Sunday, November 20, 2005

Three Years Ago...

It was three years ago today that I had surgery on my left foot. It's been three years that I am cancer free! And yes, I am very grateful to God- for all of his blessings.

Even though my doctor says that I'm in the "clear", I am still very fearful that this cancer (P.H.A.T of the soft tissue) will reappear again.

This type of cancer is rare...the first time I had surgery for this "lump" on my foot, my orthopoedic had absolutely no idea it was cancer, not until the results from pathology came back. There had been only 14 cases reported so far...I was now number 15.

My orthopoedic then sent me to UCSF's Orthopoedic Oncologist, where he said that if anyone knew about this type of cancer, it would be there. Well, they knew of it- but from slides! I was actually their first patient diagnosed with PHAT...their first patient!!

This period in my life was very, very painful... Previous surgeries didn't stop the cancer, so this time the Orthopoedic Oncologist was going to take drastic measures- wide excission (8cm X 8cm) with a skin graft taken from my thigh. Oh my god, the pain!

Needless to say, I spent a whole week in the hospital, then went to my mom's for a couple of months, and finally came home when I was able to "sort of" walk and do things on my own.


Todos los dias le doy gracias a Dios...pues veo mi pie (y semejante pozo que me quedó de recuerdo) y de dónde me quitaron piel para cubrir la herida, y digo que lo mio fue sólo un susto en comparación con otros pacientes de cancer.

Mi doctor dice que este cancer es "raro"...y que no saben mucho de el. Por lo pronto, mi doctor me revisa cada 6 meses y me hace varios tipos de analysis. El temor es que si regresa, es muy probable que regrese a los pulmones. Espero en Dios que esto nunca suceda.

6 comments:

Magda Díaz Morales said...

Recuerda que la mente es como una computadora, la orden que le des esa realiza. Asi que no pienses en que regresartá porque no lo hará, estoy segura.

Pon en tu mente puros pensamientos positicos al respecto, y eso sucederá, lo tengo totalmentge experimentado ;)

Un abrazo.

Xolo said...

Disfruta de la vida y el amor que te rodea. Eres una luz que ilumina la vida de tanta gente y por eso todos tenemos la suerte que ganaste la batalla.

Cuidate y festeja! Saludos...

Karen said...

Congratulations on 3 years and still clean. You're an amazing woman and your faith and strength are an inspiration. Thank God you're well!

*HUGS*
Karen

Yummerson said...

I wholeheartedly agree with Karen. I don't know you personally but from what I've gotten to know thru your blog is that you have great positive energy. I admire that.

Mariposatomica said...

Coco, estoy de acuerdo con las chicas. Usa tu mente.
"You are what you think" como dicen por ay. I will be sending you good vibes.

Rocko said...

WOW, scary you had to go through that. Glad to hear you are cancer free. Good for you!
Keep it up