The following was written by a new friend of mine about a dear friend of her's. Please read and consider sending Colette a card or well wish.
This is the story of a little girl named Colette. She dreamed of everything all little girls dream of, being a princess, being a ballerina, being a nurse for her dolly and someday being a Mom just like her Mom. She was going to meet her Prince Charming, have a little prince or princess of her own and live happily ever after. She did grow up, and she did become a Wife and a Mom. She is still praying for the Happily Ever After. Let me introduce you to Colette Gauthier. She is my Pink Saturday special guest.
Here is Colette's address:
Colette Gauthier
714 Whitney Place
St. Louis, MI. 48880
Let's send all types of cards. Get Well Cards, Easter Cards, Love You Cards, home made cards, bought cards, or just a well wish in an envelope, just to let her know that there are all of us bloggers out here, with so much love and so many prayers to share. To let her know that somebody out here in this BIG wide world loves her, and will be praying non-stop for her a full recovery. Fill her box with love. That is what I am asking of each of you. Spend a stamp and send some love to a very beautiful woman.
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Unfortunately my friends, I have a similar story to Colette's. However by God's grace my outcome is not as severe. My pelvic pain began in early Fall of 2007. It only came every now and again, and not really paying attention, I accredited it to period cramps. By March of 2008 I noticed a new sensation. I had this "dropping" feeling when I would stand up after laying or sitting for a while. Again, it was intermittent so I ignored it until April. It began happening daily, and I discovered that my birth mother had a prolapsed uterus, so I figured I had better go have myself checked. I made an appointment about a week before my birthday. My nurse practitioner did a pelvic exam and said she didn't feel anything out of the ordinary and that my cervix was right where it ought to be. I was still concerned and asked if there was anything else she could do. She mentioned an ultrasound but didn't want to order it. I insisted and I got scheduled to come in {a couple days before my 23rd birthday} to have it checked out.
I laid down on the patient bed, bladder about the burst, and the technician began moving the wand over my skin. She let out several "mhmm"s and "huh"s before I finally asked what was going on. She asked me to empty my bladder so she could get a better look. I did and sat back down on the table pretty worried. She continued the exam and said "well honey, I'm not a Dr but I've been doing these for quite some time. See? This is your uterus, this is your left ovary, and this is a cyst." The black part {the cyst} was nearly 3X the size of my ovary. My eyes began to tear up. She put her hand on my shoulder and said "Now now then..." she moved the wand across my tummy, "Let's see what we have going on over here. Now see? This one is just fine. See all those little black dots? Those are your future children sweetie. Don't cry. Cysts are very easy to treat." We finished my exam, I walked out of the office quite numb, and I called my mom who was about 700 miles away {I was away at college}. I explained what the technician told me and cried in my car. What a great birthday present I thought! I went back in to see my NP and the first thing out of her mouth was that I needed surgery AND that they would be removing my ovary! I was scared and outraged! I was about to turn 23 years old, had already suffered two miscarriages, and my boyfriend had just proposed to me that February. We were to be wed that August and now they wanted to take away my chances to be a mom without even seeing the size of the cyst?! I sought a second opinion.
I went home to Midland, Texas to be with my family and see a better doctor. He looked over my charts and sonogram images, did an exam and sat my mom and I down to talk. He had bad news. The cyst had grown in those short 2 weeks and it wasn't a cyst after all. It was a tumor the size of an orange. He told us that, yes, it was likely my ovary would not be saved but that any good surgeon would try and would not tell me outright that they would remove it, especially in a woman so young. The next month my mom had me in Dallas to see a world renowned gynecological oncology surgeon. In the end I did lose my left ovary. The tumor had wrapped around my fallopian tube and killed the ovary. The surgeon was able to extract the tumor and do an immediate biopsy.
By God's grace it was benign still although it was showing signs of malignancy {mainly the rate at which it was growing}. Also by God's grace it had grown away from my uterus. Had it grown in the opposite direction, like most do, he would have had to have done a full hysterectomy. I recovered, married on schedule, became pregnant almost a year later and gave birth to our son. My husband and I see each one of our children as a supreme blessing because the Drs are not sure why the tumor grew. Each passing ovulation could mean another and I would likely lose my other ovary. So if you feel something is not right with your body, FIGHT to have it checked out! Had they not caught that tumor in time it would have either turned malignant or it would have burst, killing me with sepsis. I now get an ultrasound twice a year to monitor my remaining ovary.
Ladies {and men}, Please get yourselves checked for breast and cervical/prostate cancer every year. It is paramount to your health. I was 23 when I had my brush with cancer... it is not something that only effects older women.
And please also think about sending a card to Ms. Colette. It's a long hard road, especially when you feel you are doing it alone. Don't let her feel alone through all this.
