One goal END cancer!

Kristin's Story.....
July 2012 I underwent my routine pap smear, 6 weeks later I received a call informing me that my results had come back abnormal. I was little worried because in the 12 years I had been receiving my yearly pap they had always been normal. My doctor re assured me that is was most likely due to having my son 6 weeks prior, that brought peace to my mind. He scheduled me to come back in 6 weeks for a repeat to confirm that it was due simply to recently giving birth.

At the end of August was my 6 week repeat, I was confident that this one would be normal. My confidence was shaken a few days later when I received yet another phone call explaining to me that my pap yet again had come back abnormal. This time the explanation was that I was 30 and its not uncommon to have abnormal cells and that more than likely they will resolve on their own. Again I was scheduled for a repeat in 6 weeks.

My next appointment fell in the beginning of October and I had to cancel due to a death in my family that required me to be out of town. I never rescheduled. My thought was that I am 30, I have a 3 year old daughter and 5 month old son, I am a full time student, and have a house to run. My life was busy and like they said these abnormal cells will more than likely resolve on their own. Can you believe how irresponsible I was being about my health? I was too busy to make my health my first priority. That I was in denial that anything bad could happen to me. I was young and I didn't feel sick there for I was okay. I was wrong!

Then began the phone calls. I was receiving calls everyday from my OBGYN's office to reschedule my appointment. Now knowing my thought process you know that I was ignorantly ignoring these phone calls. Then the important one came, my doctor himself called me from his personal cell phone demanding I come in right then and there to have my over due repeat done. That call scared me and yet saved my life and I didn't even know it at that time.

This was now mid November when I went back in for my repeat. Yet again I received a phone call the week of Thanksgiving telling me that the cells had now shown change. They weren't just abnormal anymore, they were a type of cell called atypical glandular cells. These cells were a form of pre cancer, but nothing to get to worked up about. I was scheduled for a colposcopy, endocervical sampling, and a biopsy for the first week of December. My December appointment came and the test were done, and yet again another phone call with not so good news. My cells had shifted from atypical glandular to adenocarcinoma in situ. A little bit more scarier of a pre cancer. I was scheduled for a LEEP which they hoped would remove all these cells and put this all to an end. In January my LEEP was done. My OBGYN seemed a little concerned at what was removed and put a rush on the pathology. Well that 2 day rush ended up being a week and a half wait due to the lab "misplacing" my sample.

February 3, 2013 was a day I will NEVER forget, its the day my life changed forever and my normal was no longer normal. February 3, 2013 I found out that I went from a healthy 30 year old woman who was a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend, and student to a cancer patient. I was diagnosed with cervical adenocarcinoma. I will never ever be able to fully express all the thoughts, fears, and emotions that came with that day.

My OBGYN immediately referred me out to an OB oncologist out of townbased on thetype of cancer I had, how young I was, and how quickly it all changed. I was to have my first appointment with him February 15th. I traveled to Columbus, Ohio and meet with this oncologist. He was a very nice and knowledgeable man, but I knew in my gut and heart that this was not the man who was going to save my life.

A PET scan was ordered because this first oncologist believed that there was a very strong chance with how aggressive it was and its path of invasion that it had got into my lymph nodes. If this cancer were to be in my lymph nodes I knew what that more than likely meant for me. As a parent there is not a more heart breaking moment then thinking of their future and you not being a part of it. That every special moment wouldn't be as special as it should because mom isn't there. That they would grow up and have not one single memory of me. That they would never ever feel or know my love for them. That someday somewhere down the road someone else would fill my void. I wasn't sad or scared for me, I was heartbroken for them. Maybe not the best attitude to have, but it was the thought that consumed me. By the grace of God and my entourage of guardian angels above my lymph nodes were safe! The cancer was sitting right on top of them, but didn't spread through! Best news I could hear! Now I was ready to fight!

I was then referred to an amazingoncologist at The James Cancer Center. I knew that this was the man that would save me and rid me of this disgusting monster that had invaded my body. We knew surgery was inevitable with a possibility of radiation after surgery. Then what I like to call the "waiting game" began....

April 3, 2013 using the DaVinci Robotic approach I underwent major surgery. When it was all said and done I had to have my uterus removed because the cancer had spread up, my cervix which was 100% covered, a partial vaginectomy, lymph node removal, and the removal all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that cradled these organs. Talk about OUCH!

Exactly one week after surgery I received the most amazing phone call ever...I was a SURVIVOR! My margins were clear and surgery removed everything, I did not require further treatment which meant no radiation! I was blessed! My fight was done, I had won!

Recovery was long and it was rough and painful, but I was alive and cancer free. I was going to see my children grow up, I was going to be there for their special moments, they would remember me and know and feel my love! The pain was an almost to fair trade off.

I do require every 3 month checks down in Columbus with my oncologist and I still have to deal and come to terms with that my cancer can return at anytime. It haunts me and scares me. But today I woke up alive and healthy and am blessed.

It has been almost 1 year since I became cancer free and it has been one of the hardest years of my life. Just because your free doesn't mean its over. I still to this day deal with the aftermath mentally, emotionally, and physically.

There are a few things I want taken from my story....
Preventative medicine is key to saving your life, don't ever think cancer can't happen to you, because I am here to tell you it can!
Awareness saves lives!
You don't have to die from cancer! Never EVER give up hope never EVER stop fighting!
NEVER EVER take one day of your life for granted!
Cancer DOES NOT discriminate!
Give back, pay it forward! Help to save someone else's wife, mother, daughter, and friend.

My last point brings me to why I am doing this fundraiser. I was approached by the very same hospital that saved my life on behalf of a team of Ohio State students called Team Buckeye asking if I would be willing to pair up with a rider to participate in this years Pelotonia in my name and share with them my story and help raise money to go to cancer research. All the money raised goes directly back to the James Cancer Center for cancer research. This is me giving back and paying it forward to the hospital that made it possible for me to be here today! This is me trying to do my part to save someone else's loved one. All the money raised from the sales of this t shirt will be given as a donation to my amazing rider Haley in this years Pelotonia. I ask please please help Haley and I raise funds and save lives through the advancement of cancer research!