Karla Chavez survived cervical cancer | colostomy bag | rectovaginal fistula | radioactive iodine

DESCRIPTION

Karla Chavez had just survived a bout of thyroid cancer when she was hit with more bad news.  She was diagnosed with Stage II Keratanizing squamos cell carcinoma, a rare form of cervical cancer.  After a battle that including eight rounds of chemotherapy and learning she would have to wear a colostomy bag, Karla survived and resumed her career as a civil engineer in her native Honduras.

Her journey began in 2016 when she started gaining weight.  She went to a doctor who found a lump in her throat.  Even though a biopsy showed nothing unusual, he wanted to perform a surgical procedure to remove it.  The lump turned out to be thyroid cancer.  Karla was sent to an oncologist who told her she should be prepared for radioactive iodine, but before that she should be tested to make sure she was okay to receive radioactive iodine.  That was in January 2017.  Some of those tests were conducted were conducted by a gynecologist, as those tests took place, Karla was bleeding.  The doctor said this didn’t look good and ordered a biopsy.  Two days later, the doctor called Karla to her office and told Karla she had cancer.  Karla went back to her oncologist, who said she was Stage 2B cervical cancer, and that she needed to get on chemotherapy as soon as possible. 

The specific diagnosis was Keratinizing squamos cell carcinoma.  Karla Chavez was told she would not be able to bear children, but at the time of her diagnosis, she was in no physical pain.  She experienced bleeding during sexual intercourse, but when she bled on days away from her period, she learned she that was a symptom of her type of cancer. 

Karla did eight rounds of chemotherapy in conjunction with external radiation therapy.  Her care team was very upfront, saying once the radiation began, her fertility would be gone.  That news, said Karla, was the toughest part of her treatment, tougher than its physical aspects.

Karla suffered acute fatigue during her treatment, once sleeping for three days.  Eating and drinking were difficult because everything tasted like metal.  She also suffered cognitive issues, which affected her at work because she made many mistakes.

Her treatment had side effects that hampered her bowel functions and she had to wear a colostomy bag.  That was tough enough, but about 40 days after the surgery, she developed a rectovaginal fistula, a painful tear that developed between her vagina and her colon.  An oncologist checked it out and said the tear was 2.3cm wide, and that Karla would have to wear diapers.  She refused to do that, but does wear maxipads.  This was very tough because she no longer gets her period, but has to wear the maxipads to deal with secretion of these fluids she cannot control. 

In the meantime, it took Karla Chavez about six months to learn how to manage the colostomy bags and to find a type of colostomy bag she liked.  As a result, when she travels, she always has an extra change of clothes.  She has learned to deal with all these problems, and has learned to make her life as normal as possible.

Additional Resources:

Support Group:

Cervivor: https://www.cervivor.org

TRANSCRIPT

Bruce Morton: This is Bruce Morton, and welcome to Cancer Interviews.  Today’s guest is Karla Chavez, from Siguatepeque, Honduras, and she is going to tell us how she survived Stage II Keratinizing Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a form of cervical cancer.  Now let’s get to it, Karla, and bienvenida a las Entravistas de Cancer, welcome to Cancer Interviews.

Karla Chavez: Gracias, Bruce.  Thank you.

BM: Before we begin, we like to learn more about our guests beyond their journeys with cancer.  In your case, tell us where you are from, what you do for work and what you like to do for fun.

KC: I am from Honduras, Siguatepeque, which is in the center of the country.  I am a civil engineer, so I get to do a lot of work on-site and here in my hometown, so I am very close to my job.  For fun, I crochet; that’s my hobby, but I like to see my family, I spend a lot of time with my family.  I have a lot of nieces and nephews, so I get to spend a lot of time with them.

