I did an interview with Lucy Levon last summer for this site, and since then there’s been some unexpected turns which have led to the end of her career. Cancer strikes everyone.
Hi James,
finally I found some time to get back to you :)
Whew, where to start with…
First of all, girls and boys, check your whole freaking bodies every year once a year (and I mean CT scans, mammograms, gynecologists, urologists, etc). I didn’t visit my doctor seriously for 3 years and look what happened to me. Just know how to say stop, spend some money on your health and get yourself fully checked.
So how did I find out about cancer? I noticed that I started swelling up in my belly area, I gained weight real quick (from 108lbs I went to 115lbs, and it’s NOT normal for me) and I started getting tired when I walked 3 floors up the stairs. I was living in NYC’s SoHo at that moment. I went to see my doctor and he became concerned with my swelling. So he offered a CT scan. That’s how I found out that I had 3 ovarian cysts on both of my ovaries and fluid in my lungs, in my abdomen, in my back, later it spread to my legs and feet .
Ovarian cysts are pretty common amongst us, women. But if you start to swell up with a fluid that means something’s wrong. In October 25th 2011 I got admitted to the hospital because my GYN doctor became suspicious that those ovarian cysts might be cancerous. After a surgery (where they removed my ovaries) it became clear that it was cancer. Worse than that, after doctors got a sample of my lung fluid, they confirmed the presence of cancer in the fluid too. It spread through my lymphatic system to my lymph nodes, to my omentum (fatty tissue on the belly) and my breast. When cancer spreads to 3 or more places like that, it’s called stage 4 cancer, and you can’t go further. So I spent 1 month in NYC hospital going through tests and scans and painful procedures. I couldn’t walk to the bathroom. I was on pain drugs constantly. They diagnosed me with Metastatic Signet Ring Cell Adenocarcinoma, primary is still unknown nowadays. Doctors even told me I have 9 months, maybe more left to live. That’s when Joey and I decided to move back to Texas to seek a second opinion, closer to the family and friends, peace and quiet. It was hard leaving NYC because that’s where we both wanted to be. But looking back I’m so grateful because here in Texas we found a great doctor oncologist who is not so negative about everything. People here are much nicer and much more kind. I started my chemo treatment over here and so far, I’m doing better than I thought I would feel. Of course, there are ups and downs but still I’m positively kicking and fighting, and with God’s help I’m rocking it :)
So that’s my story! :) Never give up! Never surrender! No matter what doctors say to you.
Also in the moments like that you learn who your true friends are. I would like to thank my friends, Amai and Walter, for being there for me. Love you guys! And I would like to thank my wonderful husband Joey for being such an amazing caregiver! And all my family and friends and people at church for their prayers! And people on twitter, and random people from Brazil, Italy and Australia! Thank you all so much for your kind words of encouragement! Rock on!
Ok I’m done here. Thank you, James, for letting me ramble! ^_^