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Sarcoma

 Before I was sick I thought cancer was just cancer, unfortunately I had to learn the hard way that there are thousands of different types of cancer out there. I was diagnosed with a Synovial Sarcoma, one of the rarest forms of soft tissue cancer. Sure why would I want any old plain tumour anyways??  Sarcoma is cancerous tumours of the connective tissue, this includes; fat, blood vessels, nerves, bones, muscles, deep skin tissues and cartilage. It is more common in children and young adults, it accounts for 15% of childhood cancer and only 1% of adult cancer. There are two groups of sarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma and sarcoma of the bone. There are over 50 different types of soft tissue sarcoma e.g;  Synovial Sarcoma, Angiosarcoma, Ewings Sarcoma, Fibrosarcoma, Clear Cell Sarcoma, Liposarcoma and many more. There is an incredible lack of funding and limited research into sarcoma, meaning that all sarcoma are treated in the same way when in-fact they are all very different! Pharmaceutica
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The road to recovery

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 After my gynaecologist told me that I had cancer, I now got an oncologist. We met with him a day or two later. He came to my room to discuss what was going to happen, he listened to my lungs and decided I needed to have the fluid drained. He told me that I needed to have chemotherapy and discussed the possible side effects, which included nausea, hair loss, fatigue, infertility, infection, immunosuppression and many more. I got a drain put into the left lung that day, thankfully I was sedated and felt nothing. This drain was awful, it was a tube coming out of my back with a tap and a small plastic bag connected. It was so painful and uncomfortable to sit and sleep with, I needed plenty of pain killers that weekend. The oncologist was still unsure of my diagnosis but said that because my cancer was stage four and aggressive, I would need to start chemo soon or else I would get very sick. Due to this he decided to treat it as an aggressive ovarian tumour until we got results. I needed t
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About Me

 My name is Laura O'Neill, a 21 year old girl fighting the biggest battle of her life. At the beginning of this year I was diagnosed with a synovial sarcoma, one of the rarest forms of soft tissue cancer .   Before all of this I was studying business and working part-time. I was a real busybody, Constantly on the go and trying to evenly divide my time among friends, family and everything else  in-between. I was so independent and loved the freedom of my life. I often finished college and found  myself in a bar with friends sipping cocktails. I had very few responsibilities and I LOVED that! I could do what I wanted, when I wanted and no one could stop me. I loved nothing more than a good night out, I was a big partier and I just loved to socialise and dance with my friends. Ending up on an  unexpected night out with Jane (who is my other half when it comes to a good night out), dancing till all hours then waking up the next morning and racing into work was a rare talent that I had
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How my journey began!

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 "Maybe you're allergic to cheese? Or bread?", "Could you be pregnant??","Are you constipated?". These are just a few of the diagnosis I had been receiving from my friends and family as I waddled around with my bloated stomach in discomfort. Thankfully I knew there was no chance of me being pregnant or I would have been seriously stressed out, but then again maybe I would have gotten it seen to quicker. I need to slap myself when I start thinking in hindsight and try my hardest to remember everything happens for a reason, even if the reason is impossible to find sometimes.  At this time I was studying for my Christmas exams when I began to be too bloated to fit into my jeans and I knew that this was not normal. I was adamant that I was not constipated and after four doctor visits I was finally referred to A&E. I got an X-ray and was once again diagnosed with severe constipation! The doctor sent me off with an intensive laxative regime for the wee
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