Team M - Living through Stage 4 Cancer

October 2020: First ever symptoms - I am woken in the middle of the night by some pain in my upper right leg. I do a tele consult (thanks, Covid!), and am told it's probably tendonitis from trying to learn how to run. Mid-November 2020: The night pain becomes more common. Second tele consult, Doctor advises that I go get an Xray and Ultrasound. During the Ultrasound, the technician (the first ever healthcare worker to actually lay eyes on my leg), notices the swelling on my upper right thigh, and says "Ca c'est une bosse", in French (I'm in French Canada). I somehow do not equate the word "Bosse", with "lump". Also, aren't lumps mainly for breasts?? 2 days later: Doctor calls me urgently. Tells me lump is not tendonitis, but probably cancer. I don't believe her - it doesn't matter. She sends me to a Sarcoma specialist. End of November 2020 - January 2021: Several scans (PET scans, MRIs, CT scans) and biopsies conducted. Final verdi...

Hi! Thanks for checking this space! I'm not very good at the blogging thing, so I'll go straight to the point. In October 2020 at 31 years old, I was diagnosed with cancer. Five months later, after surgery I was NED - No evidence of disease. Eight months after that, the cancer was found to have metastasized to my bones, thigh, lungs and abdomen. I am a bit hesitant specifying what cancer I am battling, because the diagnosis process has been quite convoluted. The egg-sized lump in my right thigh was at first thought to be Sarcoma. Then a Neuroendocrine tumor (NET). Then a Paraganglioma, a rare form of NET. Then definitely not a Paraganglioma, but not clear of what it actually was. Then, when it metastasized, it was called a High Grade Neuroendocrine carcinoma. Now, over 15 months since it was first identified, word is that it is at best a Cancer of Unknown Primary. And the search continues. For sanity's sake, I will go with it being a High Grade Neuroendocrine carcinoma, whi...