Megan and her family
On November 30, 2009 Megan went to Northside Hospital, Cherokee, with severe abdominal pain. After hours of testing and exams, she was admitted to do further testing. Megan’s abdomen was swollen to the point that the doctors, had they already not tested for pregnancy, said that she looked to be about five to six months pregnant.
Megan was diagnosed as having Stage 3c Ovarian Cancer. The tumours were large mucinous tumours. Megan was referred to Dr. Joseph Boveri, a gynaecological oncologist in Atlanta, to follow-up and to get this tumour removed.
On December 11, 2009 at 2:33pm, Megan underwent a six and a half hour debulking surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital which included removal of the tumours, appendix, omentum, complete hysterectomy and exploratory surgery on her bowels and other organs to confirm if the cancer had spread to those as well. Her incision was from her right hip to left hip. It took 57 staples to close the incision. Dr. Boveri came out after the surgery and explained to the family that it was cancer, however, depending on what the pathology reports revealed, that he thought the primary cancer started out as appendix cancer…
On January 10, 2009, Megan went back to St. Josephs to have a port implanted for ease of use during chemo.The pathology reports finally came back and concluded that indeed it was not Ovarian Cancer, but Stage 4b appendix cancer with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). This type of cancer is a gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, but does not usually response to systemic (IV) chemo as it does not have good blood supply.
The pathology reports finally came back and concluded that indeed it was not Ovarian Cancer, but Stage 4b appendix cancer with pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). This type of cancer is a gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, but does not usually respond to systemic (IV) chemo as it does not have good blood supply.
On February 10, 2010, Megan endured yet another debulking surgery at DeKalb Medical Center under the care of Dr. Michael Quinones. Assisted by Dr. Boveri, Dr. Q went into Megan’s body through an incision from her sternum down to her waist and removed three more tumours that had grown to date. Then heated chemo (HIPEC) was poured directly into Megan’s abdomen. This is supposed to take care of the cancer in the abdomen as well as reduce side effects. The dose is 4 to 400 times higher than that of a regular chemo treatment because not much of the chemo is absorbed into the bloodstream. This surgery lasted about four hours and Megan recovered in the hospital for a week before being sent home.
– Megan and Brian
In case you missed it...
Surviving with pseudomyxoma peritonei
When I was diagnosed in with PMP in 1999, there was no information, no glossy pamphlets, no specialist nurses, no web site, NOTHING.
MOAS – It’s not a race
Take your time, there’s no rush, go at your own pace and don’t feel pressured to be at a certain stage, just because someone else is. You’ll get there, in your own time, be happy still to be breathing and above ground……..
We thought it was nothing more than an ovarian cyst
My journey started in October 2013 (I was 53 years old), when I had an ultrasound to determine if I had gallstones or an issue with my gallbladder. The results showed a small cyst and mild fluid in my lower right abdomen area. It was decided that we would monitor the cyst and fluid and have an MRI in one year. We thought it was nothing more than an ovarian cyst. I never thought it would lead to a diagnosis of Mucinous Appendiceal Adenocarcinoma.