Many of my friends and acquaintances know how much I savor my time kayaking away a Saturday with my daughter, hiking undiscovered trails, doing my daily 5 am yoga/pilates, and running around two miles a day. They also know how I am a huge advocate for coral calcium, massive amounts of vitamin D (25,000 grams or more a day to combat pain and boost immunity, and shark oil- not to mention my juicer fixation.
I'm not perfect. I haven't been the best at handling the stress of an ailing parent, living on a tight budget as a single mom while finishing college, and sometimes picking up a bad habit to ease my frustrations; however, I I don't think any the recipe of my life could have ever prepared me for the dark cloud that rolled over my existence this past September.
Instead of avoiding the questions anymore, I decided it's time to let you all know about the cancer that I never saw coming. It's called choriocarcinoma, which effects 1 in 40,000... It develops from another condition called gestational trophoblastic disease which effects about 1 in 1,500. Choriocarcinoma is one of the two rarest forms of cancer and it's one of the most aggressively spreading cancers that first effectsthe uterus, then moves to the lungs, liver, and brain within months.
Luckily, my doctors chose to start chemo right away because within a month it had already grown into the muscles surrounding my uterus and was quickly on its way to it's path to finish me off as it made its way north. At the ripe old age of 33 with an 8 year old at home, as this prospect and uncertainty of sudden death this vicious disease take sthe upper hand threatening to break our hearts and rob my child of the special bond that she deserves. I cried for two weeks and I realized this monster wouldn't get me.
I take Methotrexate every week.. along with Zofran for the nausea, but the kicker is that chemo causes horrible headaches smilar to having knives stabbing you in the head but there's only a handful of meds you can take because Methotrexate has a ton of side effects so you're stuck with tylenol or percocet but forget migraine meds.
The causes of choriocarcinoma are relatively unclear... I've heard everything from the causes ranging for having a type A blood type (as I do), Asian and African descent (which I don't), vitamin A deficiency (I totally don't), and a few other odd ones. On the bright side, choriocarcinoma and gestational trophoblastic disease are very unique forms of cancer and are the most researched diseases at universities world wide becase they have a very unique ability to stop spreading and they could help find cures to other forms of cancer.
While I have felt overwhelmed by this, I know I can fight this and I'm going to win this battle. There's been so much pain in the process of beating this monster but despite the chemo and the plethora of painful treatments one thing keeps me string enough to keep fighting... HOPE.
I'm not perfect. I haven't been the best at handling the stress of an ailing parent, living on a tight budget as a single mom while finishing college, and sometimes picking up a bad habit to ease my frustrations; however, I I don't think any the recipe of my life could have ever prepared me for the dark cloud that rolled over my existence this past September.
Instead of avoiding the questions anymore, I decided it's time to let you all know about the cancer that I never saw coming. It's called choriocarcinoma, which effects 1 in 40,000... It develops from another condition called gestational trophoblastic disease which effects about 1 in 1,500. Choriocarcinoma is one of the two rarest forms of cancer and it's one of the most aggressively spreading cancers that first effectsthe uterus, then moves to the lungs, liver, and brain within months.
Luckily, my doctors chose to start chemo right away because within a month it had already grown into the muscles surrounding my uterus and was quickly on its way to it's path to finish me off as it made its way north. At the ripe old age of 33 with an 8 year old at home, as this prospect and uncertainty of sudden death this vicious disease take sthe upper hand threatening to break our hearts and rob my child of the special bond that she deserves. I cried for two weeks and I realized this monster wouldn't get me.
I take Methotrexate every week.. along with Zofran for the nausea, but the kicker is that chemo causes horrible headaches smilar to having knives stabbing you in the head but there's only a handful of meds you can take because Methotrexate has a ton of side effects so you're stuck with tylenol or percocet but forget migraine meds.
The causes of choriocarcinoma are relatively unclear... I've heard everything from the causes ranging for having a type A blood type (as I do), Asian and African descent (which I don't), vitamin A deficiency (I totally don't), and a few other odd ones. On the bright side, choriocarcinoma and gestational trophoblastic disease are very unique forms of cancer and are the most researched diseases at universities world wide becase they have a very unique ability to stop spreading and they could help find cures to other forms of cancer.
While I have felt overwhelmed by this, I know I can fight this and I'm going to win this battle. There's been so much pain in the process of beating this monster but despite the chemo and the plethora of painful treatments one thing keeps me string enough to keep fighting... HOPE.
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