
Hello princesses! Please forgive the length of my post but I thought I would be as thorough as I could for anyone else who may gain some encouragement or support from my story. When I went for my annual gyno visit 5/15/09, my

noticed something was different from last year's visit. After the intrusive part of the visit, she accompanied me to have a trans-abdominal sonogram & diagnosed a large cyst on my right ovary that would need to be removed. Abdominal incision would be needed due to the size of the cyst/ovary mass. Surgery was scheduled for 7/6/09. The procedure went well and surgery time was less than expected. My biggest souvenir from this was a 9 inch "bikini cut."
At the staple removal appointment a week later, I was told some of the pathology was sent to a very prestigious and well know entity for a 2nd opinion but was probably nothing to worry about since the entire ovary was removed with the cyst (almost 6 lbs!). Two days later, my Gyne called that they found borderline mucinous adenocarcinoma in the ovary/cyst and she wanted me to see a Gyn Oncologist. She informed me this was a very unusual type of cancer to be found in an ovary and especially someone of my age.
When I went to the Gyn Onc on 7/29/09, I was told from my medical records that I would need a total hysterectomy including removal of: cervix, uterus, left tube & ovary, appendix, lymph nodes, and anything else needed pending scan & blood results. Blood was taken that day to check for ovarian and colon cancer markers. I was then scheduled for cat scans of my chest, abdomen and pelvic area on 8/14/09 and surgery scheduled for 8/18/09. Evidently, the type of cancer cells are most common in breast, digestive tract, appendix and some other areas, so aggressive was the way to go to be as cautious as possible.
All bloodwork was very good as well as the cat scan results, so it was planned for the above mentioned organs to be removed and some random tissue samples for pathology. I would need a vertical incision this time so they could have better access to the upper abdomen.
Surgery went well and lasted about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. My recovery was much easier after this surgery since they had a local pain controller which kept the incision topically numb until it was time to go home. The hospital stay was 2 days as it was for the RSO in July.
I was informed when I went for the staple removal the next week that ALL of the pathology was CANCER FREE, including 27 lymph nodes, lots of answered prayers there. I was also told it may still may be recommended to have a small regimen of chemo due to the nature of the initial pathology when the cancer cells were found. I am expecting to hear from the Gyn Onc office tomorrow about the chemo (she wanted to discuss it with pathology, radiology and other oncologists before she makes a decision).