BM: We’re confident you’ll be able to learn some tips and tools to help you through your personal cancer journey, but first we’d like to invite you to please give us a ‘like’, leave a comment or review below and share this story with your friends.  Kindly click on the ‘subscribe’ button below and click on the bell icon, so you’ll be notified when we release our next cancer interview, and if you or a loved one are facing a cancer diagnosis, please click on the link in the description and Show Notes below to check out our free guide, “The Top Ten Things I Wish I Knew When I First Got Cancer.”  Now, Karla, unfortunately, there is a starting point, there is a juncture in which you notice something was abnormal, something wasn’t quite right, so if you would, take us back to the point in which you noticed, unfortunately, things started to go wrong.

KC: It started in mid-2016.  I was trying to be healthy, getting into a diet, trying to be a better self because I was going to a friend’s wedding, and I wanted to look good.  So, I started realizing that I could not lose the weight, and started gaining weight.  I went to a doctor, and they found a lump in my throat.  When the doctor found it, he said it didn’t look good and wanted to check it out, and wanted a biopsy done on my lump.  It came out clear, that there was nothing wrong with it, but he still wasn’t happy with it, so he said he wanted to perform a surgical procedure to take it out.  He wanted to see what was there.  It turned out to be thyroid cancer, which I was not expecting.  I found that diagnosis was easy for me because it was like, past tense.  I already got it out, so I was okay with it.  I was sent to an oncologist, and he started saying I should be prepped for radioactive iodine, but before that he wanted to run tests to make sure I was okay to receive this treatment.  That was in January 2017.  I had scheduled a battery of tests, including a test with a gynecologist.  When I went to the gynecologist, I was bleeding when she was doing her test.  She said this didn’t look good and wanted me to come back in a week’s time, when she wanted to do a biopsy.  Two days later, she called me to her office.  She told me I had cancer, and I don’t remember much more about that conversation.  I was lucky to have my mom with me.  All I could think about in that moment was my wondering after coming out of thyroid cancer, how come I have cervical center?  I thought that they were both unrelated in this moment.  I was pretty scared because I didn’t have any symptoms.  When she asked me if I ever felt anything different, I said no, that my life has been pretty normal except for the weight gain that was part of my thyroid being under active, but I never expected another diagnosis.  Then again, I hadn’t gone to a gynecologist in a very long while because I traveled a lot.  So, when I went to my oncologist with the results, he checked me out and I was stage 2B; nonetheless, he wanted me to go to another doctor just to make sure we were all on the same page.  When I went to see the second doctor, I was still numb.  I knew I had cancer, but maybe I will just get surgery.  I mean, I didn’t think anything of chemo, radiation, or anything, so when I went to the other doctor, he said I was Stage 2B and we need to start chemo as soon as possible.  I then wanted to know about my fertility and how this was going to affect my life, so I just started asking questions.  He said the cancer is very aggressive and he was sorry, but he could not preserve my fertility, and we needed to begin chemo radiation.  That was the last week of February 2017.  By the second week of March that same year, I was sitting down for my first chemo.  It was pretty tough, mostly because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to have children, that my life was going to change.  I never thought I was going to die, but all I could think was that I had to go through this, and I really like my job, I am in a fairly new relationship and how is all this going to affect what happens next, so I was very worried about my next steps because I am a control freak.  I like everything to be jotted down, make sure I have a plan for everything and how I am going to do everything, for this, there was no control over it.  I had to depend on my doctors, I depend on them for everything that was going to happen, and it was beyond anything I could imagine. 

BM: If you would, describe Keratinizing sqaumous cell carcinoma and how it feels when you have that.  Are you in pain?  Does it affect you in any other way?

KC: I had no symptoms in which I could tell you that it felt like this or that.  I know I have talked to other cervical cancer survivors, and they have said that there has been pain when they have had sexual intercourse, or bleeding, but actually I had no symptoms.  I cannot tell you this is how it felt.  Each day was a normal day with a normal period.  If I were to bleed during sexual intercourse, I would brush it off because my period came a couple of days later, so I didn’t think that was a symptom of it until the doctor said, yes, the bleeding on days away from my period was a symptom of this type of cervical cancer.  I had no pain, I had no symptoms that I could recognize at the moment.

