I went from “healthy” to “terminal” in the blink of an eye.
In 2013, after years of clean physical exams, my doctors detected a gynaecological tumour the size of a golf ball. Turns out cancer had been growing, hidden inside my Bartholin gland, for as long as five years.
Though I felt great and had no symptoms, I was told I wouldn’t survive.
Surgery wasn’t an option for me. The tumour was too big and there was too much risk to the surrounding tissue. Instead, I was given a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.
While I was hopeful, my expectations were low. My treatment was only supposed to shrink the tumour, not kill it.
But cancer research changed that.
The same week I was due to start radiation, my hospital acquired a new, precision radiotherapy machine. The device harnessed the latest research innovations to deliver high doses of radiation to the precise location of a tumour.
I ended up being one of the first patients to be treated with the device. Now, 11 years later, I have no signs of cancer, much to the surprise of my doctors.
While I still experience side effects from my treatment, innovations in cancer research gave me a second chance. And I’m using that opportunity to give back.
I volunteer as a patient partner in cancer research in the hopes that my daughter doesn’t have to go through what I went through.
Carol Gordon is an accountant (CPA) and financial analyst (CFA) and was recently Managing Director, Audit Services at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. She is a member of OICR’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, works with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, and has a network of friends and family members who are patients or survivors.