Therapy therapy therapy!

If you know me well you know I like to name things.  My car is named Snowflake and my cruiser bike is Mango.  I've decided to call my large tumor (which is deriving from my bartholin gland and sitting on my anal sphincter) Big Kahuna. It's about 4x2 in size and what is causing me such pain.

So here`s the low-down.

Big Kahuna is in the way and in order to remove him, we need him to shrink in size.  I'll undergo 5 weeks of daily radiation (M-F) and during these 5 weeks I will also have chemo once a week.  I've been told it's a lower dose so I won't have side effects like losing my hair.  During these 5 weeks I'll receive radiation on my pelvis, vagina (hard to type that word) and my buttocks.  

There are some cancerous cells in my groin as well so radiation will kill these bad boys along the way.  I do have to have surgery this Fri on my right groin as there is a tumor there that we need out prior to radiation.  This is surface surgery so recovery should be easy...so they say!  

All in all my stage is said to be stage 3 but they wouldn't put me through all this if they didn't think the tumor would shrink and be able to removed without complication.  I'm only going to say this next sentence once cause this is really my biggest fear.  If they took the tumor out today I would need a colonoscopy and would live with a bag for the rest of my life.  Did your jaw just fall to the floor, cause mine sure did!  You know how we say no to drugs, well now we say no to bags! LOL

My mom's dear friend Sandy has been kind enough to offer up her lovely basement suite near King Ed & Main as my home away from home.  As treatment goes on I'll see how I do, but the idea is to stay there every other day and then come to my apt in between.  I need snuggles with my kitties!  Here I'll be able to leave things vs having a bag on my shoulder each day and also have visitors when I'm up to it.  

Once radiation is over is Sept, I'll rest up for a bit or as I call it "radiation rehab" and then in Oct or Nov Big Kahuna will be removed.  Hopefully hes small Kahuna by then LOL. This will be the toughest recovery of them all but I can't wait for this day to come and be pain free.

One last shocker is since I'm getting such fierce and direct radiation to my center, I won't be able to have children.  Over the last few years I decided I wasn't going to have kids but now it's a for-sure thing.  I'm OK though cause I had this decided prior but now cancer is really making my mind up for me.  I could harvest my eggs and then get a surrogate but that's not my path in life.  Also I don't want to be a mid-40's momma.  I see myself travelling or just sleeping in ha ha ha  This is good news for my nieces & nephews and friends children 'cause I'll spoil them silly even more than I already do!

#carly2conquercancer

XOXO

C