History on Christina
Car wreck, facial trauma, life altering surgery.... life knocks you down, but get back up!
December 18, 2013 I had a life altering surgery. To the left is a photo of me during day 3 of recovery. I'm smiling and excited that this thing is finally out of me. Less pain, less issues, more rest!
Back Story: My ex and I were best friends before we dated. Somewhere around year 5 or 6 we became pretty unhappy together and still tried to make it work, I got up to 345 pounds! In July of 2012 we were living in Hawaii and he hated it there so he left to Indiana until I could find a replacement for myself at work. I began to workout and eat better, getting down to 317 by September of that year. My boyfriend (and friend for 2 years before that) of nearly 8 years and I had decided to compromise, I would marry him and move to Indiana (where he is from), and give up Hawaii. He was miserable there. I decided to see a fertility specialist while I was there, just to make sure that I was okay. That was when it all started, He turned out not to be the man I thought he was. He got a woman pregnant in Indiana while I was in Hawaii going to a biopsy on my endometrial lining, alone. That was it, I needed to let go and move on. End of a decade long chapter.
As it turned out, I had a growth about the size of a grapefruit on my right ovary. I had already bought my ticket home and decided I would pursue my health issues after I got back. Not being the type of girl who just falls in love with strangers, (my first ex I knew for five years before we dated for five years and my last ex I knew for 2 years before we dated for 8 years), I met and was not really sure what I felt for Bradley. The first three months was us getting to know each other and our bad habits and it was difficult! I went to the hospital one day for severe pain from my period. An ultrasound was completed and the grapefruit sized cyst had grown. Now it was the size of a soccer ball! I finally decided that the way he is, does not match me. I needed to focus on my health and after 3 months I decided I didn't want to date him anymore. That week, we got into a car wreck. My face smashed the windshield, spidering the entire windshield and I was knocked out. He changed. He said seeing me knocked out made him realize he didn't want to lose me.
I spent 4 months recovering from the wreck, while the tumor inside me kept growing. It was "stable" at the time and without insurance, no doctor would see me without cash upfront, no doctor would work with me. This thing kept growing and I was losing weight.
In July I was hospitalized again. I broke my face, severely. My nose, the orbital bone, and the main cheek bone were broken. Plastic surgeons wanted to work with me to put a metal plate in my face. They said without it I wouldn't be able to see normal again and that my face would always look like I had a stroke. A miracle happened, my body began to heal itself and pushed my eye back into place. The downsize was some nerves and fatty tissue got trapped. My vision took 3 months to return to normal and still to this day my lip has some nerve ending issues from the nerve being trapped in the bone, but you can't even tell I had such a severe facial trauma.
Back Story: My ex and I were best friends before we dated. Somewhere around year 5 or 6 we became pretty unhappy together and still tried to make it work, I got up to 345 pounds! In July of 2012 we were living in Hawaii and he hated it there so he left to Indiana until I could find a replacement for myself at work. I began to workout and eat better, getting down to 317 by September of that year. My boyfriend (and friend for 2 years before that) of nearly 8 years and I had decided to compromise, I would marry him and move to Indiana (where he is from), and give up Hawaii. He was miserable there. I decided to see a fertility specialist while I was there, just to make sure that I was okay. That was when it all started, He turned out not to be the man I thought he was. He got a woman pregnant in Indiana while I was in Hawaii going to a biopsy on my endometrial lining, alone. That was it, I needed to let go and move on. End of a decade long chapter.
As it turned out, I had a growth about the size of a grapefruit on my right ovary. I had already bought my ticket home and decided I would pursue my health issues after I got back. Not being the type of girl who just falls in love with strangers, (my first ex I knew for five years before we dated for five years and my last ex I knew for 2 years before we dated for 8 years), I met and was not really sure what I felt for Bradley. The first three months was us getting to know each other and our bad habits and it was difficult! I went to the hospital one day for severe pain from my period. An ultrasound was completed and the grapefruit sized cyst had grown. Now it was the size of a soccer ball! I finally decided that the way he is, does not match me. I needed to focus on my health and after 3 months I decided I didn't want to date him anymore. That week, we got into a car wreck. My face smashed the windshield, spidering the entire windshield and I was knocked out. He changed. He said seeing me knocked out made him realize he didn't want to lose me.
I spent 4 months recovering from the wreck, while the tumor inside me kept growing. It was "stable" at the time and without insurance, no doctor would see me without cash upfront, no doctor would work with me. This thing kept growing and I was losing weight.
In July I was hospitalized again. I broke my face, severely. My nose, the orbital bone, and the main cheek bone were broken. Plastic surgeons wanted to work with me to put a metal plate in my face. They said without it I wouldn't be able to see normal again and that my face would always look like I had a stroke. A miracle happened, my body began to heal itself and pushed my eye back into place. The downsize was some nerves and fatty tissue got trapped. My vision took 3 months to return to normal and still to this day my lip has some nerve ending issues from the nerve being trapped in the bone, but you can't even tell I had such a severe facial trauma.
I decided to move back to Hawaii in August 2013 and brought Bradley with me. By that time I was down to 285 from 345. This thing kept growing it wouldn't stop. Finally, I had gotten back to 300 pounds and I was NOT happy. The surgery was scheduled for December 18. This thing made me look pregnant and I was uncomfortable. I couldn't move right, I had to pee all the time. Even physical working out caused discomfort.
I felt so trapped and I couldn't do anything about it until I had that insurance. This thing kept getting bigger and more painful. Doctor's say "Oh it doesn't hurt, it's just big." I'm sorry but this THING HURT!! Not exaggerating I was in pain often. Some times I would stand up and it would yank me down like gravity was tugging on my ovary. No one had any idea the pain I was suffering I couldn't sleep. Work was difficult.
