Welcome to my life!  My name is Tricia, and I have truly "lived with cancer."  I have produced this web site to show you how my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has sustained me through it all.  My hope is that it might be an encouragement to you and anyone who is going through this trial.

I have lived with cancer going on 38 years (all abdominal) and God prepared me for each trial through His Word.  I know that God is sovereign over my life.  Anything that comes my way has first been filtered through His hands, therefore I realize that I have a choice as to how I react to each trial.  I can either grumble or glorify.  I choose to glorify God in all that I say and do!

1 Peter 1:6-9,  "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various  trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."

 History:

1973 - Let me start by bringing you up to date.  My cancer started when I was a teenager in 1973.  I was diagnosed with ovarian dysgerminoma.  I had a nine inch tumor attached to my left ovary, and both were removed in surgery.  The cure for this cancer at that time was Cobalt-60 therapy, and I received 43 treatments (today, only seven treatments are given).

1976 - In between the first and second bouts of cancer, I was blessed to meet and marry the man of my dreams.

1993 - Due to unusual spotting, my doctor performed a D&C.  The results showed a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma of the endometrium Grade 1.  Therefore, the decision was made to perform a complete hysterectomy.  No further treatment was decided at this time.

2000 - I had an unusual pain in the left part of my abdomen and went to see my general practitioner (GP).  It was decided to do a CT Scan with contrast on the pelvic area.

I received a call from my GP to come to his office and bring someone with me!  My response was, "Oh, oh, it's that bad?" 

The radiologist (who had no idea of my medical history) did not like what he saw in the CT.  However, I made several copies and sent them to a trusted friend (also a radiologist) and my gynecologist in another state who had been with me since 1973.  Both saw nothing out of the ordinary - but then, they also knew my medical history.

I was referred to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy, but nothing out of the ordinary was found.  Here's where I made a mistake, though.  I did not request a report from the colonoscopy!  Had I received the report, I would have read that there was no diverticular disease. 

For over a year, my GP treated me for diverticulitus!  Three times, due to pain on the left side of my pelvis, I received antibiotics for one week intervals.

2002 - In February, I started having pain once again on the left side.   Rather than go to my GP, I decided to go back to the gastroenterologist who had performed the colonoscopy in 2000.  He put me on antibiotics for one week; but when I returned still having pain, but in another place, he scheduled me for another lower CT scan.

Without any comment, he told me that I needed to see a gynecologist immediately.  Once again I made copies of the xrays and sent them to the same two people I trusted.  MUCH different results!  My friend told me to contact my gynecologist right away.  He told me that a large tumor was evident on the left side, and a needle biopsy needed to be done immediately.

The biopsy indicated that yet a third cancer had invaded my body.  This time, it was metastatic papillary adenocarcinoma.  Another definition of my cancer was primary peritoneal serous carcinoma, and I was told that I needed chemotherapy immediately.

At the end of February, I was "debulked."  During a four hour surgery, my omentum was removed (a layer of fat which lies in between the skin and pelvic organs) because it was full of malignancies.  Also, many other masses and adhesions (from past surgeries) were removed.

2008 - At the end of 2007, it was time to do my annual CT Scan with contrast on the pelvic area.  My oncologist waited over a week until after Christmas to call me and let me know that two very small spots (one about the size of a lima bean) were new on the scan, thus I was scheduled for a Pet Scan in the middle of January 2008.  One of the spots was "hot" indicating malignancy.  The small mass next to my liver was removed in the middle of March.

Now, let's look at my recent history...

 
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