Nothing Seemed Unusual At First

Oftentimes, it can be difficult to listen to that nagging voice in your head – that voice that tells you something may be wrong… that something is wrong. You might be at work, or vacationing with your family, or taking your kids to school. Or maybe you’re reading this right now. This past summer, a mother of three and a wife of nearly 30 years heard that voice. That’s when Jean Brown says her idyllic life seemed to quickly fall apart.

Jean’s symptoms started back in August, but nothing seemed unusual at first. “I started feeling a little bloated, which I thought might be a result of menopausal symptoms or the ‘female cycle,’” she says. But the symptoms continued, and then they progressed. Each time she ate, she felt incredibly full, like each meal was a “Thanksgiving feast.” “My friends thought I was crazy, nuts, out of my mind,” she says. But she couldn’t help but listen to the voice inside that kept telling her something was terribly wrong. After extensive research on the Internet, Jean felt certain that she should see her doctor for a definitive diagnosis, although she already had her suspicions.

The following days included visits with her gastroenterologist, a colonoscopy, an endoscopy – all showing nothing of major concern. Finally, her doctor scheduled an MRI, and on September 2, Jean says, “The bomb was dropped.” Her doctor said that the results were “complicated” and that they wanted her to come in to the office.

When Jean sat down in front of her doctor, she was already in tears. “I was right, wasn’t I?” she said. While nothing was certain, he said he would be shocked if it wasn’t cancer.

After endless tests with no definitive results, Jean was surprised (yet relieved) that her doctors continued to search for the root of her pain. “Why did you push me along? Why didn’t you think I was a hypochondriac?” she asked. But they were committed to her, they listened to her, and they didn’t give up. More than anything, she says, “They actually heard me.”

Soon after, Jean would learn that she had Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma – a rare cancer that is treated like ovarian cancer. “I felt like I had been given a death sentence,” she says. “Do I have a week? A month? A year?” With such little information available about the disease, Jean could do nothing but wait for more news from her doctors.

Continue reading this article at StandUp2Cancer.org