Jul 29, 2005 - 23:35:47 CDT
WAHPETON -- As a doctor, Marjorie Henderson is no stranger to illness. A diagnosis of ovarian cancer brought it closer than she expected.Henderson was to have routine gall bladder surgery in April, after a regular day of rounds at Dakota Clinic in Wahpeton, where she has worked for 10 years as a general practitioner.
She woke up to find her husband, Harvey, in the hospital room. He was supposed to be teaching a class at North Dakota State College of Science.
Dr. Tom Mohs told her he did not take out her gall bladder. Then she learned she had ovarian cancer, and that it had spread.
"It really was a whirlwind," she said.
She had not noticed the signs beforehand, but now acknowledges they were there. They included increased fatigue, increased abdomen size, a bloated feeling, constipation and vague abdomen pain. Some of them may have masked by gall bladder problems.
"The most important thing I want people to know is that ovarian is the biggest women's cancer killer next to breast cancer, because the symptoms are so vague," Henderson said.
"There is no blood test," she said. "Sometimes it can show up on a CAT scan, but who goes in for a CAT scan when they're just fatigued?"
Her a scan showed the cancer had not gone beyond the abdomen, which was good news.
Harvey and Marjorie Henderson traveled to the Mayo Clinic for surgery.
"They take out everything they can see, and it took nine hours," she recalled.
She had 12 blood transfusions. Her gall bladder was removed, too.
In all, she spent three weeks in the hospital and missed the graduation of her son, Donald, from the University of North Dakota in May. But he made sure the ceremony was taped for his mother.
When she watched it from her hospital bed, the nursing staff was alarmed, she said.
"They had to come in to check on me. I was crying so hard they thought something was wrong," she said.
Marjorie Henderson returned home May 22. She is continuing her series of eight chemotherapy treatments every three weeks at Dakota Clinic. At one point, she got so sick she became dehydrated and had to be hospitalized.
"Harvey has had so much to deal with," she said. He also is a pastor.
Somehow, he said, he finds a way.
"It's amazing how one finds the energy to do what needs to be done," he said.
Marjorie doesn't relish the daily reminders -- "No hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. It's the daily reminder looking in the mirror, because that just says you're sick, you're on chemo and this is really bad."
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