September 1, 2023
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I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer at the age of 35, October 26, 2020 to be exact, and found out 2 1/2 weeks later it was Stage 2B and we would need to do chemo.
I am from Lake Charles,LA and August 2020 was a rough month for us. Our city was devastated by Hurricane Laura. We had no electricity for 27 days and lived off a generator eating whatever it was that we could find for a hot meal. So when my stomach started getting bigger in September, obviously I thought it was just the poor diet I had been on for a few weeks. When I noticed that my stomach was tender and I had lots of heartburn I decided to go to urgent care. I was diagnosed with gastroparesis and sent home with some medicine. I only took this medicine for about 4 days before I realized it was not working, my stomach was getting bigger, I had a huge bulge when I laid down that I could not suck in and I was peeing all the time.
I went to the ER and they did a pregnancy test and when that was negative we did a CT scan and discovered a mass attached to my left ovary. The mass was 27cm x 18cm x 17cm. The ER Dr. referred me to my gynecologist who immediately sent me to MD Anderson in Houston for further testing. We did weeks of blood work, scans and exams and eventually did my oophorectomy on October 26. I spent 8 days in the hospital due to a bowel blockage a few days after surgery. All Of this took place during Covid which meant all appointments, surgeries, hospital stays and chemo treatments were done 100% alone. This was probably the hardest part of all. Over the course of 3 months I lost over 30 pounds.
My symptoms were so vague and could be easily mistaken for so many other medical issues had I not stayed after it. I started my chemo on November and finished March 29th. I lost every bit of hair on my body and fought through 6 treatments. I am now 5 months cancer free and try so hard to be an advocate and share my story so that in the future someone else may be able to catch their Ovarian cancer before stage 3 since there is no testing for early detection.
Thank you,
Julia Williams
Insta: JulesMarieBeauty
BRCA Strong Blog
