Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma

aaykroyd

Hello All!

My name is Alyssa. I am 30 years old. I am new here, and honestly wish I had known about this website earlier. It would have been a great extra support system. I am currently struggling emotionally and physically as a recent cancer survivor of Stage III Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. The large tumor that was found in my left thigh was originally thought to be a hematoma. When they went to try and drain it, nothing came out. It was then ordered by the doctor to get an MRI on the leg to further investigate. It was then found out what this mass was; cancer. I feel like they were taking the situation lightly at first because of my age. They felt it couldn’t possibly be cancer. Most of my year was spent going through chemo and radiation. Year from hell, especially the chemo! I got really nauseous from it, and vomited pretty severely. I had my tumor removal surgery on May 28th of this year. A lot of the muscle had to be taken out of my leg along with the tumor. I had to learn how to walk again. After the surgery, my leg still wasn’t recovering well. It hurt pretty severely. I got the red flags of a post-operative infection. Called the ambulance because I could not even get up from the chair. They did confirm staphylococcus. They put me on IV antibiotics. I also had to have an I&D operation done. Tried to learn to walk again. They give me the bad news a few days later to state they did not get all of the infection. They will have to do ANOTHER surgery. After an additional two weeks being in the hospital, I was finally discharged home on IV antibiotics through my chemo port. I had to go through a month of being on those IV antibiotics. So, when I tell you this has been the year from hell, I wasn’t lying! I am slowly trying to adjust to “normal” life. Back in school for my Business Management degree. I mentioned earlier that I am struggling emotionally and physically. Physically, cancer has drained me. I still feel nauseous as times and vomit. I went to the doctor and she said it may be the ozempic I am on. She didn’t seem to confident though, honestly. Emotionally, is for obvious reasons. I have tried to be as strong as I could going through it, but I feel like the fear of recurrence is overtaking me. I am trying to keep myself distracted, but in the meantime, I can’t face this alone. If I can be of help to anyone who has gone through this terrible “journey”, I am here. I also appreciate any stories, or even tips to cope!