September is Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Denise Collins, 42, a friend I met through St. Joan of Arc parish in Aberdeen, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in December 2021. After surgery, chemo and a tremendous amount of prayer, Denise was declared cancer-free in August 2022. Denise chronicled her experience on Facebook with awe-inspiring courage, relentless optimism and a good bit of humor. I am grateful to Denise for sharing her story with us.
On Thanksgiving 2021, Denise Collins asked her sister and best friend, Michele, “does my stomach look big?” For the past three months, she had noticed that her abdomen kept expanding and was tender to the touch. It was so swollen, in fact, that when she lay on her side, she felt her organs sloshing around like they were in water. At Michele’s advice, Denise made an appointment with her GI doctor who ordered some imaging.
Denise continued about her life working in sales and acting as the president of the American Legion Auxiliary Harford Unit 39 in Bel Air. She had been volunteering at the many events that take place at the American Legion including weekly pit beef, bingo and special events like the Oktoberfest and yearly craft shows, but was beginning to have trouble sleeping.
The scan her doctor had ordered revealed free fluid in Denise’s abdomen, so the gastroenterologist set her up for a perinstetisis, where the doctor inserts a needle into the abdomen and removes fluid. The doctor removed 22 liters of fluid (that is 11- 2 liter bottles of sodas) weighing 50 pounds from Denise’s abdomen.
After a CT scan and endoscopy, the gastroenterologist told Denise twice that she needed to make an appointment with her gynecologist because there were large cysts that needed to be taken care of with surgery. Denise then went to a gynecological oncologist, who told her that she was going to need a full hysterectomy. The doctors also did a CA125, which is a blood test to test the cancer antigens in the blood. Her results came back above 1900; normal is below 35.
At first Denise ignored her cancer diagnosis. “If I don’t talk about it and don’t tell anyone, then no one can worry about it,” she reasoned. So, she kept herself busy with other things.
“I was not going to stop living my life because of this,” she said, “so I kept going…kept going to work, kept going out with my family, kept a positive attitude. There are things I still want to see and I was not going to let cancer take that away from me.”
After surgery was a waiting game – waiting to get an appointment with the oncologist, waiting for insurance to approve the port that would be implanted in her chest so chemo wouldn’t ruin the veins in her arms, waiting for the weekly blood tests to make sure her red and white blood cells were at the correct levels, and most of all, waiting for every third Friday, which was chemo day. Denise’s entire summer revolved around doctor’s appointments, blood tests and chemo.
The most frustrating thing for Denise was the fatigue. Denise and Michele are very active, but after she had chemo on Fridays, Denise would spend Monday exhausted with aching legs.
“I would go to work, come home, eat dinner and go to bed,” she said. “I would usually be in bed and asleep by 7 pm, wake up at 6 am and feel almost myself on Tuesday morning.”
As the week progressed, she would feel better each day. But when Friday rolled around, the decline would start all over again.
Denise emphasizes the importance of patients telling health care providers all of their symptoms so doctors, nurses and therapists can make them feel better. When Denise disclosed to her nurse that she was still exhausted after 8 hours of sleep, some testing results revealed that she was anemic. Once she started taking iron, she began to have more energy.
Denise’s personal support system kept her spirits up at all times, as well as cancer support groups.
“I received a package from The Turban Project full of head coverings, for when I lost my hair and masks,” she said. “I also signed up for Chemo Angels and every week I would get a card or small gift from my angel telling me she was thinking about me and encouraging me along the way.”
The power of prayer helped had an undeniable impact on healing Denise’s body and mind.
“Along the way my family and friends told me they would pray for me. I joke that the reason I made it through chemo with so few reactions was because everyone was praying for me – the Catholic Sisters in Pittsburgh, my aunts in Florida, the Baptists and Espiscipalians in Texas, and with that many people praying it was difficult for God not to hear.”
After surgery, the doctor told Denise that he was pretty sure he removed all of the cancer. The chemo was preventative because the cancer cells were in the free fluid in her abdomen. Denise is optimistic, but she still fears the return of her disease, “I am happy to know the cancer is gone, but there will always be the lingering thought whenever there is a random twinge in my abdomen that what if…”
Denise is starting to go back to living her usual life. When she was first diagnosed, Denise told
Michele, “I have cancer, cancer doesn’t have me.” Denise is looking forward to regrowing her hair; although, she jokes that her lack of hair was perfect for “dealing with hot Maryland summers and her first reason with hot flashes because of menopause.” She also wants to wear fun hats this winter.
Denise is now a month out of chemo and her sprouting hair is about 1/2″ long. Everyone is trying to guess what color it will come back as. Right now it is very light…almost white. Denise is grateful to have won this battle so far and wants to spread her optimism to other cancer patients.
“I have plans to become a chemo angel in the new year so I can be the encouragement for someone else’s journey,” she said.
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