Every day women are fighting battles. Some right in our own home with ourselves,
our children, spouse, health, financial struggles, worrying day in and day out
about the hope that everything will be ok no matter how big or small the
situation may be and never knowing what may arise. We want everything to be "ok"
and most of all, we want to win each
battle. We say winning is not
everything, well it is. Especially when
it comes to the battle of your life.
Women fight with even more courage, strength and determination than
ever, and this is when losing is not an option.
I have had the honor of amazing women share their stories of
the most heroic battles and in my heart I wanted the timing to be right when it
came time to sharing their journeys with you.
The timing couldn't be better to lift each other up and let each other
know, "it'll be ok, you got this".
With school right around the corner, what a great way, I
felt, to start off this series than to
recognize this amazing teacher, mother, and friend, Mrs. Jenni Olson. I cannot thank her enough for taking the time to write and share in her own words her journey of survival. I know her story will inspire others, so please read, share and remember, "you got this."
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| Mrs. Olson with Mia |
My name is Jenni; I am a wife, a mom, a kindergarten teacher
and
I am an Ovarian Cancer Survivor.
I was diagnosed on Good Friday in April of
2012, after the pathology on a large cyst that I had removed came back
positive. I was completely blindsided when I received the call from my doctor.
Cancer was not something that I had even considered or had even discussed with
my doctor as a possible concern before the surgery. After all there was no history of Ovarian
Cancer in my family.
Suddenly at 40 years old, I was facing a diagnosis of Ovarian Cancer Stage 1C.
Shocked, angry,
sad I could not describe my feelings as I hung up the phone that day.
I had been fairly healthy most of my life, but starting in
2007 things had started to change as my husband and I was a wife, mom and a kindergarten
teacher. I had people counting on me and
I was not going to let anything slow me down.
I even took on the challenge of getting my Master’s Degree. I tried for a second
child. I started developing ovarian cysts after I began using the fertility
drug Clomid. These large cysts caused a number of other health issues to
develop for 5 years before I received my cancer diagnosis. During those 5 years I went through a number
of surgeries for kidney stone removal as well as having my first ovary removed. Everything was normal after each of these surgeries,
but I never really felt back to my normal self. I really didn’t slow down or
relax during any of this time, because
I scheduled surgeries to back up with school breaks so that I would not have to miss work, but still be home to be with our daughter for her vacations. I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone but myself.
Then in August of 2011 I had a terrible flare up with kidney
stones that put me back in the emergency room. On the CT scan that my urologist
requested, he noticed that not only did I have 4 more kidney stones but also
another fairly large cyst on my remaining ovary and suggested that I get it
checked by my gynecologist. Well finally 4 kidney stone surgeries and 7 months
later I did get in with my gynecologist and through ultrasounds and such, she
felt the cyst needed to be removed. She
removed the cyst and a small part of my ovary and sent the tissue off for
regular testing. That is when they found
the cancer. From that moment on things
went at a whirlwind speed. I was referred to Dr. Peter Johnson who specializes
in Gynecologic Oncology, and I had an appointment with him within a week of my
diagnosis.
Dr. Johnson and his staff were absolutely wonderful. They
took the time to explain everything in a way that I could understand and answer
any questions that I had. Although I was
in such a fog I really didn’t know what I should be asking. The decision was made that I needed to have a
full hysterectomy fairly soon. I had a
month and a half to prepare everything before my surgery. This was when I went
into full panic mode. I figured that I
had been lucky to come through my past surgeries fairly easy... my luck was soon
to run out. I tried to make arrangements
for everything in the event that I would not come out of this.
Facing cancer
really makes you look at your own mortality.
It is very scary to face. After my surgery and the pathology that was completed it was
suggested that I needed to have 4-6 rounds of chemotherapy because they had
found some free floating cancer cells in the fluid in my abdomen. I had what they call a Power Port inserted
near my collar bone that went into a large vein in my neck. This was done because putting these chemo
drugs in through a regular IV in my arm every three weeks could potentially
damage those veins. This was a surgery that I was seriously nervous for since
they told me I would be awake during the procedure.
Before I was to begin chemo I was given so much information
from Dr. Johnson and my Cancer Care Coordinator Michelle Rodriguez. They walked me though what would happen
before and during each treatment. Before each treatment I would have blood
drawn (through my port) and it would be sent to the lab to have my levels of
platelets and such checked to determine if I was healthy enough to have the
chemo done.
Each treatment would be about 6 hours from start to finish. And I
was going to lose my hair. That was a hard thing to accept, that’s how people
would know that I was sick.
The only thing I wasn't sure of was what the
chemo department would be like. I was told to bring a few snacks, water to
drink, something to read or do and that there would be a TV in the room if I
wanted to watch something. I went in expecting a large room with several
reclining chairs where we would all be lined up connected to our drips. But
that is not at all what it was like. The nurses in the chemo department were
the best! They were always happy to see me; they really made an effort to make
personal connections with each patient that they dealt with every day. The rooms were similar to a small hospital
room with 2 recliners, chairs for visitors and a TV.
I did begin losing my hair about 2 weeks after my first
treatment. I cut it short, colored it red (I was a natural blonde) and made an
appointment for a wig fitting. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, wear a wig or
wear scarves but I needed to get things in place before I went back to work,
not only for my own comfort but also because my daughter was expressing worries
about kids at school making fun of me if I didn't have hair. So I took her and
one of my friends (someone I knew would be completely honest with me) and we
went to pick out a wig. It was one of the best appointments I have had at the
hospital. I got to try on several wigs,
tried out different looks and had lots of laughs. My daughter even tried on a
wig that made her look like The Church Lady from SNL. Once my hair really began falling out in
clumps I decided it was time to buzz it all off and just be
done with it. My husband and daughter had the honor of shaving my head for me.
From that point until my hair started coming back I wore scarves and bandannas.
The wig stayed in the box.
I handled the first 3 courses of the chemo really well. I would get the chemo, sleep a lot the
following day and then be good to go. I
was also able to rest as much as I needed to at other times because I was off
of school for the summer. So I had time to really take care of what my body
needed to recover after each session.
It
was when school started again at the end of August that I began to struggle
with it. I was stressed with teaching,
not drinking enough water during the chemo sessions and not resting at all. I
started going the day before chemo for the blood tests to determine whether or
not I was going to be able to have chemo done.
My last 3 sessions each had to be postponed because I was not recovering
fast enough.
I finally was able to have
my final chemo session on November 9, 2012.
I am clear of cancer as of right now.
I am well aware that it could come back in
another place, but I consider myself a survivor. I have begun the monitoring
phase and I go to Dr. Johnson every 3 months for the first year. Throughout the whole process I had so much support from my
doctor, all of the nurses as well as a nurse from my insurance. My school family took over making meals for
my family from the time I had my hysterectomy all the way into July. I had friends taking my daughter to and from
school. All things that I thought I was going to be able to do but it was
simply too difficult. There is no way
that I can begin to “pay back” every one for the way they helped my
family.
Without the support of all of my
friends and family I may not have had the positive outcome that I experienced.
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| Mrs. Olson, 2014, at a school Walk-a-thon with her K5 Class |
Mrs. Olson, thank you so much for sharing this story of hope, inspiration, courage and so much more. You are impacting so many lives each day as a teacher and EVERY DAY as an Ovarian Cancer Survivor.