BM: Now let’s get to the chemo, which I am guessing was the toughest part of your treatment.  What was the toughest part of chemo for you?

KC: Chemo was tough, but I think were aspects I encountered later on that were harder for me.  The toughest part of chemo was knowing that once I started the treatment, I would lose fertility.  I did eight rounds of chemo in conjunction with radiation therapy, external radiation.  They said once I started with the radiation, it’s over, and I won’t be able to have children and my fertility is gone.  They were very blunt about it and were very clear about what was going to happen to me, so I guess the biggest aspect was my mental state.  I was not prepared to hear the news.  I was 34 and still had so many plans.  My mental health suffered very much. 

BM: How about support?  I think you had mentioned your mom, who I am guessing was a very big source of support, but what other individuals provided support for you?

KC: During this stage I was very open about my diagnosis and what I was going through, on social media, so I had a lot of friends that gave a lot of support.  I can’t say enough, just a message asking how I was doing and that they are rooting for me, praying, that was a lot of help, but my family was the biggest support I had.  I had my brothers, my grandma, my dad, and to tell them was the hardest thing to say that I had cancer a second time and that I had to go through a different process; but they didn’t care what kind of cancer I had, you know there is a stigma around my type of cancer in my country, there is a lot of taboo when we talk about it, but knowing I had their support was huge.  They said they  didn’t care what kind of cancer I had, and they wanted to help me beat it.  I can’t say enough.  I had their support, and my boyfriend was great.  I was with me during chemotherapy, during the surgeries and continues to be supportive. 

BM: Did you suffer much in the way of fatigue?

KC: Yes.  A lot.  I tell everyone my first chemo was like getting back from a very bad drinking binge, because it was like a hangover, my body was just not there.  I got out of chemo and thought I was strong enough, I will just walk because I wanted to be active, I didn’t want to feel sluggish; but no, I slept three days.  I was awakened by my mom or my boyfriend and told I had to go to radiation, which I would do, then I would go back to bed.  It was very hard, the first couple of weeks.

BM: What was it like to eat, and I ask because other guests on this show who have gone through chemo have said that food tastes like ‘metal.’  What was it like to eat and drink?

KC: I couldn’t eat.  I was very lucky that an eating plan was tailored for me, so I was eating very healthy.  I couldn’t drink milk, and I still can’t drink milk.  My stomach would go berserk.  I do eat meat occasionally, but meat is something that continues to affect me.  The metal came right around the third chemotherapy, and everything just shifted. I didn’t want to eat anything, I didn’t want to try anything because the taste was so bad.  Drinking water was awful because it tasted like that metal taste with all the drugs that are pushed into you.

BM: Karla, the following is sort of a double standard because I really do believe it affects women more than men; but during chemo, did you suffer much in the way of hair loss?

KC: I actually didn’t.  I experienced very minimal hair loss, which was curious because my doctor was surprised because he was expecting a great deal of hair loss.  Actually, I had very long hair, but I cut it off because if I was going to experience hair loss, I wanted to have a short haircut.  I did use a lot of shampoos that were plant-based.  My hair loss was very minimal. 

BM: You sound like a sharp cookie who is on top of things, so I am guessing this part of the chemo experience wasn’t fun, but during treatment, did you ever suffer from ‘chemo brain’?

KC: Yes. I think that is the hardest part.  During my chemo, I wanted to continue working, so I would go on my computer every time I felt I could and answer e-mails.  I already had a support team at work.  They would help me get through the things I wasn’t able to do, but I made so many mistakes and in my type of career, that’s not a good plan.  So, I just had to tell them that I knew what I was doing, but my head space isn’t moving in that direction.  It’s just I forget things.  I had a lot of issues, and I started making lists, and that’s how I worked through it.

