Where do I begin… I had been married and had three beautiful children. Unfortunately, the marriage did not work out and I was now a single mom. Shortly after my divorce I met through a blind date a wonderful man, Don. We fell in love and married and he took me and my three kids on and I took his one daughter one.
Don really wanted another child, but after my third child, I had a tuba-ligation. We wanted a life with a child with both of us together ~ so we decided to have IVF. After a painful and stressful run of IVF we found out we were pregnant!! After eight weeks we lost the baby and we cried for days! We had at that time decided to have a reversal of the tuba-ligation. The surgery went well and everything looked great for one of the tubes and I was pregnant shortly after, but again lost the baby after a couple of weeks. I told my husband that I needed a break and to concentrate on the kids we already had. After 6 months I told my husband, “three strikes and we are out,” meaning we are done trying to have children together.
December 28th after weeks of shots, etc., we went in for an ultrasound to check to see how many eggs I had produced. The Dr. noticed something that he did not like and wanted to “ponder” on it over the holiday. When we went back January 2 he told me he did not like the looks of the cyst in my ovary and wanted to have surgery to remove it. Six days later we removed the cyst (which they thought) but was a tumor a size of a golf ball that was cancerous! We went for a follow-up appointment to remove the stitches and the Dr. broke the news about the cancer and told us he had talked to a cancer doctor about my case.
My baby doctor still wanted to pursue trying to get pregnant through IVS (due to my age, etc.) and we chose to remove the cancer and forget the possibility of trying to have a baby together ~ the following week I had major surgery and was unable to fulfill the dream of having a child with my husband (at the age of 38). Four years later I was diagnosed with lymphedema (a word I had never heard before until I went to the Dr. with the swelling in my ankles). Since then I have struggled with the life or death situation – should I have pursued getting pregnant but maybe had cancer that could have killed me or live with the ugly, uncomfortable disease?
My kids say I am still beautiful and love me so much and I am here today for them to say that I have a mom to love so much!! The HUGE leg means nothing to them and they love me with or without the huge leg – I am still here today to be their mom!
I feel embarrassed for my kids that their mom is a “freak!” Why can’t someone find a cure? WHY!?! I just wanted to expand our family and live happily ever after.
There are no pretty shoes to fit or clothes ~ it is uncomfortable! The easiest things that you take for granted are no longer possible ~ like bending down, weeding in the garden, getting up in bed, getting in and out of a car, running, jogging, biking, walking…. the list goes on and on!!!
We need to find a cure!!! We can take care of HIV and put stents in hearts and legs but cannot take care of the swelling in a leg or arm!! A cure needs to be made!!
This is my story!! I am here today, with an ugly, uncomfortable disease, but I am here!! PLEASE help us find a cure! Please!
