About Darcel

Hello everyone. I am Darcel, I am a 26 year old woman that has recently been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. My main goal through this site is to raise money for the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) in order to find a better way of testing for Ovarian Cancer. If I am able to help one woman to not have to go through what I have, I will consider myself successful.

Now to start from the beginning……From the time that I started getting periods in 8th grade they were terrible. I would have extreme cramping and just plain out feel awful. Before going to college I went to the gynecologist and was put on birth control to help manage the symptoms. It did help with the cramping and migraines. I was very active in making sure that I went to the gynecologist every year to have my annual exams. I did have an abnormal PAP test once, and took the necessary steps to make sure everything was fine.

In July of 2009 I went to my gynecologist because I was experiencing extreme pain. When I say extreme, I mean that I couldn’t walk and would double over. So I made an appointment and went in. The pain that I would experience was a stabbing pain. It would start on my front left side, and would feel like it went the whole way through my body to the other side. It would come in waves. I would joke with friends that had children, and tell them that if child birth was anything like the pain I was having I was set. I had an exam and was told that I had pulled a muscle and that it would take awhile to heal, and that my uterus is tilted. I had no reason to think anything else. So I went on with everything and didn’t give it a second thought. I would treat with Advil, Tylenol, Aleve, and a heating pad. In August of 2009 my husband, Mike and I decided that I would come off my birth control and try to get pregnant. The extreme pain never went away; I just learned to live with it.

In March of 2010 I began experiencing a new symptom, constipation. This was something new to me. I called my primary care physician and made an appointment. I was given many different laxatives, and they didn’t help. I was told to go for a colonoscopy. So I had that done, and was told that they could not complete the colonoscopy because my uterus was tilted too far and they could not get the scope to pass. I was instructed to follow up with my gynecologist. So I then called and made an appointment there for the beginning of May 2010. It was passed time for my annual, so I needed to go in anyway. Might as well kill two birds with one stone right….. When I went in for the exam I received a huge shock. After doing and internal exam my gynecologist informed me that there was a large mass inside. I was told to go have an ultrasound. I had an internal and external ultrasound. I went in on a Monday to see my gynecologist and had the ultrasound the same day. Tuesday I received a call on my cell from the gynecologist’s office saying that they wanted me to come in on Wednesday morning to go over the results. So on Wednesday Mike and I went to the gynecologist’s office and we were told that I had a mass that was 7.0cm by 7.5cm. They also could not see my left ovary, and that there was a cyst on my right ovary. My gynecologist informed me that they believed this to be Endometriosis, and that I would have to have surgery to remove the mass. But before they did that I needed to go for a Contrast MRI. I was scheduled for the MRI for later on that day. Thursday I received another call from the gynecologist and was told that I needed to see a specialist from Magee Women’s Hospital, and I had an appointment on Friday. So on Friday Mike and I went to the appointment with the specialist. I took a copy of the Contrast MRI with me. After being examined by the specialist he explained that the mass was too large to do the surgery with the scopes, so I would have to be cut. The specialist and I discussed my CA-125 test. This blood test is used to check for ovarian cancer. I’m not real sure on everything here, but I was told that the cut off in your blood for this is 0-35. However, anything over 0 requires more testing. My level was 533. The specialist stated that they have seen a CA-125 level this high with Endometriosis, and that we needed to remove the mass. I was informed that there was a low chance that it was cancer, and if it was life threatening they would have to perform a Hysterectomy. I was given the information to schedule surgery at Magee Women’s Hospital.

On June 29th 2010 I went to Magee Women’s hospital for surgery. My mom, Cindy and Mike went with me. Obviously, I was under anesthesia and didn’t know how long I was in surgery, but I was told that I was in there for over 4 hours. I woke up in post-op, and was in a lot of pain. After being in post-op for awhile I was taken to my room. When I was being rolled into the room I saw my Mom, who looked like she was crying. I asked her how everything went and she wasn’t able to talk. Mom informed me later on that my doctor had already informed them what happened in surgery, but the plan was to keep me sedated and tell me in the morning, so Mike ran home to get my Dad, Buster and Aunt, Maxine. After seeing my mom I knew something did not go as planned. So I just assumed that they did have to do a Hysterectomy. I was sleeping off and on and was getting angry because my mom and Mike weren’t in my room. A nurse came in and I asked to speak with my doctor. When the doctor came in he informed me that they had found ovarian cancer, and had to remove everything including a piece of my rectum. So I have a colostomy, and had to have a complete hysterectomy. Talk about a shock! Of course I cried and was very upset because all I ever wanted to do was to be a mother, but now that wasn’t possible. And to top it all off I have cancer. Even before surgery I had this odd feeling that it was cancer, but kind of ignored it. I was informed that I would have to go through Chemotherapy to kill the rest of the cancer that is still in my body. If my doctor would have removed all of the cancer I would have the colostomy for the rest of my life, but after Chemo everything can be reattached. After my doctor said it was ovarian cancer I looked him in the eyes and told him, “I won’t let this beat me.” I decided then and there that I was going to have a positive attitude about this and NOT let this kick my butt. I am a strong woman and something like stupid cancer isn’t going to get me down.

I was discharged on July 3, 2010 and I will use the Blog section to keep everyone updated on my progress.