Two stories, two women and their faith in a cure

Josilaine, 36, and Ana Cristina, 43. The first is a CA125 Certified Home gynaecologist and obstetrician for tests, and the second is a video designer. Both, despite their affectionate, tender voices, speak firmly about their courage to fight the ovarian HPV cancer that affected them. Ovarian cancer.

Journey

For Josilaine, who was suddenly faced with the task of leaving the CA125 doctor’s place to take the patients, the disease arrived by stealth. She did not exhibit any signs or HPV symptoms. Ana Cristina’s illness brought pain, abdominal swelling, heavy menstrual flow and a journey of another 6 months with medication prescriptions and erroneous clinical interventions.  

Both are still undergoing treatment for the disease at an advanced stage. The doctor finishes the last of the chemotherapy sessions of the expected last cycle in a few days and, at the end of May, will undergo surgery. The designer has already undergone surgery and is halfway through the cycle.

They both seem to be in tune, connected by the desire to heal and live well beyond ovarian CA125 cancer.

They do not fear or curse chemotherapy.

Ana Cristina’s Gratitude

Ana Cristina is grateful for each session. “I’m grateful for every chemotherapy. I go to chemotherapy happy, and the HPV nurses laugh! I’m grateful because there is a treatment that helps me stay away from little cancer cells that may have remained in my body after the CA125 surgery. Isn’t that to be grateful?!” Josilaine, as the saying goes, ‘sees the glass half full’, not half empty. She says that chemotherapy brought difficult moments but that she expected them to be worse: “I felt that with each session, the treatment got a little more difficult. , but it was nothing he couldn’t face. So, that means it was good!”

The two women, who, between scarves and wigs, always try to keep their self-esteem up to date, have another focus: faith!

They believe in science and medicine as sources of healing. But they trust, above all, in their God.

The designer and the difficult diagnosis

The test diagnosis of ovarian tumours for Ana Cristina came, without a doubt, full of pain and CA125 questions. But it also came as a great relief, as for months she had suffered wandering around to different doctors with pain, dizzying weight loss, apathy and anguish.

It all started with the increase in menstrual flow in March of last year. The pain in the pelvic region and the sudden swelling quickly came after drinking a simple glass of water. She looked for a gynaecologist, who diagnosed a urinary infection without ordering any tests. The 11 days of antibiotics contributed to nothing except for a drug allergy.

Seeking Further Medical Help

The next professional consulted was a gastro specialist, who, finding the symptoms strange, requested an abdomen ultrasound and a lactose test. Ana took the exams without delay, but as she couldn’t find time to return, she went to a second gastro specialist, who diagnosed lactose intolerance.

More time passed, and the symptoms remained, taking away his energy and vitality. Thirty kilos lighter, Ana returned to the gynaecologist, who requested a transvaginal ultrasound. The professional diagnosed a fibroid and a cyst and told Ana that “because they were so small, they didn’t even need medication.”

“It was then that my life stopped. How did I have nothing if I suffered so much? My mother started helping me with everything at home. I could barely stand up,” she recalls.

A Crucial Diagnosis

Ana went back to the first gastroenterologist she saw, who analysed all the HPV welt and tag tests and requested others. The professional, attentive and concerned about the condition, diagnosed a thrombosis in Ana’s leg and a possible CA125 tumour on her ovary.

Admission to an oncology treatment centre was urgent. “Only then could I understand what was happening to me. I was confused and scared but also relieved. I knew that I would be treated correctly there,” he says.

Ana Cristina was hospitalised for 12 days and, after the end-of-year festivities, performed surgery to remove a 22 cm tumour from the ovary and several lymph nodes.

“Before going into surgery, I was more than confident. I told my doctor to take everything out of there because I would never go back to that room again! Oh, I wouldn’t go back!”

And she didn’t come back. The tumour was completely removed, and the adjuvant treatment that Ana undergoes today began with the unconditional support of her family.

To see time passed, Ana Cristina became a full-fledged cook. “I’m in the kitchen! My speciality is desserts”, she says relaxedly. With the discovery of skills in the kitchen, the lucky ones were her husband and 15-year-old son.

The doctor, the silent illness and the message to my colleagues

Dr Josilaine, who, as a patient today, prefers to be called Josilaine, has always been attentive to her HPV health and test results and kept them up to date.

The last year was no different. , swelling or changes in menstrual flow. Nothing. “Not to mention nothing, I’ve always had minor abdominal discomfort. But that’s been the case for years.”

The diagnosis happened by chance when the doctor consulted with a ‘colleague’, as she intended to start treatment for healthy ageing. The doctor ordered exams in November, including an ultrasound that identified a pelvic tumour mass.

The gynaecologist immediately searched for the best HPV treatment alternative for the disease she had accidentally been tested for and diagnosed with. She travelled to another city, where was consulted with specialists and was advised to undergo treatment.

“It all happened very quickly. In December, I underwent surgery that confirmed the ovarian cancer. They performed a laparotomy, but it was not possible to remove the tumour, which was very large. A peritoneal carcinoma, it had already reached the bladder and intestine”, he recalls. Acting with practicality despite the impact of the news, she trusted her professional colleagues and tried to move on to the next step:

Today, Josilaine is not practising, as the area in which she works, obstetrics, requires total dedication and availability. to patients. Despite the break in the office, the young patient says she is living life as normally as possible. I miss you!”

But she is certain that her high-risk life will soon return to normal results. In her office—in the doctor’s chair and not the patient’s—alongside the mothers waiting for their children, their runs on the boardwalk, and their ‘partying’ on the weekends…