The Beginning.

Buried within me is a journey that my family is currently going through. That is the purpose of this. It's for my own release and that hopefully somewhere someone reads this and gains something from it. This is a journey of Ovarian Cancer from the standpoint of the oldest son. On April 26th, 2010 my mother was officially diagnosed with Stage III Ovarian Cancer. I say officially because that is the date she had a complete hysterectomy and the biopsies came back positive for cancer in both ovaries. That was the point her wonderful oncologist Dr. Michael Hicks took over the surgery. He confirmed there was also spots of cancer in her abdominal area. This was the beginning of this brutal ride that has turned a close, tight family upside down. It's made us even closer, but my mother is the center of it that has always held us together. She can and will beat this. It's not a personal battle, it's our battle as a family.

I suppose I should tell you how she ended up at the doctor. How she ended up knowing she had cysts in her ovaries, and how she found out her CA-125 was elevated. It's simple really, Dexter. Dexter is a 90ish lb golden retriever. He's my little brothers buddy. She was trying to step over him one day and he decided he was going to stand up, which made my mom trip and land hard on her knees, arms, and stomach. She was in pain in her abdominal area for about two weeks, which was odd. So through various threats by me and my sister we got her to go into the doctor. Again she has a wonderful doctor on this front as well. She's kind, caring, and an overall sweet woman. Dr. Kartha.

This is a journey. A rough one, but beatable. Without further ado Dexter.