October 2024: My Cancer Journey Continues

I completed 8 rounds of radiation for ovarian cancer in April of 2023. It was a piece of cake versus chemotherapy, but it was not without complications. About a week after completion, I developed C.diff. (Clostridioides difficile) and was hospitalized for 7 days. Of those days, the first 5 were spent in an emergency room because there were no beds available upstairs. I was in isolation and I won’t describe how using a bed-side commode did not help.

Cancer-free, but new problems emerged

Anyway, I got past that and had to deal with fatigue and just poor conditioning from being idle. I asked my primary care physician for some physical therapy to regain my strength and balance. This was of tremendous help! I eventually graduated from getting CAT scans every 3 months to every 6, the last being September of 2024. Good news: no cancer seen, but the scan revealed a complication with my left ureter, the side where I was radiated a year prior. I had developed moderate hydronephrosis, likely a result from radiation.

Stents are working so far

I was given two options: major reconstructive surgery of the ureter or the insertion of a large bore stent to stretch the ureter. I opted for the latter as I had previous experience with stents due to nephrolithiasis and lithotripsy.

The larger stent was retained for almost a month and it was rough. I had a renal ultrasound that showed I had moved from moderate to mild hydronephrosis and the stent was just removed. In 3 weeks, I will undergo another renal ultrasound and meet with my wonderful urologist to discuss those findings.

Only time will tell

If the moderate hydronephrosis returns, another stent (smaller size) will be inserted and I will keep it for 3 months at which point it will need replacing. I’m told I will need to do this indefinitely. It’s not a perfect scenario but it could be worse!

To be continued.

Click here for part 1 of Gayle19705's story.