My wife was diagnosed with stage III ovarian cancer in January of 2014. It is a shocking diagnosis for both patient and family alike. We cried but never relented.
She had surgery and started her first round of chemo in February. It's hard to measure sadness but one of our most difficult days was round one of carboplatin & taxol. I cried and she cried out of fear of what she was to experience. As a man, I felt helpless knowing I could not rescue her an emotion I still feel today. As a patient, she feared the unknown.
She suffered emotionally & physically through a total of sixteen rounds of chemo over a six month period. I sacrificed in whatever way I could to make her life easier. I remember getting up at 2 a.m. to report to work early so I could leave at 6 a.m. to get my boy to school and my wife to treatment and then return to work.
Our places of business and co-workers sacrificed on our behalf. In almost five years of battling this disease, we have never once asked for help but we found that there are angels who do things without being asked. In particular, Angela's co-workers surrendered vacation time in her favor during her only period of extended disability time away from work.
Sixteen treatments complete Angela was given a clean bill of health in August of 2014. We experienced joy but never got too excited because we knew it could return which it did in August 2015. LIving in a small world and not realizing what technology was available we thought the second diagnosis was a death sentence. God sent a messenger to me in the form of a co-worker to show me the path the Penn and all of the sudden the sun started shining again.
This time the prescribed medications were doxil and carboplatin. Chemo is never pleasant but a second round of carboplatin can kill an individual if not dosed properly. The Penn medical team clearly knew what they were doing as they were successful at introducing the drug.
It may sound strange but the love that Angela and I have for one another was significantly strengthened over the next fourteen weeks. We were together at Penn from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every single Monday for fourteen straight weeks as she went through her treatments.
Week fifteen Angela was put in the hospital and almost died. The carboplatin treatments had caught up to her and completely wiped out her white blood cells. She spent twenty-one days in the hospital and miraculously was given a clean bill of health when released. Sadly she could not physically attend her oldest son's graduation however she very few people had given her a chance to even be alive when he graduated.
We celebrated again but knew the cancer was lurking and could return at any time. Sure enough, it started showing signs of a return in June 2017 and was confirmed to be back the following October.
Since that time the doctors have been tinkering around with different treatments but the disease persists. We are waiting for the next prescription and ready to continue the battle.
