Jennifer S’s Story

I was diagnosed in September 2023 with stage 1 endometrial cancer and stage 2b ovarian cancer after a total hysterectomy. I started carboplatin/taxol infusions on 10/17/23 and received my 6th and final cycle of carboplatin/taxol yesterday. I am currently fatigued, but on dexamethasone for nausea prevention, so sleep is tough to come by. I’m also waiting for the post-chemo bone and joint aches to set in over the next 24 hours.

I have struggled a lot with the hair loss. It has definitely been one of the most challenging aspects of treatment. It feels like your story is not your own to tell anymore because the world knows something so intimate about you without you even saying a word. And weight gain has been a real blow to my self-confidence. I had done CrossFit for 2 1/2 years prior to diagnosis and felt strong and capable. Now my clothes don’t fit and I feel winded going up the stairs. I’m ready to get back to working out and weight training but am also terrified to find out whether my body is even capable of getting back to where I was just 6 months ago.

And the surgical menopause… hot flashes are brutal, especially without hair - sweating and hot becomes freezing cold in the middle of winter. It feels helpless to be unable to even regulate your body temperature. No hormone replacement, since my cancers are typically hormone receptor positive. I’m grateful that my genetic profile did not contain mutations that place me or my family at additional risk, but it also means I don’t qualify for any maintenance therapy, so I’m feeling the fear of going off treatment and month surveillance mode.

In addition, after having perfect blood pressure before, I became hypertensive with an elevated heart rate after surgery and have developed swelling in my legs, ankles, and feet due to the medications I need for my blood pressure. It is so ugly and uncomfortable, and I get so hot in the compression socks that help prevent the swelling.

I am fortunate to have supportive family and friends, and am so glad to have found some online resources like @ohyouresotough to have some community who understands what it’s like. Even the most supportive people don’t really get what it’s like to live in a body with cancer and to have so many aspects of your physical and mental health affected all at once.

-Jennifer