I felt so trapped and I couldn't do anything about it until I had that insurance. This thing kept getting bigger and more painful. Doctor's say "Oh it doesn't hurt, it's just big." I'm sorry but this THING HURT!! Not exaggerating I was in pain often. Some times I would stand up and it would yank me down like gravity was tugging on my ovary. No one had any idea the pain I was suffering I couldn't sleep. Work was difficult.
This is the thing they took out of me. This thing used to be my ovary. It weighed over 15 pounds. I was terrified of this surgery. It's open surgery. There are already risks with that, but on top of it, I'm extremely overweight. Morbidly Obese in fact. My heart racing and my life changing. This thing kept growing even though it had run out of room!
I was so blessed to have been admitted to the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. It's the best possible hospital and doctor I could have had. They saved my life they helped me heal. They changed my life. Bradley slept on the floor of the hospital to be close to me. They did everything they could and after my six week follow up I moved back to the mainland of the USA.
I was so blessed to have been admitted to the Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children. It's the best possible hospital and doctor I could have had. They saved my life they helped me heal. They changed my life. Bradley slept on the floor of the hospital to be close to me. They did everything they could and after my six week follow up I moved back to the mainland of the USA.
I got back to Arizona at the end of January 2014. So much had happened and I will not go into detail, but I felt pretty betrayed and especially when I needed my friends. I was so far from my family and Bradley was all I had. I couldn't work, I had trouble walking more than 10 minutes. I felt nauseous often. But I was finally able to come home. In February 2012 a wonderful and an awful thing happened. I got engaged and I was hospitalized again.
So, February 12, 2014, he asked and I said yes. (This wasn't the first time he asked either..... what patience he has!) That same night I pulled something in the shower.... I don't know what but I felt like my insides were on fire. I went to the hospital to discover.....another growth on my last remaining ovary.
Our celebration for being engaged didn't last long due to this hospitalization. I was so upset, how could this be happening, again!? What can I do to change this?! This isn't fair and I was angry. I always wanted to wait until I was 30 to start having kids, now here I am at 29 and I've already lost one ovary, now you're telling me that I have a new growth?
I went to visit a standard gynecologist. She was visibly concerned because my CA125 levels were more than double what is normal and with the new growth she referred me to a gynecological oncologist. Which, took 2 months to get into! When I finally did make it there, she basically told me that I needed to have surgery. I refused. I told her that she's the best and there has to be another way without putting my last ovary at risk. She argued a little bit, but agreed to check the CA125 levels again and have another ultrasound done.
Our celebration for being engaged didn't last long due to this hospitalization. I was so upset, how could this be happening, again!? What can I do to change this?! This isn't fair and I was angry. I always wanted to wait until I was 30 to start having kids, now here I am at 29 and I've already lost one ovary, now you're telling me that I have a new growth?
I went to visit a standard gynecologist. She was visibly concerned because my CA125 levels were more than double what is normal and with the new growth she referred me to a gynecological oncologist. Which, took 2 months to get into! When I finally did make it there, she basically told me that I needed to have surgery. I refused. I told her that she's the best and there has to be another way without putting my last ovary at risk. She argued a little bit, but agreed to check the CA125 levels again and have another ultrasound done.
Two days after my appointment with the oncologist I couldn't stand the pain I was in anymore. April 12, 2014, my head was pounding and I couldn't see straight my arms were twitching on their own and I was nauseous. I couldn't see I couldn't eat nothing helped. I began vomiting. My friend rushed me to the hospital where Bradley and my mom met me later.
The doctor on duty was concerned that I might have meningitis. He sent me for CT Scan an did a lumbar puncture, which was pretty horrible. Tests came back, I did have meningitis and not the easy kind. People had to wear masks around me and I was quarantined for a few days. Bradley still, came to see me every day in the hospital, this time he got a comfy chair to sleep on. He went to work, came to our home and showered then came to see me every day. It was a rough 2 weeks in that hospital, once I was released from quarantine I was placed into ICU for a week and then the regular recovery area. I still have days that I suffer. Major headaches, nightmares, and I can no longer have any kind of alcohol without vomiting and having a headache.
My oncologist again suggested surgery but said with the CA125 levels returning to a normal rate and no growth (actually a slight decrease), in the cyst that she wasn't as worried as she was originally, so she referred me back to my ob/gyn due to the thick lining of my endometrial lining. There is cause for some concern there, but I did some lab work and I have a biopsy scheduled for June 18, 2014. We will find out!
The doctor on duty was concerned that I might have meningitis. He sent me for CT Scan an did a lumbar puncture, which was pretty horrible. Tests came back, I did have meningitis and not the easy kind. People had to wear masks around me and I was quarantined for a few days. Bradley still, came to see me every day in the hospital, this time he got a comfy chair to sleep on. He went to work, came to our home and showered then came to see me every day. It was a rough 2 weeks in that hospital, once I was released from quarantine I was placed into ICU for a week and then the regular recovery area. I still have days that I suffer. Major headaches, nightmares, and I can no longer have any kind of alcohol without vomiting and having a headache.
My oncologist again suggested surgery but said with the CA125 levels returning to a normal rate and no growth (actually a slight decrease), in the cyst that she wasn't as worried as she was originally, so she referred me back to my ob/gyn due to the thick lining of my endometrial lining. There is cause for some concern there, but I did some lab work and I have a biopsy scheduled for June 18, 2014. We will find out!