UNEXPECTED CALL

The unexpected call came to me on Friday, October 26, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. I was at work, my title was Community Living Specialist and I was waiting for my client to come home from the special school he attended. He is autistic and 15 years old. It is time to meet his bus. Time has stopped for not only myself but for my husband also. Dr. Rebecca Krivinski`s nurse has repeatedly been dialing my husband then myself. She reaches my husband first, he works as an orderly at Bristol Regional Hospital. He is trying to get in touch with me while Jessica relates to me I have stage 4 cervical cancer and the advisement is to do what I need to do and be comfortable.

Up until this point in time we had been very hopeful. My husband was in nursing school studying to be an RN (registered nurse ). I was in my first semester in getting a doctorate in professional counseling. We had lost our home of seventeen years to a balloon loan. This type of loan comes all due at once and is almost always impossible to pay back. With steady jobs, attending college classes it seemed we were on our way to having a home once again. Receiving the cancer diagnosis changed everything , and now it was permanently in my life as close as if I was wed to it.

My supervisor allowed me to leave work that afternoon and I began the task of trying to process this information. I wanted to be strong for my husband especially, family, and friends. In the first months, I wasn't experiencing any pain and was very thankful for that blessing. The first two doctors told me this was late stage cancer, no hope of a cure, no surgery recommended. Naturally, we sank into despair and depression feeling helplessness.

My husband began to look beyond our local area branching out to University of Tennessee and made an appointment with Dr. Jonathan Boone in November 2018. He is a young physician that is dedicated to offering the best care to his patients in a highly skilled and compassionate manner. There were no false hopes or empty promises given, and treatments began in January of 2019. Chemotherapy treatments have almost always brought side effects of nausea and vomiting. In addition to the treatments I would be given fluids for those times I would become dehydrated.

Often we would travel to Knoxville, leaving at 3:00 a.m. to high traffic conditions arriving for the appointment at 5:30 a.m. The nursing staff were kind, the volunteers were so thoughtful. One occasion a man brought a large poodle serving as a therapy dog. Volunteers would offer drinks of ginger ale, water, or Sprite for a beverage. Snacks would include sandwiches, cheese and peanut butter crackers, and sometimes nature bars or Little Debbie oatmeal cakes. Volunteers would bring small totes of toboggans and gloves, crossword puzzles, word find. Having conversations and asking if you would like a blanket was another comforting deed. I had lost a considerable amount of weight and was always cold. The chemotherapy treatments were about seven hours in length.

Radiation treatments numbered a series of twenty-five. An outline of my body was formed and each time the technicians placed me where the radiation was aimed at the exact location to be treated. In total there were three sessions of chemotherapy, also twenty-five treatments of placement on the table exactly as the hands were placed in a certain way. This lasted for about twenty minutes each treatment. Dr. Jonathan Boone and Dr. Vaughan Dill joined in working together for the brachytherapy surgical procedures. In the beginning it was discussed with us that a smit sleeve was to be used but while in surgery Dr. Boone made three attempts to place this small plastic device, it was not possible, there was not enough of my cervix left to attach it to. The two doctors working together began what was to be six surgical procedures of admittance, meeting with the surgical team of nurses, anesthesiologists, doctors and interns. The patients legs are placed in stirrups much like it would be done if you were having a pap smear done, No movement allowed , tail bone no padding caused a great deal of pain, lying on a board, pillow eased the pain. Upon the return to Bristol, TN. following two weeks a mask was formed in exact form to my face for the six final radiation treatments for the lymph node in my shoulder, I brought the mask home. In these final treatments I was allowed to bring a large bell in completion of the treatments. On two occasions I was allowed to select an afghani crocheted by church ladies in the area.

At this present time we've been there is no evidence of any cancer and this March of 2020, we will make regular routine checkups to make sure the cancer hasn't returned. Thankfulness to God, my husband, other cancer survivors on this journey, church families for the support. There is a support group of cancer survivors, led by two RN nurses that meet weekly. Survivors share their small victories, their sorrows and disappointments and bring encouragement to those around them. Coping strategies found in group classes are: art therapy, adult coloring books, listening to audio tapes, trips to the library or museum. Gathering as a group for a nice meal at a restaurant. People that encourage you to express your frustrations or successes, willing to listen intently.

Explore weekend events historical re-enactments, for example: Sycamore Shoals, in Elizabethton, TN. There is a fort, museum, gift shop, and friendly staff that will welcome you. Rocky Mount in Johnson City has an event of sheep shearing every May. Summers in our area offer concerts downtown. Fun fest has a variety of events from a parade, great air balloons, trips to Bays Mountain, hiking trails, and the last night an awesome display of fireworks. There are transportation systems that are quite affordable if your health prevents you from driving. Keep in mind, you define yourself. Cancer does not define you. Every day is a gift! Live while we have life, not wasting our time. Spend time with those we love. Forgive those that have wronged us, it is a gift to them and to us.