Starting a New Year Living with Cancer

Though I am glad that my chemo treatments and ovarian cancer surgery went so well, I have to accept that I will never be completely "healed" from cancer. The fact is that most cancer just goes into remission and may return at some point (recurrence). Ovarian cancer is particularly known for cycles of remission and recurrence, especially when you are not diagnosed until it has progressed to a later stage. By the time we discovered that I had ovarian cancer, I was at Stage 3c which means that though it had not yet invaded other organs, cancer cells covered all my organs in my entire abdomen. Most of this cancer was destroyed by the chemo treatments, then all visible cancer was removed during the surgery, but microscopic cancer cells still exist within me which could possibly grow in some other part of my body.

What happens after Ovarian Cancer surgery?

I am recovering well from my ovarian cancer surgery nearly two months ago. I am able to go for a couple of walks each day, alternating walking a few yards with riding while my husband pushes me in the wheelchair. I can dust mop a little at a time, make my bed, unload the dishwasher once a day, wash a few loads of laundry each week, and heat up food for myself in the microwave. I can do things on the computer till 6 p.m, and I can finally eat a regular meal without feeling nauseous.  Best of all, I'm only feeling really tired instead of that overwhelming sense of exhaustion with shakiness, brain fog, nausea, depression, and anxiety which I've experienced these last couple of months. 

I'm grateful that my four chemo treatments have destroyed most of the cancer, and all visible cancer was removed during the surgery. I really would love to say "I'm cured" and that my struggle with cancer is over, but that isn't true. As happened to me, often ovarian cancer isn't discovered until near the end stage. Though it hadn't penetrated any of my organs, the cancer had spread throughout my entire abdomen by the time we knew it was there and began treatments for my stage 3C ovarian cancer. It is therefore likely that, at some point, the cancer will return somewhere in my body. Combined with the fact that I have the BRCA gene mutation which means that I am unable to suppress tumor growth, I have a much higher chance of having more cancer in the future.