Cancer: It can happen to anyone

"I hate cancer!" I titled a post in a forum for dog-lovers when my beloved border collie was diagnosed with canine lymphoma. Little did I know that I would find myself battling cancer myself a few months later. It was bittersweet at the time. I was elated to be pregnant after 2 years of infertility and a round of IVF, but devastated by the recurrence of my dog's cancer. I forged forth with her chemotherapy treatments, while keeping up with my own pre-natal visits.

In October 2007, for the first time in my life of regular pap smears, I had an abnormal pap. OB wasn't too worried because it showed "very slight abnormalities", but recommended that I follow up with a colposcopy. Again, the test showed slight abnormalities, but not very much, and very localized. OB said that the questionable cells would likely be flushed out in the process of child-birth, so I remained optimistic, and didn't give a second thought.

At my post-partum check-up, the pap was still abnormal, but showed signs of abnormality at the glandular level so a cone-biopsy was recommended to check for skip lesions. In 85-95% of the cases, a cone biopsy will treat the condition by removing the bad cells, so again, I forged forth with treatment, and remained optimistic that the cone-biopsy would be the end. Afterall, everything was caught so quickly.

Unfortunately, 2-days later my doctor calls with news that the biopsy indicated invasive cancer cells, considered as stage 1A adenocarcinoma. The recommended treatment is abdominal hysterectomy to make sure it hasn't spread to lymph nodes. The news is still sinking in. Despite my journey so far, I am still optimistic that the hysterectomy will clear the cancer. I am hanging tight until I can progress to my next stage in the journey. I hope I can keep up a happy front for the sake of my children, and feel a little better knowing that there is a vaccine for HPV to protect my daughter from the risks of cervical cancer. Meanwhile, we are still celebrating my dog's cancer remission. She is sitting by my feet as I write. I hope I can be as lucky as her, and that this story has a happy cancer-free ending.