Newly diagnosed: being brave and fearful at the same time

Posted by Denise @denisestlouie, Aug 29 7:24am

I think of myself as a strong independent woman capable of solving most issues. When I look in the mirror I see someone who is 20 years younger than I actually am and I feel the same in my soul. The passed 2 years have challenged that view. I'm 2022 I suffered with a bowel obstruction that disabled me for 6 weeks. The doctors at the hospital i was admitted were not competent enough to know to diagnosed or treat my issue and miss managed my care at almost every point of contact. Eventually I had surgery and discovered I had been living with undiagnosed Crohn's disease. It didn't present in the normal way, until the bowel obstruction. I believe the experience traumatized me. It's taken 2 years to work through that and to be honest it still haunts me. I took that diagnosis seriously and I transformed my life to support my body to live in a way to create health. Then nearly 2 years later I'm diagnosed with a rare aggressive form of cancer that has a poor prognosis, Mixed clear cell and serous uterine cancer. That was 9 weeks ago. I'm a fighter, a warrior, a determined person. I find myself moving from we got this. I'm beating this disease to the next day feeling the gravity of my situation. I watch the people around me breakdown in fear and I feel its my job to lift them up. I don't speak openly to them about my own fear. Its to hard to watch them react to me. I do have a therapist who has agreed to be the person I can share my fears with. She said she was honored to be that person for me. I wish I was s tine traveler. I go back and do things differently. I blame myself for not being good to my body. I feel like I did something wrong to cause this all to be happening to me.
This is not who i see myself as being.

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@denisestlouie

Understand, I wasn't aware of it until I saw it mentioned in the group.

So I've decided to do everything the doctor recommends plus I sought a second opinion because it's what they have. I asked to be in a maintenance trial. The Dr will select it for me but the most important the think I'm doing is living a different lifestyle. I doing all the activities I use to do, but the research on exercise to prevent recurrence in beast and colorectal cancers can reduce the probability of recurrence by as much as 58%.

I also changed what I eat. I'm following a metabolic syndrome diet. I am working with a holistic Dr who is also an MD. With his guidance in correcting issues with my gut, I also have Crohn's. Now we're working on metabolic health. After I complete treatment we will deal with hormones (thyroid) and allergies and sensitivities.

I'm early in this journey. I'm doing all things that have evidence to show some positive impact.

This things people with all cancer can talk about

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Good morning @denisestlouie. That is a wonderful decision. Could you please help the readers on this site by adding a few more details about the specifics of your diet and exercise program? Also, where is your maintenance trial located? Is it connected to the clinic where you were treated? I would love to learn more. And, congratulations and best wishes for your continued success in the trial.

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