Cancer Sucks

After getting the all clear last week from my doctor regarding my mole I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like dancing and celebrating my clean bill of health. Life was good.

Saturday we got news that was like a punch to the gut.  A very good friend was diagnosed with Stage IV Appendiceal Cancer.

She had an abnormal pap over the summer so they went it to do a biopsy. When they did they found cancer all within her abdominal cavity, but they thought it was all on the outside of organs.  They had to remove her ovaries and a section of her uterus, but the prognosis was good. She was going to have her appendix removed and they were going to do a chemo wash before starting traditional chemotherapy.  We were obviously concerned, but took a little comfort from the fact that they said it was not ovarian cancer.

Last week she went in for a CT scan prior to having the surgery for her appendix. The results were not what they were expecting. The cancer has metastasized and is in her liver and lymph nodes.  They did not do the surgery and instead told her there is nothing they can do and sent her home.

Stage IV cancer with a prognosis of 6 months.

When J told me this news I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me.  How can this be happening to one of our friends?  She was just down for a visit a month ago and everything was fine.  J is taking this very hard - he has known Julie for 20 years and is great friends with her and her brother (Chris lived with J after college for a while).  I've only known her for 7 years, but she is a great friend and an amazing person.  I feel so silly for being all upset about a stupid mole on my back when Julie is now fighting for her life.

I cried myself to sleep Saturday night.  I'm not an overly religious person, but I am praying with everything I've got that she is able to get into a clinical trial.  Beyond that I am praying for a miracle.

So yeah - cancer sucks.