Persistent bloating, a frequent pulsing sensation that felt like menstrual cramps--these were two of the mundane symptoms that brought Kristen Troutt to her doctor's office in fall 2017. When she learned that she had ovarian cysts, the Murfreesboro mom didn't worry. She was in her 30's, after all. An MTSU graduate with a successful real estate background and a strong faith in God, Kristen was living the dream with her husband Jon and Ruby, their joyful toddler. Kristen's doctor monitored her cysts for about 3 months, eventually ordering a precautionary CA 125 blood screening test for ovarian cancer. Kristen was at a restaurant enjoying lunch one day when she got the call that would topple life upside-down.
"My tumor marker was too high for my age," Kristen remembers hearing. "I would have to get an MRI immediately." From there, it was a blur. Kristen was scheduled for surgery at Saint Thomas Midtown with gynecological oncologists Dr. Michael Stany and Dr. Jason Barnett. She knew that one of two things would happen while she was unconscious under anesthesia: Dr. Stany and Dr. Barnett might find nothing malignant, in which case it would be a quick process and she would soon be awake. Alternatively, they might find cancer, in which case the procedure would shift-gears into a major surgery. When Kristen woke up, she asked the nearest nurse for the time. It was 8:30 PM and she had been in surgery for hours. Kristen diagnosis was stage 3C ovarian cancer. In the operating room, she'd received a complete abdominal hysterectomy and had two parts of her colon removed in a process known as surgically "debulking."
Kristen says: "I was a different person when I woke up from surgery. I couldn't even pick up my own daughter for 8 weeks." Surgery was followed by 18 rounds of chemotherapy until spring 2018, when she went into remission. "Remission was an interesting place to be," recalls Kristen. "It was a real faith journey. There was so much difficult physical recovery to do now that the cancer was gone. I just wanted to put more and more months of being cancer-free behind me." Due to ovarian cancer's high re-occurrence rate, Kristen had regular check-ups every three months. Nothing looked suspicious until her one-year checkup in spring 2019, at which Kristen was told that she would need a CT scan. "I laid on the CT table and just cried," she says. "Maybe something inside of me knew that it was back." And cancer was back--this time, invading Kristen's liver. The next steps were a liver resection and 4 rounds of chemo.
As of June 2019, Kristen is again in remission. She takes a PARP inhibitor and is scheduled for regular checkups at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital. "I have my 3-month appointment coming up," she says. "I have faith that I can remain cancer-free but I have also begun to look at my diagnosis as a long-time illness that I may have to face again. If it does, I will dig in and I will fight." Kristen has become an active member of a support group for female cancer patients and survivors that meets regularly at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital. When Kristen talks about this group of women, she emphasizes how grateful she feels: "Jon and I are privileged to be in a position where we can manage on one income. So many other women with cancer are fighting for their lives while also working full-time to support their families. In some cases, these women are putting their health at risk as they work."
It was this realization that moved Kristen to develop her non-profit Gracewill, which is currently in its early stages. Kristen is passionate about raising money for Middle Tennessee women who are balancing cancer diagnoses with the financial pressures of everyday life. "My vision for Gracewill is that we will help women pay for their light bills, their water bills, and other necessities."
