been there for me throughout this long, tiring, and painful battle. I am a survivor and a survivor I will always be!