Surgery This Week & Many Unknowns

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The celebrations and little joys of summer were short-lived.. I only got a couple weeks of feeling human again before I ended up in the emergency room twice in the last week, with lots of unanswered questions and a current plan for surgery this Thursday 😩

The “indeterminate” spot in my left axilla from the July 1 scans has grown quite a bit during the last few weeks, pressing on my brachial plexus and intercostal nerves, causing quite a bit of pain and nerve symptoms. There is also another new, suspicious spot on my left scapula. The hope is to have this all taken care of with surgery on Thursday.

I had to go back to the ED yesterday because of worsening pelvic and groin pain, to find out I have a 6cm ovarian cyst 🤯 After a verrrrrry long day, ovarian torsion was reasonably ruled out and I was allowed to go home.

I’ve also been having new pain in my right axilla/shoulder, but they couldn’t do an MRI yesterday, so waiting to hear back when that can be done.. and need to follow closely for the ovarian cyst (including more imaging and probable consult with gyn-onc), meanwhile praying that it goes away on its own quickly and doesn’t result in torsion or rupture 😩

I continue to be in quite a bit of pain from everything, and the stress and anxiety are through the Roof! I am SO F*ing sick of this rollercoaster of shit!!

I expect to be hearing from a lot of providers in the coming days as we make plans for what’s next. I appreciate prayers for this to all be resolved quickly and easily, for peace and healing. All the plans we had for the remainder of the summer (including our wedding anniversary, the fair, waterpark, walks, etc) are completely shot to shit now. Emotionally, I am not in a good place. I am trying hard to focus on the kids, Brandon, and the little moments of less pain and peace, but they are hard to come by. I want to heal from all of this 😭. I want so badly to be healthy so that I can enjoy life with my family and we can do even simple things together without being insanely stressed or in a lot of pain. The fears and unknowns are terrible. I want to live a long, healthy life with my family. Cancer needs to F* off!!!

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Published by Lauren

Welcome! Thank you for being here! My name is Lauren Doyle. My husband and I have been married since 2013, and together since 2011. We have 2 wonderful kids and live in the Twin Cities suburbs. I have both a Master’s and a Doctorate and am a board-certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. I also have the student loans to prove it. In 2019 our lives were turned upside down. Our daughter was born with a serious heart defect that required open heart surgery when she was just 5 days old. A couple weeks after her birth (while she was still in the hospital), I found a mass in my abdomen which required major emergency surgery to remove. At first, we were told it was just a fibroid; we learned about a week later that the mass was a rare and aggressive type of cancer – leiomyosarcoma. Through multiple surgeries and chemo, I have come out the other side, changed in many ways. I am now considered Stage IV, with a chemo-induced heart condition, and struggle with several other severe side effects from treatments. I continue to work and live and love as best as I can. I will not claim to have all the answers about anything, but I can tell you I have learned a LOT in my 35+ years of life thus far. My passion has always been helping and educating people in whatever ways possible. I am hoping this blog will allow me to do that for a broader population beyond the patients I see at work, share my unique journey, and help keep friends and family in the loop along the way. Thank you again for being here.

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2 thoughts on “Surgery This Week & Many Unknowns”

  1. I will pray with you. Hoping you see an end to all this pain, finally have healing and get to enjoy your family.

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  2. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Lots of prayers here for the pain to go away soon and for you to be on the road to recovery soon. Maybe write down all the things that make you happy and all the places you will be going when you are better, to take your mind off things. I’m sorry I don’t have better answers.

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