April Arrington

Friday September 02, 2022 April Arrington went in Helen Keller Hospital ER with abdominal pain. She was taken back for an emergency appendectomy. While in surgery the surgeon found abnormal places that he biopsied. Pathology reports came back as Appendiceal Adenocarcinoma. Since that Friday April has taken trips back and forth to Vanderbilt to meet with her oncologist and surgeon. She had an exploratory surgery on October 12, 2022 to determine exactly where all it was located and what stage it is in. It has been confirmed from that surgery that it is in Stage 2 and is in her right diaphragm, omentum, left diaphragm as well as the abdominal wall, pelvic side wall and right side of the colon. She will meet with her team to schedule the surgery to remove all cancerous areas. This surgery will be lengthy and require a 10 day hospital stay at Vanderbilt. After surgery is concluded she will begin chemotherapy.

Appendiceal Adenocarcinoma is a very rare cancer, affecting 1 to 2 people out of every 1 million. It can affect you at any age but it more likely to develop in people over the age of 50.