Tumor vs Cyst….. my story pt4
my story continues, 
My recovery went really well, it was tough to sit for 6 weeks and not train, run, or wrestle cause after sitting in a hospital bed for so long it was like a switch got turned on and it all I could think about. Because I had both open and keyhole surgery I need to be careful and let my body fully heal internally so I didn’t give myself a hernia which could happen if you put a strain on your abdominal that hasn’t fully healed yet. It wasn’t till four weeks in that I felt able to squat or lift even a lightweight I could still kinda feel it so I was very cautious.
The next step was waiting for my biopsy result, I had a virtual appointment to receive those which is basically a phone call and to be honest I was expecting to be told it was nothing, just a benign tumor , and no future treatment need, no more appointment I was fully just expecting to get back to life. It didnt happen that way.
I got a call early on a Tuesday morning from my nurse, shes is with me for all my doctor’s appointments, she’s there to support me and is my go-to if I need to talk or have anything explained. When she called she was a bit vague she didn’t want to tell me to much over that phone, the only information she would give me was that they found abnormal cells which could mean anything, she had an appointment ready for me to go in the following Tuesday to talk with the doctor so he could fully explain it and what would happen next.
The doctors would have a meeting that afternoon to discuss my case which is why she didnt have all the information, but she was really nice and could tell I was in shock and couldn’t wait a week so she said ill call you back in the afternoon after the meeting to give you a better idea and put my mind at ease.
So it was the next day that I got a callback and I could tell by her voice she didnt wants to tell me over the phone, even though you have surgery to remove the tumor it’s still hard to hear it was something malignant.
The results were a low grade or stage one cancer cells. Obviously, as soon as I got off the phone and composed myself I did a lot of research, basically, low-grade cancer is slow-growing and unlikely to spread, it resembles normal tissue cells which is why it hard to detect. All of this put me at ease, I had to wait another week to get the full result and after care plan.
Going into the appointment was terrifying, my nurse did mention future surgery and tests and i just wanted to get back to normal I felt like it’s out now and is gone! so I just want to forget about it, I don’t want my life to revolve around something that may or may not happen. But this is the procedure this is what they have to do. My nurse stayed with me for my appointment which was great, my doctor felt really happy with the surgery he was confident they got it all, they also took some tissue sample around the tumor, where abnormal cells could spread and they came back benign which is great news.
The next step was to put a plan in place, any patient that has cancer cells removed had to be seen by the medical oncologist, he decided if I need chemo post-surgery as some people do but he felt the surgery was successful after seeing my scans and results and didnt feel I needed chemo which I was really happy about, it another positive.
But another surgery is a must, they need to take more tissue samples from the other side just to be sure there aren’t any abnormal cells, with low-grade cancer, they have to be cautious because tissue cells can appear normal so testing is the only way to be sure, hopefully it all goes well and it will be clear, I’m due for surgery on June 3rd if the pandemic were in doest affect my surgery. It’s a two-week recovery after this keyhole surgery so i won’t be out long.
I’ll give updates when I can, I hope this is the end of this chapter of my life, it was months that felt like years.
It might sound strange but it has been a blessing in disguise when you’re in a situation where you don’t know if your gonna have a normal life and I don’t mean work, wrestling or any of those activated you revolve your life around cause you think its everything and it’s all that can make you happy. I mean a normal everyday life, it really put life in perspective for me. Iv realized those things end, they do and they can be taken at any time, , I have a great family and home life that got me through those months when everything else had to be taken away, I had a foundation, I knew I would be ok without it. I put real life on hold cause I wanted to focus on training and have no distractions and it was great but then it got taken, maybe for a short time but at that moment It could have been over, it just made me realize I need balance. you cant neglect one part of your life for another.
What I’m taking from this is to “focus on the positive, not the negative”, Find “balance in your life, home and family is so important it’s your foundation” and don’t be afraid to try and go after what you want and work hard. It might sound weird but i feel like I’m living on borrowed time cause I good lucky but we all are so you have to make the best of it 😊.
Thank you so much for reading this and following my story I appreciate it, ill leave the links below for the other parts, please follow and subscribe for more. xx Paula xx