Roughly four month ago I had the most stressful and challenging week of my life… a two staged surgery to remove my cancerous bone tumor! Here is how it went and how my recovery has looked so far
The week of May 25th, I was not mentally prepared for what would happen the next day. I said goodbye to friends, family, and coworkers and I prepared to take the trip north with my parents and Fiancé to Rochester, Minnesota where Mayo Clinic would be my home for the next several weeks. The surgery I was about to have would remove my Condrosarcoma tumor and fuse part of my spine and my sacral bone.
Surgery #1 May 26, 2026:
We arrived at St. Mary’s Hospital at 5:30 am for my check in. I was very nervous about the surgery and was super shaky all morning, even though my parents and Fiancé were with me. Once, checked in, we waited for them to take me back and my anxiety grew. my Fiancé held my hand and tried to comfort me and keep me calm. When my name was finally called, only two people were allowed to come back to pre-op with me, so I hugged my dad goodbye and my mom and Fiancé followed me back. I got changed, answered questions, and met the surgical team who would be with me during the surgery.
Once everything was ready, I said goodbye to my mom and Fiancé around 8:30am, and the anesthetist wheeled me back to the operating room. Once in the room anesthesia started, and I fell asleep.
I woke up around 2:30pm in the recovery room with just the nurse. My throat was extremely dry and sore, so I asked for water. All they gave me was ice chips and they had to spoon feed me. After recovering more, I was wheeled back to my room in a hospital bed where my parents and my Fiancé were waiting patiently for me.
I do not remember much of the rest of the day, but my fiancé insisted on staying with me overnight in the hospital. Around 9pm, the head surgeon came to my room to see how I was doing. Before he left, he instructed me to get up from the hospital bed and move to the chair to lower the blood clot risk in my leg. I was terrified to move given my procedure. I don’t remember if the first surgery was the one where they cut my nerves or the second one, but either way I was very scared to walk.
Surgery #1:
For the first surgery, I was on my stomach as the surgeons went in to my back and did the preliminary cuts to the area where my tumor was. The surgeon also began the spinal fusion of my L1 vertebrae and my S1 vertebrae. The first surgery was done this way to ensure that no additional nerves were cut.
Surgery #2 May 28, 2026:
At 8:00 am, the nurse came and got me from my hospital room and wheeled me down to pre-op. My parents had come in earlier that morning and my Fiancé had stayed the night the night before. We went through the same questions with the nurses in pre-op again, and the anesthetist wheeled me down to the operating room again. As we talked in the operating room, they hooked me up to my IV’s and I began to fall asleep.
Several hours later, I woke up as they were finishing up in the operating room and just about to take me down to recovery. As I came to, all I heard was, “She’s shaking we need blankets!” and I remember violently shivering from the cold. After being covered in warmed blankets, I stopped shivering and after I woke up more in recovery, they took me back to my room where my parents and my Fiancé were waiting. A few hours later a different nurse came to get me and wheeled me to Radiology to get X-Rays and CT Scans to see the finalized hardware and what the surgeons did.
The next few days were a blur of nurses visiting every 2-3 hours, starting physical and occupation therapy, and trying to regain any energy I could. Most sessions of therapy were cut very short because I was super nauseous and could barely sit up without feeling sick. Thankfully, by that weekend, I was feeling much better and I was finally able to start working more on my therapy.
Surgery #2:
I laid on my back as the surgeons went in through my abdomen to move vital veins and arteries, remove the tumor, and finish the fusion and implanting the stabilizing hardware.
After surgery, I spent six days in Mayo’s Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Center to continue my therapy and regain more strength and mobility before going home. I made extremely fast progress and I went home in half of the expected time! I spent most of the week there by myself since I was going to several appointments and learning how to take care of myself including showering, cooking, and navigating carpet after walking on non-carpeted floors for nearly two weeks.
When I was released to go home, I stayed with my wonderful grandparents who took care of me in Grinnell while my Fiancé continued to work to support us. In Grinnell I also continued physical therapy to increase my strength and mobility.
Now that I am several months post-op, I have been able to return to work at both Central Financial Group as their Media Manager and the Blank Park Zoo as a Retail Lead. I am very thankful for all of the physical and occupation therapy I did. I am also thankful for the support team I had both in the hospital and in recovery. Here is a list of everyone I have in my arsenal of a support group:
- Parents
- Fiancé
- Grandparents
- Best Friend Liz
- Best Friend Emma
- Future In-Laws
- Therapist
- Physical Therapist
- Co-Workers
I was very lucky and thankful to have such a strong support group. With their love and support, I am nearly back to where I was before surgery! I am still working on walking and strength building, but I am fully independent (except for a few circumstances) and I can take care of my self 99% of the time.
Throughout my recovery, I have found other support groups to help me through this process including a Facebook group for Adults with AFO (Ankle-Foot-Orthotic) brace which helped me to get more information on how to manage clothing, shoes, and other problems that come up when wearing a new brace. While I am not one of them, some cancer patients even receive a service dog to help them with tasks or with emotional support. This is more common for cancer patients who have mobility issues or need an extra boost while recovering or fighting their specific cancer. Everyone’s recovery is different and I am one example of that. I hope that some day I can return to a more normal life, but I have also accepted that my life has changed forever. Only time will tell what that future holds for me!