I Have What ?

Did you know that approximately 12,200 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2010? If you didn’t then you might want to pay attention because you never know when this disease might affect you. I didn’t really follow much on cancer because it didn’t affect me but then my mom got diagnosed with cervical cancer which she didn’t tell my sister and me until she had the surgery done. My mom didn’t know until she started showing symptoms like lower abdomen or back pain that she had cancer because there are no symptoms until the cancer is further along. I’m going to tell you about some factors of this disease, like chemotherapy and it side effects, lifestyle changes that my mom had to make, and how it affected my family and me.

Chemotherapy is one way to treat cancer, it kills the cancerous cells but it has it down side. The drug has many different side effects, like you’re hair falling out, nausea and vomiting, fatigue, even depression. The up side is that it gets rid of your cancer but the down side is that it has so many side effects. Luckily my mom didn’t have to take those drugs. It seems to me that the drug does more harm that good.

My mom ended up getting a hysterectomy, which means that they take out the whole uterus. This was a good thing for me because that means that I will be the youngest person in my family, and for my mom because no more cancer! But it was kind of sad that my mom couldn’t have any more kids even if she wanted more. After my moms surgery she had trouble getting around because they cut her open from her bellybutton all the way down. The thing I remember is that I said when I first saw her was that she walked like a penguin, which made her smile. It was hard on my dad because he didn’t know how to cook and he had to do it because we were too little to cook, so he burnt a couple of things but got the hang of it soon.

My family found it pretty hard because I remember that my dad would be away and our uncle would take care of us, but I could see the concern on his face. My mom decided not to tell us until we were old enough to understand. I found out about a year or so ago so my mom kept it hidden very well. I was kind of upset when I first found out because my mom didn’t tell me but I understand now why she didn’t tell us. My parents didn’t make a big deal out of it and I’m glad.

Sometimes I worry because she has to go to annual check ups and every time I hope that nothing is wrong. If you get diagnosed with cervical cancer don’t panic stay cool and collected like my mom and you’ll get through this.

Read more:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/cervical

http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/centres/cancer/cervical/index.html

http://www.blogforacure.com/frontend/weblogs/listing.php?type=Cervical+Cancer