Written by Kelly on Facebook November 11, 2024 I have some unfortunate, and quite honestly, shocking news to share. I'll just get right to it, and if you'd like to read the story, I'll include it below. ❤️ Back in September, the day before my 50th birthday, I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. I hadn't shared until now, because I had to go through lots of scans, mri, petscan, procedure in the OR to finally get a plan for me. Now that a plan is set, and people are starting to find out, I just want to let everyone know that I will be starting chemo & radiation on Monday the 18th. Any prayers you can spare for me while on this long journey ahead is much appreciated. It's been a whirlwind of emotions for myself, Shane, our girls and my immediate family. ❤️ Backstory (long): End of August, I went for a checkup with the PA that I see. While she was doing my gyn exam, she found a one inch size lesion on my cervix and when she swabbed me, it started bleeding. This caused some concern, obviously, and she sent me to a new gynecologist, as my previous one moved 2 years ago. Went to the appt with the new dr and she fully believed that it was nothing of concern, that we just caught my body during a time it was healing and inflammed, as that is what our bodies do. She did a biopsy "just in case" but she felt it would be nothing. My Dr knew I was going on a birthday cruise trip, and she was going to call me with results after we got back, but the results were loaded to my patient portal and an email came through while we were in port in Cozumel. Anxious, but thinking it would be clear, I opened the email and I read the word "carcinoma" and felt panic set in. We got home a couple days later, and the day before my birthday, my Dr called to tell me that she was SHOCKED at the results, and she really thought it was nothing to be concerned about. She apologized probably 8 times and you could hear the concern in her voice. Happy Dang Birthday to me! I was sent to an oncologist, who sent me for an mri and a petscan to be sure the cancer had not spread to any other parts of my body, thankfully it is NOT metastatic! The results from the scans weren't enough to make a confident plan for me yet, so we had to do what is called a cold knife conization in the OR two weeks ago. That biopsy came back and showed the cervical cancer laterally on my cervix, but also inside the vaginal wall (sorry, tmi), which the scans did not show very well. It was originally suggested I would probably have a hysterectomy and/or chemo & radiation, but because the cancer is also in a second area, that would mean removing all my girl parts and lowering my bladder is the way I understand it. After that, I would STILL need chemo & radiation. So, for the best curative care with the same outcome, and to not put my body through all that trauma surgery, it is best to just go straight to chemo & radiation. I will be starting this coming Monday. Chemo once a week for 5 or 6 weeks and radiation every day M-F at the same time. Then a couple more weeks of localized internal radiation. That's it, you're all caught up to the appts I had today to go over the radiation treatment and learn about how chemo works and possible side effects. Next thing is going to get my port put in, waiting on the Dr office to call to schedule that. I'm nervous, anxious, sad, mad. All the feelings that Ive been keeping in for 2 months. I can finally share what has been going on, and ask for any and all prayers you can send my way. Thanks for reading, if you got this far! Love you all!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️