Geeta's Story
GEETA'S STORY
- SARCOMA
Geeta, from the North East, found a lump in her leg in August 2020.
“I was diagnosed aged just 25. I had just got married and bought a house.
It was August 2020 and I noticed a lump on my leg in the bath. I felt really big and was not in the skin, but I just did not know what it was. I did not think it was cancer though.”
Geeta asked her husband Ankush, a dentist, his opinion but he wasn’t sure. After asking her colleagues at the estate agent where she worked what they thought, Geeta called her doctor.
“I phoned the GP and did a zoom call, and they referred me for an ultrasound the next week. The GP rang me a week afterwards and asked me to come in, and to bring someone.
“I called my husband and he sounded worried – he said that this is what he says to people when he suspects mouth cancer. Suddenly I was so scared and started crying.
“My first question to the doctor was “it’s not cancer is it?” and they said “we can’t rule it out”. I couldn’t breathe.
“We asked about the next tests and they said X-ray, biopsy and MRI. There was a lump on one scan about 5cm and they said it was probably sarcoma. I was so upset – I could not believe it was what I had seen on google that first day.
“I had to wait a week and it was the worst week of my life.
“They confirmed it and then asked if I was fit and well, as they needed to check if it had spread. Then it clicked – I had a cough, which I thought might be because of aircon at work or something. But I just said “it’s in my lungs” and I just knew.
Geeta had more tests and it was confirmed that the cancer was also in her lungs. She had surgery in October and started 30 sessions of radiotherapy on 25th November.
“I was trying to be so positive and they said that I was one of only a few people with this cancer type.
“I started on immunotherapy and the hope was that it would shrink the tumours in the lungs. I asked if was incurable and they said yes, and Ankush asked if that meant terminal too, and they said yes. I can’t really remember that conversation too much as it was a blur.”
In December 2021, Geeta was told that the treatment wasn’t working, and the tumour had grown in her lungs, affecting her breathing.
“I was told about a trial at the Royal Marsden but doctors said that one of the tumours was near a main artery so nothing could be done. They were talking about palliative care and I was given morphine for pain.
Originally when I was diagnosed, I did not think I would die, but at that time it was so hard to be told they could not do any more. I had to think about everything and was crying when I made a will. There was so much to think about.”
Geeta is now on a clinical trial, in which she takes chemotherapy drugs in tablet form. So far, she has seen a big difference.
“There are side-effects - my feet and hands hurt and I can’t keep food down, but it has made a big difference.
“I have an MRI every six weeks. I go down to the Royal Marsden and have scan in the morning, then results in the afternoon to check whether the cancer is still responding to the treatment so that I can keep going with it.
“Things are still hard. I had always wanted to have children and I don’t think I will ever be able to. Everyone else I know seems to be having children or getting on with work. I am not working at the moment as I am not strong enough. It is hard seeing everyone else get on with things – like at work when they took new team photos without me in them.
“My old life has changed and I have to live a new life. I have had to look for new hobbies but sometimes I am too tired to do those. Earlier this year, I did have to take a break from social media as it was all too much, but I have now set up a new account for me to talk about it – it’s @sarcomaandme on Instagram and it means I can talk more freely about things.”
“My old life has changed and I have to live a new life." - Geeta
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