Sucker Punch @jordankrose #cancer #pinktober

I’d like to start by thanking Kayelle for inviting me to participate. Having the opportunity to talk about my experience will hopefully help others who find themselves in the terrifying position of receiving an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

This past July I was diagnosed with an early stage of a rare form of ovarian cancer, specifically- a granulosa cell tumor. To say the news was shocking is an understatement. We received it during a post-op visit where had anticipated hearing great results about a surgery and anticipated a routine recovery. We did not plan to hear, “We think you should have the other ovary removed and have chemo.”

My husband described that visit as “it was like being punched in the nads.” I’d heard men say that expression before, but never had a reference point until that meeting. Apparently, ladies, the “nad-punch” experience is mind-numbingly painful and can cause you to forget any other thought.

We’d been warned not to Google ovarian cancer and get worked up over what we read because this type of cancer was so different and so rare. Of course we Googled, but we Googled granulosa cell tumor. We narrowed our search and we searched high and low and came up with not a whole heck of a lot of data.

Granulosa Cell Tumors make up about 4% of ovarian cancers. There is not a great deal of research to share because of this. Unfortunately, most of the data is “after the fact” sort of information because the cancer is not well known. There is not a central repository for doctors to link patients and share information on what’s happening, when it happened, types of treatments, what worked or didn’t. There’s not a standard protocol for measuring hormone levels in advance of surgery, which would be very helpful for every patient.

This is a cancer with high probability of recurrence, though a great prognosis if detected early with women living many years past the original diagnosis. It’s a slow growing cancer with definite indicators of potential recurrence like monitoring the Inhibin and AMH levels quarterly, then every six months after the first few years.

There are great resources for women through the Granulosa Cell Tumor Research Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. There is also a Facebook group of GCT Survivor Sisters! (you must have a diagnosis of GCT to be a member of the FB group).

If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of receiving this diagnosis, please utilize the groups above and feel free to contact me at contactjordan@jordankrose.com. I’m more than happy to share what I’ve learned or to lend an ear and be a support to you.

I sought a second opinion at the Dana Farber Institute in Boston. I encourage anyone receiving a cancer diagnosis to receive a second opinion before deciding on treatment.

After all my research I decided against chemo or surgery as there was no indication any cancer remained in my body. Thus doing something drastic “just in case” made no sense. But everyone’s decision is personal and patients need to make decisions that feel right to them.

At the Dana Farber Institute I’ve signed up to participate in a research study to allow them to better understand the genetics of this cancer, thus leading to a cure. I’m happy to participate and hope other patients will consider doing the same to help find a cure.

Below please find the information on one of my free books, Her Vampire’s Promise, Novella One in the Romance In Central City Series. Losing myself in books has gotten me through some difficult times and I wanted to share a book that everyone can afford. As well, if you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll get the second novella in the series, The Vampire’s Partner for free.

Wishing every cancer patient all the best in diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Jordan

(reprinted from 2015)

Reade Hayes knows better than any vampire that nothing good ever comes out of Central City. So he isn’t surprised the beautiful blonde he meets in the dive bar is crazy. What does surprise him is how fast she moves, how hard she hits, and the fact she’s wearing a ring he last saw two decades ago on the hand of his dead friend.

Was this the little girl he swore a blood pact to protect? Why had her uncle lied about her death? And what had he done to make her so lethal?

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Jordan loves vampires. She also loves to laugh. And if you know anything about Jordan, you know her vampires will make you laugh.

A few years back Jordan received a copy of Twilight from her husband as part of her anniversary gift. By the end of that week she’d read the entire series and moved onto Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Eight weeks and eighteen vampire books later the idea for her first book came to her followed very quickly by Eva Prim.

Having lived in Rhode Island for most of her life Jordan uses the state as a backdrop for all her books, though many of the cities and towns and businesses (especially the ones run by vampires) are all fictitious.

When she’s not writing about one vampire or another Jordan enjoys spending time with her husband, Ken and their lovable Labradors, Dino and Enzo on the beautiful beaches of New England.

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