Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Readers...

Today I won't be posting a dump salad.  Two days ago I received a phone call from my doctor.  I know I had told y'all about my ovarian cyst.  Well, this is going to be a new part of my journey that I am going to be sharing with you in hopes that somehow this will help get some of you amazing women to go to the doctor to make sure you are healthy and prevent anything from growing longer than it should and also to help shed some light on how to deal with these types of shitty situations (that is literally the only word I can come up with to describe it).  Also, I am selfishly hoping to get lots of prayers, too, and not just for me but those around me.  In no way am I asking for pity or attention, this is purely to help inform about this type of ovarian cyst/cancer and to ask for support for my friends and family.

Basically, they found something "concerning" in my last ultrasound.  It is some type of mass, not solid, but something that is odd and inside the cyst besides the other more common debris.  Honestly, they aren't sure what it is or isn't and won't truly know until they open me up and get the tissue tested.   Here are the changes that are occurring since I last informed y'all on this:

- my surgery date has been pushed up from June to April 24th (which is really good news)
- the incision won't be the small horizontal bikini cut but rather a larger vertical cut (dang!)
- the cyst will not be able to be drained now and will be taken out in tact (all 16 cm of it!)
- they probably won't be able to save the left ovary anymore

Now, the biggest change will be what they might find and what else they might have to remove, depending on what the test of the ovarian cyst tissue shows during the surgery.

Best Case Scenario:
The test comes back showing nothing, they sew me right up and whala, DONE!
* this is where y'all's prayers come in... we need to be praying for this scenario

Worst Case Scenario:
The test comes back showing that it is ovarian cancer, then they start testing the other areas around it and judging accordingly they could possibly remove my other ovary, cervix, uterus and/or appendix, depending on where it had spread.
* this would be extremely rare at my age, not unheard of, but very rare.

So, basically that is where we are right now, in waiting land.  I believe this is probably the worst part of the process, the not knowing.  It is important to stay positive at this stage of everything and try our hardest not to think about the what ifs.  The what ifs can drive you crazy and Prescott and I have been trying to deal with this news the best we know how, but I have to admit it is really hard.

I am so lucky to have the best husband in the whole world and amazingly supportive friends and family. I think blogging about this will help me cope with all the information given and hopefully shed some light on what it is like to deal with these types of situations.  No one really talks about these things and I think that talking about them is the only way to help others.  Everyone will be, if they haven't already been, affected by situations like this in their lives or through one of their friends or family member's lives and hopefully my story will be inspirational to others having to deal with this in their lives.

I will periodically update y'all on this process and in the meantime try to post as many healthy recipes and projects along the way :)