Gynecologic Cancer Survivors Support Group: A Closed Chapter

I was thrilled to return to my support group meeting at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center via video last week.  I was unable to participate for the past few months because it conflicted with a class I was teaching.  It was also bittersweet because I had to say farewell.  The cancer center decided to change their programming and was not going to offer the support group meetings in the regular location where videoconferencing was available.  They were moving to a different location and the new location does not have any videoconferencing capability.  If I want to participate, I would have to go back to the Big Apple.  I do not have any problem going back.  After all, I love the city.  It's going to be difficult because with the teaching I do here in Rochester, I cannot get away to attend the support group meetings.  I am sure at one point down the road, I'll be able to pop in and say hi to my fellow cancer warriors.

My wonderful Resources for Life after Cancer social worker is retiring tomorrow.  It was my final farewell to her as well.  She's amazing.  She was the one who made the videoconferencing possible.  I love that she mailed me information and resources.   I also had to say farewell to an interpreter who had been with me for a long time.  Bittersweet, indeed.

I was pretty quiet throughout the whole meeting... largely because I was having a hectic day.  But I was just absorbing everyone's stories and experiences.  I could relate to some but did not relate to some.

Do I need a support group now?  I am not sure.  My life is pretty full as it is now.  The support group was instrumental in helping me recognize that I was not alone in my own experience.  The group members validated my feelings, struggles, and fears.  If I was experiencing things I could not explain to those who never had cancer, they would tell me I was not alone.  The support group was what I needed the most for a specified period of time.  I don't know what my needs will be in the near future but if I happen to be in New York City on a third Tuesday of the month, I am definitely attending a meeting!  It is often said that shared experiences connect us.  For sure, I do find myself bonding with fellow cancer warriors.  I met a cancer survivor at a holiday gathering recently and we immediately bonded.  While I am not finding support through the group anymore, I continue to find support by meeting people unexpectedly.  That is, in my perspective, the universe's way of reminding me that I am never alone.

A Case of Pathologies

I am sitting outside enjoying the cool Floridan morning as I am happily blogging again.  I have been reflecting the past few days about how my life in Rochester is completely different from the life I had in Annapolis.  Annapolis was all about medical issues and healing.  I have been in Rochester for almost a year now and it has been about moving forward.  I gave up a year of my academic life to focus fully on getting myself back to good health.  This year has been about reclaiming my academic life.  I have returned to teaching interpreting after a 10-year hiatus.  I am loving it! :-) What I had forgotten was how time-consuming teaching is!  There's preparation, grading, and discussions with students.  With my full-time job, my dissertation work, and teaching, there was almost no time for me to blog.  I continue to come up of new posts to write and the words remain stirring in my mind waiting to be typed out. I shall be on a writing spree this winter break.

This post is about a case of pathologies.  I learned a few months ago that every single time I get a new oncologist, they would order pathology study of my cancer cells.  Remember the purple and pink cells on a slide that I held in my hand?  Dr. Hays was my gynecologist who removed the uterine polyps and ordered pathology study of those polyps.  Since Dr. Hays and Dr. Diaz-Montes (my first oncologist who I did not want to work with after the initial two appointments) were in the same medical center so there was no need for Dr. Diaz-Montes to order a new pathology study.

When I sought a third opinion at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Jewell ordered another pathology study.  I did not realize this.  Remember, I was so overwhelmed by everything so the little details mattered none to me at that time.  I got a bill from the University of Rochester Medical Center for a pathology done on August 8th.  I was confused because I did not go to a lab or anything.  I had not seen a doctor for any part of me to be taken for pathology.  Upon further investigation, I learned Dr. Angel ordered a pathology study of my cancer cells.  I inquired as to why.  My take was this: "It has been confirmed that I had endometrial cancer and the cancer cells are gone... what's the point of trying to prove it again and again?" 

Dr. Angel's staff explained that it is customary for any oncologist to order pathology study of the original cancer cells.  They do not want to take the other oncologist's lab report at face value.  I decided to go back and read ALL three pathology reports and I found conflicting details.

Anne Arundel Medical Center: "Invasive well-differentiated endometrioid type adenocarcinoma. Figo grade 1."

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: "Endometrioid adenocarcinoma involving an adenomyomatous polyp. Figo grade 1.  Complex hyperplasic with atypia.  Endometrium is profilerative." 

University of Rochester Medical Center: "Endometrioid adenocarcinoma with mucinous features. Figo grade 1" 

I asked Dr. Angel at my three-month follow-up apointment last month about why those reports are different.  She gave me the most beautiful explanation.  She said that my cancer cells are like a painting.  Each pathologist interpret the painting differently.  All of them confirmed that I had endometrioid adenocarcinoma which is one type of endometrial cancer.  I was baffled by the "mucinous features" because based on my research, it is a rapid-spreading type.  Dr. Angel said my cancer cells had mucinous features but did not fit the criteria to be called "mucinous".  Mucinous indicate it is a type that spreads rapidly.  Upon learning this, I was relived I had the surgery sooner than later.  

She also reviewed the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's surgical pathology report of my uterus, tubes, cervix, and lymph nodes after they were removed.  She gave me much more details than Dr. Jewell did.  I left my appointment with Dr. Angel wondering why Dr. Jewell was not forthcoming with me.  Perhaps she did not want to overwhelm me.  I'm not sure.  Dr. Angel said that at the time of diagnosis (after studying the purple-pink cells), I was definitely at Stage 1.  Figo grade 1 is typically associated with Stage 1 (not always, though).  It is not clear whether I was at Stage 1A or Stage 1B.  She said that after I was diagnosed, I immediately started hormone therapy.  The god-awful Megestrol that made me feel horrible.  After two months, the hormone therapy was working.  My cancer cells became precancerous.  Dr. Angel said that it was a good thing I had the hysterectomy because the cancer would have come back after stopping hormone therapy.  It is possible that if I did not do the hormone therapy and took the time to decide, my staging might get worse considering the 'mucinous features'.  Dr. Angel said that on a bright note, because my cancer has gone from Stage 1 to precancer, it is pretty likely that the endometrial cancer would never come back.  However, because of my genetic test results, we have to carefully monitor my breasts and ovaries going forward to ensure that breast and ovarian cancers do not emerge. 

The review of my pathology reports and the conversation with Dr. Angel were instrumental in helping me get the full picture of everything.  It also helped reconfirm that I had made the right decision.  Dr. Diaz-Montes wanted me to get the hysterectomy right away but I was not ready.  I had to mentally and emotionally prepare myself.  I started hormone therapy immediately to buy me some time before I went along with the hysterectomy.  As much as I hated hormone therapy, I do appreciate undergoing hormone therapy because it did actually work.