This is a guest post done by my sister Ash. She is starting her own "blogging journey" and will be sharing here as well as on her own personal Facebook page. I lived this as a sister- and it was terrifying. I am eager to read this journey from her point of view.
To link directly to Ash's blog click HERE
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Blog- Scarred for Life
Entry 1- Pregnancy
This is my first blog ever...I'm sure by the time I'm
done I'll have a few more...you might be reading this on my page, my sister's
page, a friends?? I'm doing this hoping to connect with some people that can
relate....so here goes..
I'm not a religious person, nor do I believe in superstitions. But through my journey, there is one thing I have grown to believe in and that is...everything happens for a reason. If you had preached this crap to me 11 yrs ago I would have told you to shut it and move along..
In 2001, I lived with my boyfriend and our 3 yr old daughter. A kid free getaway up north to snowmobile resulted in a surprise pregnancy...It's not something we had planned at the time but we were both happy after the shock wore off....Since I had done this before there was no rush to make the boring gynecologist appointment, so I waited a few weeks....
With my 3 year old Sarah in tow, we headed to our first appointment. We met our new midwife and to my surprise got to hear the heart beat on our first visit!! After going over the regular questions and giving me a due date of Nov 20th, she asked me if I had any concerns.
I told her I had a sore throat and I was worried it was strep. She cultured my throat and checked my glands, moving her hands down my neck and around to the front she paused and said "do you know you have a large lump here?" Uh no, how many times do you feel the front of your own neck...She left the room and came back with another doctor, by the time I left that appointment, I had another appointment for an ultrasound the very next day...
I
showed up for the ultrasound again with a toddler in tow and the tech was so
awesome she gave us out first sneak peak at our baby!! I was so happy and
thinking about names not what was in my neck....The word goiter had been tossed
around at the doctors office, so I wasn't at all worried...But to my surprise
they once again called in more doctors and when I left that appointment, I left
this time with an appointment to see a surgeon
immediately....
I
was starting to worry, I called John and told him to come home, I needed him
for this appointment....I called and had my grandparents watch Sarah and we
headed to the surgeons office. The exam was routine and he didn't seem overly
worried, he too talked about it probably being a goiter (whatever the hell that
was) but to be on the safe side he wanted to do a fine needle biopsy...I figured
I'd have time to think this over but he said he could do it right
then...
Sick to my stomach and John sweating in the corner, they
laid me down and hung my head off of the end of the table. They numbed my neck
and then said don't swallow and they took out what looked like a god damned
harpoon and inserted it directly into the front of my neck...I closed my eyes
and I remember feeling the doctors hands shake. It was over in a matter of
seconds...It would be sent out and I would wait for the
results....
I
don't remember how long I waited but I had Sarah to keep me occupied. On the
day I was told I could call, I did....I asked the receptionist if I could have
the results and she gave me them over the phone she said "they found follicular
cells" just as matter of fact and then she said I had a follow up appointment to
see the surgeon to discuss it, the next day...So I did what anyone else would
have done and looked up follicular cells online....Helllllooooo!! What I found
hit me like a freight train...How could this lady behind her desk be so calm??
Didn't she know what this was?? Didn't she know I could be sick?? Didn't she
know I was pregnant??
I
called John, come home!! I called my mother who left work to come over...I
remember my sister in law coming with an iced coffee....I was a mess and didn't
want to wait another minute to see this doctor.. My mother called and read the
women the riot act and made her give me an appointment
sooner....
I went to the appointment and was told they did in fact find follicular cells, BUT it wasn't cancer until they break out of the capsule (this was like a foreign language to me) and there was no way of knowing if it had until they remove it...so to be on the safe side let's take this lump out...Ok only problem with that was I was 15 weeks pregnant...
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| ultrasound 1 |
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| ultrasound 2 |
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| Sarah practicing for her new baby! |
