Cancer, Bacteria, and Miscarriage

How I coped with compound grief, and how you can cope

Mucinous Carcinoma: an invasive type of cancer that begins in an internal organ; your ovaries for example. It produces mucin, which leads to the formation of a tumor. Detection of mucinous carcinoma is not typically possible until late stages of development; thus, survival rate is low.

Necrotizing Fasciitis: otherwise known as flesh-eating bacteria, a severe bacterial disease with sudden onset that kills the body’s soft tissue. While level of occurrences are very rare, patients can die anywhere from 12-24 hours from disease onset. Swift detection and response are crucial. The risk of death is 25%-35%.

Miscarriage: the spontaneous loss of an embryo or fetus before the 20^th week of pregnancy. Depending on what source you read, the rate of miscarriage ranges anywhere from 10%-40% of pregnancies (not women!) ending in miscarriage.

Over the course of two and a half years, I will have a close and intimate experience with all three of these.