BM: Karla, with any of these ‘below the belt’ cancers, there are implications that other cancer sufferers don’t have to deal with, so I want to ask you about two lines of questioning that are very sensitive in nature, but for women who are watching, and they have just been diagnosed with cervical cancer, they might be very interested in your answer.  In terms of disposing of urine or waste, what happened to you as far as that’s concerned?

KC: These are topics that are very hard to talk about sometimes because with everything that goes on in your body, radiation is tough.  After chemo, the side effects after it were most difficult and it has to do with my bowel functions.  I have a colostomy bag.  After my chemo radiation, 45 days later, I had a full hysterectomy.  My doctor said I could go back to work in 30 days, but I returned in 24.  I wanted to be on top of things, but about 40 days after the surgery, I developed a rectovaginal fistula.  That is a tear.  My vaginal cuff was affixed with my colon, so a tear was made between both areas.  I was in a lot of pain.  I felt pain inside.  I thought maybe it was because of the surgery, but I started to notice that when I went to the bathroom, my urine came out very brown, or darkish red.  I thought I was bleeding, so I was very scared.  What I did was, I took a picture and sent it to my doctor.  He asked if it had a particular smell, and I said it didn’t.  I said I wanted to be seen and he said to come in.  We checked it out and he did a pelvic exam and noticed a tear about a centimeter in diameter.  That is when he told me I have a rectovaginal fistula, and I need you to go to an oncology surgeon, so he can better assess it.  We went and it was in August 2017 and by then the tear was 2.3 centimeters wide.  So, there was testing and then they told me I had to use diapers.  I didn’t want to use diapers.  I said I am not doing that, but I did have to use maxipads, which was a punch in the gut because I am not getting my period, but I am using maxipads because I need to control all this fluid that is coming out that I can’t control.  That was a very hard part, after that. 

BM: Managing a colostomy bag is not an easy thing to do.  How tough was it at the time, and is it easier to manage now?

KC: Managing a colostomy bag was tough because I didn’t know what a colostomy bag was.  The doctor, when he explained it to me, I understood, but I researched it online which was a very big mistake because Dr. Google is not a good doctor.  You have to look for more reputable sources to understand.  When I did finally get my colostomy bag, I was in awe that I had no more pain in the area where my fistula was because I wasn’t getting infections anymore.  Healthwise, we don’t have ostomy nurses in Honduras, so my doctor had to teach me how to put on and take off my ostomy bag while I was still in the hospital.  My boyfriend helped me the first time, then a family nurse came over to help me another time, but I knew I had to do this by myself.  It was a trial and error.  I had so many leaks at the beginning.  I was allergic to the ostomy bags that are available in Honduras.  My skin did not like them, and I started going online and looking for different companies that sell ostomy bags, and I finally found one about six months later.  I still get leaks every now and then, but it has been easier to handle.

BM: Did there come a time in the post-chemo days and now you have established you can maintain your own colostomy bag, did there come a time in which you felt you were turning the corner and getting back to normalcy?

KC: I would say yes and no.  There was a time in which I started coming back to work one day a week, then two times a week, then I started coming five days a week.  So, I was hoping to feel I was getting back into the rhythm, but now I do things differently.  I have to take my pills in the morning to help out with my thyroid functions, my diet changes, and everything I do is tailored around how I am doing with radiated insides.  Sometimes food is bad for me.  There is food I eat every day and then another time does a whole different thing in my body.  I think I have to be more cautious when I travel.  I have to do everything for my ostomy.  I have an extra change of clothes in my car.  It is not normal for everyone else, but it is for me it is something that is normal, now.

BM: We had mentioned support earlier.  You had mentioned your mom, your family, your boyfriend, but I want to ask you about an organization that is there to support people who are going through cervical cancer, and that’s Cervivor, which can be found at www.cervivor.org.  How did you discover Cervivor and to what degree has been a source of support for you?

