I am sorry I have been MIA for so long, but since starting radiation and going back to work I have little to no extra energy to do even the simplest of things including writing. I will do my best to do a weekly entry but I offer no promises.
This weeks post really has nothing to do with me or my treatments, but rather about 3 lovely women who all have inspired me to embrace life, seek my passions, discover new things and love to the fullest:
1. Last weekend, I lost my wonderful friend, Amy. Amy passed on her 39th birthday from complications with blood clots. She is survived by her 2 wonderful children, husband, mother, father, family and a shit load of friends. She was kind, talented and generous. In fact, her generosity has provided life to others through organ donation.
Amy’s passing was completely unexpected. From what I have been told Amy had high blood pressure which was being controlled by medication. In addition, she was taking birth control pills. Ladies, I beg you PLEASE do not take birth control pills. BC is filled with hormones that can cause strokes, tumors and a variety of other complications. I am not a doctor, I am not an expert, but Amy is the 3rd woman (including myself) I know who has had a tragic result do to birth control pills.
Off the top of my head, I know of 2 non hormonal birth control options, condoms and the IUD, ParaGard which provides 10 years of protections and has NO, I repeat NO hormones. http://www.paragard.com/.
It has been years since I have seen Amy in person, but thanks to social media, Amy and I were able to keep in touch and share lifes special moments through photos and posts. I will miss Amy’s funny whit but I am eternally grateful to have known her.
2. My colleague and friend, Diane went into the hospital a few weeks ago for a scheduled hip replacement. During her recovery she developed blood clots. While treating her with blood thinners, Diane began to have complications with her treatment and sadly they discovered she had cancer which has spread and now we are left praying for a miracle.
Diane is a true city girl, she did not own a car she rode the train, took taxis and walked everywhere. To be honest, I am not quite sure she even knew how to drive.
Diane is a very talented writer. She is a charming lady who is greatly respected for her many accomplishments including her monthly column in Food Processing and her blog on FoodProssing.com, Toops Scopes-http://community.foodprocessing.com/toops_scoops
It has been about 6 months since I have seen Diane and I now wish that I would have kept in better contact with her.
3. A fellow Desmoidians, Tanya passed away last week at the tender (young) age of 30. I did not personally know Tanya but rather we found one another on the DTRF Facebook page. Tanya was an amazing woman who embraced and enjoyed life to the fullest.
xoxo,
Faith
Hi Faith! I'm so happy to have found your blog. I'm going to check out the DTRF facebook page too. My 16 yo son was just diagnosed with a desmoid tumor in his trapezius muscle, and we're in the process of talking to various doctors about medications and surgery. I pray your latest surgery is a success! Feel free to contact me at elizabeth@trailingyarn.com if you have any words of advice!
ReplyDeleteI know this is a lot but please read it all.
ReplyDeleteHello, my name is Joshua. I just am trying to find answers about what my girlfriend, Sophia is going through. Sophia is 19 years old. She was diagnosed with a Abodomial Desmoid Tumor. Non cancerous. It weighed 17 lbs. It was about the size of a soccerball. To record the largest of it's kind due to location and type.
We live in Florida and we've come to a point where she is about 6 weeks from post OP. The removal went better than expected. She went through normal post OP complications. When she was discharged she went a good two weeks of a good state of health. Suddenly fevers and vomitting became daily. Usually once every 3-4 hours. She couldn't keep food down. During this time scans and tests were being done. It got to a point where we made the decision to drive her to the ER after the pain intensified and vomitting lasted for 2 hours. After another CT Scan at the ER they noticed a small bowel obstruction.
They "treated" it for a couple of days and recently she was released. Three days have passed and shes back to puking 6-8 times a day. I'm trying to understand if the doctors just simply don't know what's going on and if anyone can relate to this. Could you shine some light on this? Did you go through a point after sugery where you couldn't stop puking? Or anyone else?I've been searching high and low for answers but due to how rare it is, it's nearly impossible.
Thanks for the time and consideration. Appreciate it!! :)