Shannon’s Story (Cervical Cancer)

Hi my name is Shannon Anderson and I am happy to say I Fought Like a Girl and won. I had not been to the OB doctor in eight years because I had no insurance. I started having a pain of what I thought was a cyst. I went to my doctor to have an exam. Instead she took a piece of a mass to be tested.

The next day she called me and told me the results were back and it was cancer. I went to another doctor where I had a radical hysterectomy. They took my cervix and some of my vagina, but left my ovaries. He also took lots of lymph nodes. At my two week check up he told me that my lymph nodes were also positive for cancer. That is when he said I had stage 4 cervical cancer.

I then went to another doctor who set up all my chemo and radiation. I had six weeks of chemo once a week and six weeks of radiation (Monday through Friday). Well the radiation caused rectal ulcers which in the end I had to get a poop bag. I had that for four months so that the ulcers could heal. They reversed that.

I am so happy to say that on November of this year I will be cancer free for four years. The only problem I still have today is my left leg swells because of all the lymph nodes they removed.

Shannon
Texas
Submitted 06/17/2014

The informational content of this article is intended to convey a personal experience and, because every person’s experience is unique, should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.

This story is intended to convey a personal experience and, because every person’s experience is unique, should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.