00:00Hi, my name is Melinda and my body is experiencing stage four adrenal cortical carcinoma, which
00:08is a rare cancer that affects one in a million people.
00:11I started experiencing symptoms in early 2021.
00:16In April of 2021, I had participated in my first triathlon.
00:19I mentioned that because I was definitely like in the best shape of my life, like right
00:23before I started having symptoms, which I think made them very obvious to me.
00:29I was in California when I started really noticing symptoms, house sitting for a friend.
00:34I thought it was allergies at the time.
00:36My face felt really swollen.
00:38My legs were swelling.
00:39My hands were swelling.
00:40I made an appointment with an allergist that I could find.
00:43So I went in in person and she was actually the first one to tell me that I had really
00:49high blood pressure.
00:50Before that, I had no idea.
00:51So I was like, well, that's weird.
00:54Okay.
00:55And then she prescribed me for my face, like a hydrocortisone cream.
01:00So when I talked to my primary physician, or it was a doctor at the same practice, she
01:03said, it sounds like allergies and, um, here's what I would recommend.
01:08So I started taking a couple of things for that.
01:10I had been plant-based and gluten-free for a long time.
01:14So pretty much just eating a plant-based whole foods diet, whole foods, plant-based diet.
01:18I started reaching out to doctors in Florida and making in-person appointments because
01:22I wanted them to see me.
01:23Now at this time I was like full blown Cushing's, really big face, really big tummy.
01:27So I went into the allergist and immunologist and they ended up, I think they started me
01:32with like a PA and then they read like my notes and they were like, no, no, no.
01:37The day I went in also, I think my stomach was really distended and she said, I'm not
01:41comfortable with this.
01:42I feel like something's going on with your liver.
01:44I really want to send you for a scan.
01:45So I went in for the scan and like two days later, I think the allergist called me back
01:49into her office and said, um, I had a huge mass on my adrenal gland that was the size
01:54of a grapefruit.
01:55I thought at the time it turned out to be the size of a football once they cut me open.
01:59The Mayo Clinic was, they were the ones to like officially say, we believe this is, you
02:05know, the big C, but we also believe it's ACC specifically.
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