Surgery

So as most will have already read, I went in for my operation to remove the cancer on Friday morning. I was admitted on the Thursday afternoon at about 2pm and I was busy from then on. I had Doctors, Anethetists and Nurses with me the whole time. Asking me questions and telling me what would be happening the next day. It was very full on and alot to take in. Mum and dad ended up taking Annabelle home at about 4pm to give her some time out from the hospital so Julian and I got to have some time together.

I slept pretty well Thursday night as I asked for a sleeping pill to keep my mind off things. I was getting pretty nervous. Friday morning they woke me at 5am to get ready for my operation. I had my shower and got dressed in the lovely purple gowns they get u to dress in. Julian, Annabelle, Mum and Dad arrived at about 5:30am to see me before I was called down to theatre. At this point I was thinking, would I see my family again, will i get to hold my little girl and see her grow up?? But I knew that I had to keep a positive mind and not think like that. At 6:50am, theatre rang and said they were ready for me to come down. I said my goodbyes and was trying very hard not to cry infront of everyone but as they wheeled me away I had a little tear in my eye.

From here I had doctors and nurses with me all the time, trying to make me laugh and keep my spirits high. They put me to sleep and I dont remember anything until I woke. Here I lay and everything around me was white. The nurses where dressed in white, the rooms where white, everything WHITE... I thought I was in heaven... I thought something must have gone wrong. I closed my eyes and opened them again and realised I was wrong, I was in recovery. The first thing I asked for was my baby girl. After waiting 2hrs in recovery I finally got to see my little girl and my amazing husband.

I had been ok until yesterday. Thats when I had a little breakdown and cried when they were leaving last night. I miss being home with them and doing things with them. But I know that I have to be in here to get better. Today I am feeling really good, I am up and walking around. I am hoping to be home by Thursday or Friday. Then I will feel much more better and happier..

I havent gone into too much detail as it is a little hard for me to talk about just yet. But I will come back and update and another date.

I would like to thank all my friends for the support they have given me, you guys know who you are. And for all the people that have visited me. I know how hard it is to visit someone sick in hospital and it means much more then you will ever know.

Thank you
xxoo

My little miracle - Annabelle

About 3 year ago I found out I had cancer for the 2nd time, Dr's told me that I would need to go through IVF and have my eggs frozen, as after my treatment I would never be able to fall pregnant naturally and if I did I wouldnt be able to carry the child. This was such a big blow to myself and my husband at the time..

So in the end we decided to freeze embryo's, we got 5 eggs and after fertilization all 5 took very well. We had them frozen and hoped that one day in the future we would be able to find someone to carry them for us. 

After my treatment, I was told that I didnt need to use contraception as I could not fall pregnant. Little did we all know this was not the case...

Fast forward to February 2010, I was at home moving furniture around and had been feeling very off for awhile. I knew that something was wrong and started thinking that maybe the cancer had returned.. I rang my husband and told him we needed to go to the hospital straight away. The hospital wanted to do xrays and ct scans to make sure it wasnt a blood clot or the cancer returning. After asking me several times if I could be pregnant and me saying no, they still wanted to do a pregnancy test anyway. We did 3 pregnancy tests and they all come back inconclusive, so we had to wait for the blood tests to come back.. Getting close to midnight Julian (my husband) decided to go home and get some sleep. At around 1am the dr's come in to tell me the blood tests were back and that it had come back positive... I WAS PREGNANT!!! I insisted that the blood tests were wrong, how could they tell me months ago I couldnt fall pregnant?? Yet here I was pregnant...  

I had already gone through a battle and now I would have to fight to keep this little human being alive inside me... I was in hospital for awhile, while Dr's come in to examine me to make sure I was ready for this, to make sure that my body was ready for this... Most of my Dr's were behind me 100%, some told me it was wrong and I should have an abortion straight away... 

As time went on my body and myself started feeling the effects, getting tired and breathless and not being able to cope... It was a stressfull and frightening journey. 

At 23 weeks I started going in to Labour.. The Dr's successfully stopped it... This happened again at 25 weeks and again at 27 weeks.. For this whole time I was in and out of hospital, mostly in hospital resting. From 27 weeks I was in hospital full time, as the Dr's knew I wouldnt be able to go much longer.

I lasted until I was 29 weeks, on 24th of July, the Dr's decided it was time. The baby was healthy and fine, but my body couldnt take it anymore. I couldnt keep any food down, I could hardly walk, I was meantally and physically drained. I was scared as having a baby this early was very risky...

