History

On February 7, 2007 I was diagnosed with Fibrosarcoma, Stage IV. I found out this year that it wasn't fibrosarcoma at all...it was Malignant Mxyoid Fibrous Histiocytoma.

It began with me feeling a walnut sized lump around Thanksgiving in 2006...about six weeks later, I found out differently. I had a large, deep tumor in the fat and muscle of my left buttock. It's all a blur now, but this is my memory in the nutshell. I thought the lump I felt was a pulled muscle and saw a chiropractor. It kept getting bigger, the chiropractor wasn't helping, so I did some research and made an appointment with an oncologist. My fears were confirmed.

I saw Dr. Fink in Fountain Valley. I self referred to her because she was close and she was an oncologist. I was in so much pain that I was hospitalized that night and the next morning had surgery to supposedly remove the tumor and install my port-a-cath. I woke to find I had the portacath, but the tumor was still there. The doctor (Dr. Berman at Orange Coast Memorial) cut into me, cut into the tumor and realized he had NO BUSINESS attempting the surgery and closed me up.

I waited two weeks and a qualified surgeon, Dr. Earl Brien, Orthopedic Oncologist transferred me to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles and removed the tumor. He had a conversation with me the next morning with my boss then, Terry Keelan and another Publications Specialist in attendance. He told me that the best case scenario would have been for him to have removed the tumor in its entirety, without the other doctor cutting into it before. He told me, basically, that Dr. Berman made a huge mistake by cutting into a tumor he had NO business touching. He did not have the skill to even attempt it.

Doctor Brien told me the morning following the resection that cancer cells swarmed my body when Dr. Berman cut into the tumor. Luckily, Dr. Brien was successful in removing the tumor, (over 8 cms) but now I would have to go through chemo and radiation.

I was referred to Dr. Chawla, a sarcoma specialist in Santa Monica. Although I wanted to use him, I lived in Huntington Beach and he said he would "direct" my care through Dr. Fink, so I agreed. I did six sessions of AIM protocol. Adriamyacin, Ifosfamide and Mensa. Each infusion took a week in the hospital. There was a three week break between each infusion. Three sessions were completed and then I stopped and had six weeks of daily radiation with Dr. Tokita in Irvine and then completed the remaining three sessopms. I lost my hair, had multiple infections, sepsis, blood transfusions and I had to have a pain pump installed and was given morphine infused into my spine. That alone caused multiple problems.

Finally, on December 18, 2007, I was in remission.

I continued Pet scans, Ct's and MRI's but nothing showed....until last Monday, which is where I will begin my journey through what is termed impossible...to survive and thrive after a diagnosis of Metastatic Malignant Mxyoid Fibrous Histiocytoma.