Day 1: Beginning a Journey I Never Wanted

And still don't want, but I've got no choice in the matter.

I don’t know when exactly it started. Because I did everything I was supposed to do. Went to the doctor every three months. Did the yearly mammograms. Did the yearly women’s exam. Kept an eye on everything. Then, things started going a little off and the first sign was low iron. Not super low, but I told the PCP I felt exhausted, and going upstairs made my legs feel like jelly. She referred me to hematology. Iron deficiency anemia is what they said. So, I took iron infusions to raise my iron level. Supposed to work anywhere from a couple weeks to a couple months. Still didn’t feel good, still fatigued, still not quite right. I had gone to a genecology appointment February 28th. Everything checked out just fine, pap smear was good, nothing in the pelvic exam. I’ve had a small cyst for a while on my right ovary, but nothing to worry about, they said. Maybe I should have worried more.

Then this Sunday (11/30/25) had sudden pain around my hips. Called the nurse line and she said to go to the ER if it lasted over two hours. I’d just had a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and camera study of the small intestines, all of which came out clear. Not even a polyp. Ten years until the next colonoscopy. So, maybe something like a gastric thing? I didn’t know. Then I laid down on the bed, and couldn’t get up for the pain. Something was definitely wrong. I called the nurse line and she said go to the ER.

I got there, thinking maybe it was nothing. But I was having trouble breathing and the pain wouldn’t go away. They offered Morphine, and I went ahead and took it before they sent me for CT scan, figuring I’d be moving around. It didn’t do anything for the pain. They did the CT and the results came back in a while and the doctor tells me there’s a mass on my ovary and fluid in there so I need to do sonograms. Off to the sonogram room. Did both kinds (if you’re a woman/AFAB you know what I mean). Send me back. Then waiting again.

Now he comes back and says that the mass is present but it could be a complex cyst (one that has its own blood flow, or something besides fluid in it), but it may be something else. He talked to the gynecologist on duty and they sent me home with instructions to follow up with my regular gynecologist.

I call the next morning because like hell was I going to work as the night was a rough one of trying to sleep with it. I went in for a blood test, and she said she would refer me to a nearby gynecologic oncologist. The blood test was a Cancer Antigen 125. Tests for ovarian cancer markers. This morning, I woke up to the test results in my little charting app, and I opened them. The number, over 2000. I looked up what it was supposed to be. Under 35. So, that means it is almost certain to be ovarian cancer.

So, now I’m starting a journey I never wanted to go on, and I’m inviting you along with me. I’ll be recording what happens, and progress toward beating this thing. I am stronger than cancer, and I’m going to prove it.

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Starting 11/20/25

Diagnosis: Not official yet.

CA 125: 2969