At 3pm on the 23rd the Dr's induced me, it was a slow journey from here as they had to slowly pump the drugs in to me... Finally at 8:30am on the 24th my little miracle came into the world. She was so tiny, but I could tell she was a fighter. I wasnt able to hold my little girl as they had to take her straight away to help her breath.. I finally saw her 2hrs later. She was perfect, so tiny. 

Annabelle spent 7 weeks in hospital, she had some complications along the way with her breathing but fought her way through and was allowed home. There was no way anything was going to get in the way of taking me little girl home.

I have been told now that I prob wont be able to have anymore children as my body just wont be able to handle it again. But I am just so grateful that I have been given my little girl.

Three time cancer survivor...

The first time I had cancer, I was 12 years old and woke up with sharp
pains on the right side of my back. I went to the dr's and they sent
me to have an xray. For 2 weeks I was treated for Pneumonia. When I
went back for a follow up scan they could still see this black cloud
on my xray. My dr sent me to have some CT scans, MRI and a biopsy of a
mass on the back of my lung, but told me not to worry it would be
nothing serious. When the results came back, it didnt really hit me, I
was told i had a Ewings Sarcoma ( Bone Cancer), on the back of my
right lung and in my 5th, 6th and 7th rib. From then on things were a
world wind. I had to stop school, I started on chemotherapy to try and
shrink the cancer before I would have an operation. Only 2 months
after finding out and starting treatment I had a 12hr operation to
remove the cancer. The surgeons had to deflate my lung to scrap the
cancer of the back of it and also remove my 5th, 6th and 7th rib.
After this followed with another 4 months of chemotherapy to make sure
there were no cancer cells in my body.

After I finished my treatment I was going back every 3 months for
check ups. This went on for 10 years.

One night I was out with friends, when suddenly I couldn't breath. It
felt like something was blocking my airway. I thought it was because I
had too much to drink and didnt take much notice of it. About 2 days
later when I was at work, it started happening again, I knew then
something wasnt right. I went to my GP and he sent me straight to
hospital. Here they found that I had, had a blood clot go through my
heart and into my lung. I was also told that I had cardio myopathy,
which is a condition where one chamber of my heart beats out of
rhythm. I was told that I was very lucky as I could have died. Over
the next couple of days I was in hospital to find where this blood
clot had come from. I had alot more scans and one day the dr came in
to see me, and I knew from the look on her face something was wrong.

This was when she told me that the cancer had returned, this time it
was in my left kidney and part of the main vein to my heart. The
cancer was sitting 5cm away from my heart. I was told that things had
to move fast as they wanted to get the cancer out as soon as possible
so it couldnt reach my heart. I had to go into surgery for 9hrs they
were in there, they removed my left kidney and part of the vein to
make sure they got everything. Before I could start chemo I had to
freeze some embryos because the dr's thought that the chemo would
destroy any eggs I had. After this was done I was told that I needed
to have 4 rounds of chemo. After the first round I got very sick and
my fiancee and family were told to say there goodbyes as they didnt
think I would make it through, but I did. I had another round of chemo
and I got sick again. After this round I decided to stop all treatment
as I didnt want to get sick again and loose my life. The dr's agreed
that this was a good idea. I was told that if the cancer was to return
it would return within a year. They also told me that I would never be
able to have children due to all the chemo I had.

I slowly started recovering and started to feel like myself again,
until one day 1 year later, when moving furniture around I started
feeling sick. I decided to go to the hospital as it wasnt normal for
me to feel this was for so long. Here I was told that I was pregnant,
I could not believe what the dr's were telling me. Just 1 year ago
they told me I could never fall pregnant and it had happened. After
many weeks of talking my husband and I decided to keep the baby as it
was a miracle I was pregnant. Due to my cardiomyopathy I had to take
things easy as my heart was under alot of pressure carrying a baby. At
29 weeks my baby was born because my body couldnt take the stress of
carrying a baby. She was prefect. She is now 7months old and doing
great.

On the 24th of February, I was dealt another blow. I went to the
hospital for a routine check up and scan. The dr's found another
cancer. This time inside my right lung. I am now in the process of
getting biopsy, and waiting for it to be removed. I am unable to have
any more chemo as my body has had too much and wouldnt be able to
handle having anymore. I am hoping everything goes ok and I will get
through this. The time around is really tough, I have a husband and a
daughter to think about. All I can do is keep my spirits high and my
chin up.