Well hello, my name is Terri Moore. My story begins with my husband, Mike. Mike had prostate cancer nine years ago and was diagnosed with CML, chronic myelogenous leukemia in March of 2018, six months before my cancer journey began. We now are a three-time cancer couple.
I visited the ER in May of 2018 because I was experiencing some abdominal pain. Everything was normal, except I had cysts on my ovaries. I didn’t think twice about it and the doctor didn’t seem concerned either. Later that summer, I brought the CAT scan results to my gynecologist when it was time for my annual exam in August of 2018.
It was then when I began my trip through Cancerland. I immediately saw a Gynecologic Oncologist; surgery was scheduled for a week later. There was still hope that it wasn’t cancer – a biopsy during surgery was the final say - cancer or not. Shortly after, I was diagnosed with IIb ovarian cancer.
After a successful surgery, I began six rounds of chemotherapy, one full-day “on the bag” (my nickname for chemotherapy since “on the needle” sounds more like illicit drug use) every three weeks for six treatments.
Now I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I’ve had two children naturally, suffered a miscarriage, and ran a marathon at the age of 41. But each round of chemo was like a prize fight and it always went a full 12 rounds on me. The nausea was well-managed with anti-nausea drugs. But I have some arthritis after years of running and suffered significant bone pain, headaches, and fatigue like I had never known. And then after a long journey of chemotherapy, CAT scan, and then another physical exam, I was declared in the land of NED (no evidence of disease)!
My husband and I have been attending IBC since we moved to the Dallas area in June of 2008. We’ve led a home group since 2009 and we are still together today. Many people, including our home group and other IBCers, have prayed for us and supported us through our cancer journeys. For that, I will always be grateful.
But I must admit when I look back on that time, I didn’t do a lot of praying. I wasn’t angry at God for giving us cancer at the same time. Maybe I was just numb – getting through each day, one day at a time. What I realized later is that I lived a story similar to the one in the poem, The Footprints in the Sand.
He never left me – he carried me in His arms through difficult steps on this journey. Regardless of what I did or didn’t do – He carried me.
Experiences help shape us – who we are, what we stand for, what we won’t stand for. For me, I became kinder, more gentle, and gained a greater appreciation for what my husband had and continues to go through battling CML. And I have been outspoken about our cancer journeys — I’ve shared it on a Podcast, at a professional conference, and most recently on survivornet.com. I encourage women to get their annual exams, preventative tests, and to listen to their bodies. I speak to 3rd-year medical students about my experience through a program called Survivors Teaching Students. Most importantly, I will support anyone taking this journey or being the caregiver of someone walking through Cancerland.
Support comes in many forms, a call, a meal, running errands, or just listening. But I will stand in the gap and pray for them because maybe during the struggle, prayer is hard.
God is good all the time, all the time God is good. Even on the difficult journeys.
If you are walking through a cancer journey yourself, or with a loved one, contact [email protected] and someone would love to walk with you through your journey.
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