KC: I discovered Cervivor in 2017 right after my hysterectomy.  I was in bed, everyone was working, I was alone, and thought that I needed someone to talk to.  So, I started googling hysterectomy and cervical cancer, and cervivor.org just popped up in my search and I went on and I started reading about the mission and everything that Cervivor is, and the site had a link for Stories.  I just started going through them, and realized I am not alone.  I mean, I had no one to talk to in Honduras about this because nobody here talks about below-the-belt cancers, and these women are just putting it all out there.  These things that are sometimes so delicate to talk about were addressed and how their lives had changed, and I decided I wanted to share my story, too.  So, I went on and shared my story, which I did on cervivor.org and my social media.  I have been learning so much through it and went to Cervivor School, which brought me to Chicago in 2019, which was great because I got to actually meet them and talk to them.  It just pushed my advocacy goal.  I wanted to tell everyone about what happened to me because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.  I am still a part of Cervivor because I get to talk about something that is so important for me, that is ending cervical cancer.  All the information that has been given to me, the education given to me has been amazing.  I would totally recommend that if you want to share your story, there are organizations out there, and for me, it has been Cervivor. 

BM: Now is a good time to share its address and its spelling, it’s Cervivor, and the address is cervivor.org, and cervivor.org can do a number of things to rally the support for women who have been diagnosed with cervical cancer.  I want to close now, Karla, and we always want to close in the same way by posing to our guest the same question.  So, imagine you have encountered a woman who has just been diagnosed with cervical cancer.  If you had a message for her, it might include many points, but if you can think one point that would stand out above all others, what would it be?

KC: You are not alone.  You have a community that will help you out, and you should advocate for yourself.  If you have something that you think is wrong, just say it to your doctor.  Again, you are not alone.

BM: Wonderful.  Karla Chavez of Siguatepeque, Honduras, muchas gracias por su informacion y su historia, thanks so much for telling us your story and how you are forging ahead, as you address your present and your future.  Karla, thanks so much for being with us, really appreciate it. 

KC: Thank you for the opportunity, Bruce.

BM: And we want to remind you, just as Karla said, if you are on a cancer journey, you are not alone.  There are plenty of people just like Karla, organizations like Cervivor here to help you.  So, until next time, we’ll say thanks so much for being with us, and we’ll see you down the road.

Additional Resources:

Support Group:

Cervivor: www.cervivor.org

SHOW NOTES

TITLE:  Karla Chavez, Cervical Cancer Survivor – Siguatepeque, Honduras

Karla Chavez had just had her thyroid removed after a diagnosis of thyroid cancer, when she was jolted with more bad news: a diagnosis of Stage II Keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, a rare form of cervical cancer.  After a battle that included eight rounds of chemotherapy and her learning she would have to wear a colostomy bag, Karla has resumed her career as a civil engineer in her native Honduras.  She is also actively involved with Cervivor, a US-based cervical cancer support group.  Karla shares her story with the @CancerInterviews podcast.

Additional Resources:

Cervivor: www.cervivor.org

Cancer Interviews: www.cancerinterviews.org

Time Stamps:

02:05 Karla says her cervical cancer journey was preceded by a diagnosis of thyroid cancer.

03:46 At subsequent visit to gynecologist, she was bleeding, which led to diagnosis of cervical cancer.

05:49 Learned she wouldn’t be able to have children.

07:13 Describes her eight chemotherapy sessions.

07:57 Explains how she was affected by cervical cancer when having sex.

09:42 Says it was tough to learn she wouldn’t be able to have children.

14:17 Karla was relieved to learn chemo resulted in minimal hair loss.

17:03 Describes how cervical cancer altered her urinary and bowel functions.

20:42 Karla says it wasn’t easy managing a colostomy bag.

27:43 Her message to others diagnosed with cervical cancer.

KEYWORDS (tags):

keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma

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cancer

rectovaginal fistula

radioactive iodine

cancer interviews

thyroid cancer

cancerinterviews.com

cervical cancer

bruce morton

chemotherapy

cancer survivor checklist

external radiation therapy

karla chavez