Melinda Kolodynski visited a doctor because she thought her period was the source of her back pain. But a year later, the 34-year-old was diagnosed with a rare cancer, and nine months later she passed away. Her husband and their two sons, who were 6 and 3 years old, were left in her wake. She was upset that she wouldn’t be able to see her kids grow up after learning of her diagnosis.
The most pain I had ever experienced was present”.
After her cancer metastasized to her liver, Kolodynski posted on social media, “Once again we spend a couple of days with our heads in the pillow, tears streaming down our faces, but it’s time to get up, dust off, and soldier on because there is a fight to be had and I’m not done here. The doctors informed her of a prognosis, which she “wasn’t ready to accept. ”.
Tracey McClure, Kolodynski’s mother, created a GoFundMe to pay for medical expenses and provide Kolodynski with the highest level of comfort possible in her final hours. However, even after Kolodynski passed away, people kept providing for the grieving family by making donations and aiding with upcoming financial challenges.
Kolodynski’s backache was the initial cause, which he was able to quickly alleviate with Panadol. In order to support her family, she was able to keep working as an account manager. However, the discomfort grew worse over the course of two months.
Kolodynski took Panadol once more in July 2022, but the discomfort persisted. “By 11 p. I had never felt more pain than I did at that moment. I seemed to be giving birth, actually. While we waited for the paramedics, I begged my husband to kill me because the pain was so unbearable”.
The discomfort had subsided before the paramedics showed up. Kolodynski teased her husband David as they rode to the hospital, saying that she probably only had constipation. “I was feeling a lot better, but the doctors did CT scans of my pelvis to check,” Kolodynski claimed”.
They said they thought I had advanced ovarian cancer after noticing the three tumors”.
Her actual diagnosis, though, was much more dire. She underwent additional testing prior to being identified as having angiosarcoma, a rare soft tissue blood cancer. This uncommon form of cancer typically manifests as a secondary malignancy on the skin’s surface. The doctor told me that because the primary cancer was in my pelvis, I was a one in ten million case.
But because it was so uncommon, finding a cure was challenging. She was not eligible for any clinical trials. A significant pelvic exenteration procedure was suggested by medical professionals after chemotherapy failed. Although it wouldn’t treat her cancer, it might extend her life. But despite this, the doctors decided that my tumor was too big to guarantee any success at the last minute. She stated that there is currently no plan in December 2022. I’m conscious that cancer will claim my life. But I just need more time”.
She made the most of the time she had left by ensuring her children had the best possible start in life. “I want to keep doing the regular stuff with my boys,” she said. In the past, if they had asked me to read a book, I would have kept working on the dinner. But right now I take a break and read the book. I’d like to take them on vacation while Corey is in class, but I’m not sure it would be feasible. ”.
Max, her oldest child, suffered from his own health problems. He was born with a congenitally short femur, and now he’s having a slew of operations to lengthen his leg. Kolodynski said, “It’s my duty to be there for him as his mother.”. The boy’s age is six. Therefore, he is fairly intelligent.
The lining of the lymph and blood arteries becomes affected by angiosarcoma, a rare type of cancer. The skin, liver, spleen, and breast are the most common places for it to appear in the body, though it can occur anywhere. Due to the rarity of this diagnosis, one in a million Americans receives one each year. When it affects the skin, it might look like a bruised area that bleeds easily and swells.
Even though localized pain might be present, if the cancer is more advanced in the body, there might not be any symptoms. It can be diagnosed using imaging tests like an MRI, CT, or PET scan to find the tumor and gauge its size. In order to identify the type of cancer, the doctor would perform a biopsy.
Angiosarcoma requires intensive treatment, which frequently includes surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy due to its rapid growth. Depending on where the tumor is located, surgery may not always be an option to completely or partially remove it. Radiation therapy may be used alongside surgery to specifically target the malignant area and stop it from regrowing. It is also used when surgery is not an option. If the tumor has spread to other parts of the body, radiation therapy may also be combined with chemotherapy.
The location of the tumor, how much of it is removed during surgery, and whether or not it has spread to other areas of the body all impact a patient’s prognosis for angiosarcoma. By the time the cancer is discovered when severe symptoms first appear, it has typically spread to other body parts, making the prognosis difficult. Fortunately, scientists and medical professionals are working to find and develop novel angiosarcoma treatments. I told him that although mothers can’t always be there for their kids, his father and grandmother will take care of him, and that his mother will always be in his heart.
She placed a high value on spending time with her family and being “present in every moment”.
