Anita Krivitzky

August 2023

A lot has happened since my last In Her Own Words update, March 2022. You can read the March 22 update here.

In review: In 2010, I was diagnosed at age 60 with stage III ovarian cancer. In 2014, I had a recurrence, underwent surgery, and another round of chemotherapy. Read my original In Her Own Words story here. Little did I know what lay ahead for me in 2023—-

My update for 2023:

On a nice summer day in June 2022, I experienced a severe stomach ache. It lasted several hours. A few days afterwards, I went to have it checked out with my doctor. After several tests, my doctor thought I had a cyst on my liver that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. She sent me to the emergency room, where I sat for 8 hours before I went into one of the examination rooms. After an MR guided biopsy, it was determined that I had  liver cancer. I was instructed to call my primary care provider and my gynecologic oncologist (gyn onc) on the following Monday. I called my gyn onc, and they already knew my diagnosis. The following Monday, my gyn onc called me and told me I had ovarian cancer in my liver that was small and slow growing. He referred me to a liver specialist at Providence Hospital.

On Aug 8th, I had an 8 1/2 hour surgery. After almost 3 weeks, I was discharged from the hospital and went into a rehab center. The rehab center was not in the hospital, and I didn’t like being there. Finally after 10 days, I was discharged. I couldn’t go home because my apartment had fleas. I checked into the retirement community where I volunteer for a week until the flea situation was resolved.

On Oct 10th, I had a port placed in my chest, and I was ready for chemotherapy. After 4 rounds of Carboplatin I had a reaction: very itchy. For round #5, I had an 8-hour slow drip of Carboplatin and still itched. That stopped, but I continued with the 2 other treatments. I am now on Avastin every three weeks for a year. It’s going very well. My gyn onc said that I am a sassy 72-year-old and wanted me back to myself again.

Fast forward: It was a long recovery, but I am back pet sitting and very busy with volunteering. I see friends for coffee dates several times a week. I go to Curves 3 to 5 times a week. I am in physical therapy twice a week for shin splints and bursitis which are ongoing issues. By the way, four days before my surgery, I totaled my car. So I had the task of buying another car at the same time. I so appreciate my circle of friends who drove me around for a month or so.