Mission Statement:
Connecting and empowering Minnesota women overcoming cervical or vaginal/vulvar cancer at ANY STAGE!
Connecting and empowering
WOMEN LIKE YOU
Connecting and empowering Minnesota women overcoming cervical or vaginal/vulvar cancer at ANY STAGE!
I was diagnosed with cervical cancer around Thanksgiving, 2016. I had a cone biopsy three weeks later; four weeks later, I had a radical hysterectomy. Many decisions had to be made: did I still want to have kids? did I want to freeze my eggs? how do I have this conversation with a guy I’ve been dating for only six months? what does insurance cover? One lesson I learned repeatedly from this experience is that we are never alone.
I was diagnosed with HPV 18 years earlier. I had over a decade of normal paps, until 2014. After a couple of more leeps, the doctor took a different biopsy, one from inside the cervix instead of its surface, and the cancer was there.
After the radical hysterectomy, I developed lymphedema in my left pelvis. After a couple years of physical therapy and endless Google searches and trial and error exercise, the lymphedema has become minimal. I just celebrated my five-year anniversary of being CANCER-FREE. THRIVING!