Following a complete hysterectomy to combat uterine cancer, Juana woke up from surgery to find she still needed chemotherapy. After six weeks of mental preparation, she continued her marathon treatment.
Juana's Story
"I am going to be ready for this."
I was physically healthy before I was diagnosed with uterine cancer. I exercised regularly and ran two marathons, so I wasn't in bad shape. I always ate my vegetables, and chicken is probably the only meat that I eat. I don't keep junk food at home. To mentally prepare, I would tell myself that I am going to keep my life as normal as possible. I am going to keep going, on the days that I don't want to go and I don't have the strength and I don't want to get out of bed, I am going to go.
"I went through my first treatment and thought it was nothing - until the next day."
When the nurse hooked me up, I was thinking, "I am ready, I am ready." I got my first treatment and left thinking it was nothing, it was okay, and I went home. The next day I wanted to get out of bed but I couldn't. I couldn't get up, but I was tired of laying down. I crawled out of bed to the living area to watch TV.
I was feeling nauseous and having anxiety attacks. I spent half the time in the bathroom because I was throwing up. I didn't want to eat, but I knew I had to eat. I would make myself go eat, but then I would go throw up. That first week of chemo was probably the hardest.
"I would make myself get out of the house."
I was weak, but I wanted to go to work. Then I would come home, and I would try to walk to the park. My sister could not believe that I wanted to go walking. It helped me, it helped me physically get ready for the next treatment.
"After my second treatment, I started to lose my hair."
I had my hair up in a clip and it was getting really frizzy. I could tell that it wasn't attached anymore. I didn't want to take my clip off because it was going to be shocking and I didn't want to see it. I kept my hair clipped for two days and I finally said, "I am going to go take a shower, but it is going to be a long one." I go take a shower and I am just pulling and pulling, and I have all my hair in my hands. I stood there for two hours. Then I called my friend, and we decided we were going to the wig store the next day.
"We made it into a fashion show."
I took a picture with me because I wanted to get one like my real hair. We tried so many different wigs that day. The real hair ones were expensive, but I wanted it to look as normal as possible. There were other people there trying to find wigs too, so we made it into a fashion show, saying "Oh, that one looks good" or "that one looks good."
"I was so excited for my last treatment."
By the last treatment, I was ready. I knew what I was going to go through, and I had my wig. I also knew that I wouldn't have to go to the oncology office anymore. I wanted to go back to work, but my immunity was really low. I told everyone at the office to not come near me, and they did they did that for a week.
I work for an immunologist with people who have no defenses at all. They come to our office to get treatments to build up their immunity. What they are going through is hard, and it is a diagnosis that they will have for the rest of their life. It isn't like me -- going through chemotherapy and then saying it is over. I can say that I have no cancer, but they have this diagnosis for the rest of their life, until the day they die. Their drugs are super expensive -- thousands of thousands of dollars over their lifetime -- and I can't imagine having to pay that when you don't have insurance. That really made me grateful for my situation.
