Two years ago I was attending college at EMU in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Sitting in classes became more and more taxing on me and causing horrific pain in my tailbone region. After complaining to my primary care doctor numerous times, she dismissed this pain and did nothing else for me until November of 2019. I had ongoing episodes of high fevers and blood in my urine and in November of 2019 I was sent to a urologist. I am so thankful that finally someone listened to me. The urologist called me the same day to explain to me there was a mass in my tailbone region and I would need an MRI. I wanted to dismiss this, however so thankful I did not. Christmas Eve of 2019 after having my MRI it was finally confirmed that I had a chordoma sitting on my tailbone and it would need to be removed surgically. I again was a bit apprehensive about what to do but doing nothing would mean the cancer would continue to grow and most likely spread throughout my body. With careful thought and prayers I finally decided to have the tumor removed. I went to University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. My team was very straight forward with me. My surgeon was Dr. Sybil Bermain who did a great job of removing the tumor. Although I am still in a lot of pain I am thankful and grateful to my team and amazing doctors and nurses and staff at U of M. Please listen to your body and get a second opinion if you feel any sort of lump in your body. I’m thankful I can still be here for my only grandson who I love so very very much.
