All Done!

The last of the Red Devil to ever enter her body!

Well, the last week has definitely not been boring. Crescence got to ride in an ambulance to Providence Hood River, and then she got to spend the night in one of their excellent guest suites only to get poked and prodded trying to figure out why she was having chest pain. That put her final chemo treatment off for a week. This morning, before doing her final chemo treatment, she had to do a cardio stress test to make sure her heart is healthy enough for the treatment. She passed that with flying colors, so her heart is healthy. I think it was just a heart fart that caused the chest pain, but what would I know. A tradition among chemo patients is to ring a bell when leaving their last treatment - she rang them all! While this treatment is complete, Cescence is exhausted and now has several years of CT scans to endure. We will continue to pray for NERDs (No Evidence of Residual Disease). Her first post-treatment scan will be in three weeks and then once every three months for the first year. During the second year, scans are once every four months, then once every six months during year three. When she is cancer-free for five years, she is technically "cured".  After that point, scans will be done once a year for the next 50 years or so.

We can't thank everyone enough for all the prayers and support through all this. We got so much strength from you all!



I am not a doctor, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I have learned a lot about Uterine Leiomyosarcoma (uLMS) through all of this. So I want to give a little advice to the ladies out there. If you are diagnosed with a uterine fibroid and have any of the symptoms listed below, please tell your gynecologist to treat your fibroid as a possible uterine leiomyosarcoma tumor. This means your fibroid should be removed in one piece, not cut up or morcellated as Crescence's was. Your doctor might believe the risk of uLMS is very low, but the latest research has found the odds of uLMS for women who have a fibroid with the below symptoms is 1 in 350. The survival rate is over 80% when initial treatment is carried out correctly.  Had we known this, we would never have agreed to save a few days in the hospital by doing the Laparoscopic Hysterectomy.

Symptoms of uLMS vary from woman to woman and can include:
• Heavy periods
• A rapidly growing fibroid
• Abnormal vaginal bleeding
• Abnormal or mucousy vaginal discharge
• Pelvic pain or pressure
• Pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse.
• Abdominal pain or pressure
• Abdominal bloating and distention
• Change in bladder or bowel habits
• Blockage of urinary flow
**Crescence had all but one of these symptoms.