My Diagnosis

"It's cancer."

The words everyone dreads. Whether it's you or a loved one, it's a fear in the back of our heads--and if you ever try to self-diagnose on Web MD, sometimes you have to remind yourself that not every symptom is cancer. 

Except sometimes they are. 

To give you all the basics: I have been diagnosed with Stage 2B Cervical Cancer. I have a good sized tumor in my pelvic area and it's trying to bust out every day. It's spread to two lymph nodes, but hasn't escaped the pelvic area to my liver and lungs, which is good news. 

My treatment plan may get tweaked, but the plan is about 6-8 weeks of daily external radiation to the pelvic region, and weekly half-doses of chemotherapy. I'll also have weekly brachytherapy, which is internal radiation. 

My oncologist told me the cure rate is 60-70%, and please remember, I'm young and a lot stronger than the senior citizens also included in those statistics. 

I'm going to keep this post pretty short and sweet. Just the facts. Don't worry. There will be plenty of opinions and thoughts to come. 

Thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. It's still a little rough to talk on the phone, but feel free to text or comment here to say hello!

-Daanielle