In December 2006 I was diagnosed with having colon cancer, T3 No Colon Cancer to be precise. What came as a huge shock to me at the age of 39 later became a blessing..."a blessing in disguise" if I may use the hackneyed phrase. Because it is now that I truly realize the strength of my relationships to God, my family and my friends.
This is an account of
How it all Began. Not overly detailed, but a general synopsis of my cancer treatment. Over the course of time I will update my progress as I continue to heal from the surgery performed on January 5, 2007, continue to meet with my physicians, decide whether or not to begin chemotherapy treatment, change my eating and exercise habits, and hopefully get feedback suggestions and encouragement from those who have gone through this before. The message that I hope to get across is this -
LIFE IS GOOD. I have absolutely nothing to complain about and live each day thankful that I made it through o.k. and look forward to my life being better than ever.
Oh yeah, so I don't have to repeat myself a million times to interested parties, I decided to start this blog.
July 2006A routine physical reveals that I have urinary tract infection and slightly elevated blood pressure but nothing too serious or scary. I am prescribed antibiotics and am told to drink plenty of liquids. However, I just don't
feel right. Something tells me that I don't just have a
UTI, but I can't put my finger on what it is. After 10 days of antibiotics I feel better and pass off the bad feeling as just me being a hypochondriac.
August 2006I have a second doctor's appointment with a gynecologist. I'm having strange aches and pains in my groin and after deciding that it wasn't a bad bout of PMS go in for a pap smear...I think maybe they can find something then. Removal of a polyp, that turned out to be benign was the outcome of that appointment. I'm beginning to have the feeling of not being well again. Slight nausea, an upset stomach and fatigue...hmmm must be something I'm eating.September 2006Upset stomach, nausea, combination diarrhea and constipation off and on. I check out every book I can find after an Internet search of irritable bowel syndrome and irritable bowel diseases. I decide that since my symptoms match what I have researched I must have IBS and begin to take acacia fiber, peppermint capsules, drink peppermint tea and avoid most dairy, chocolate (scream) and coffee. By then I've moved into a new place, started a new job and have mainly attributed my body's reaction to being overly stressed. I just can't seem to stop the stomach gurgling, nausea and marathon bathroom trips. My birthday trip to Alaska is ruined because of issues with digestion and stomach aches.
October 2006New health coverage, new doctors. I'm making another appointment to check out now why I have started BLEEDING when I go to the bathroom. Armed with the knowledge that my mother has had a history of colitis I head to the doctor's office full of hope. Do I have colitis, hemorrhoids or is it an ulcer? Can someone please tell me SOMETHING?!? My doctor, Dr. R., is a kind woman, she listens when I tell her of my complaints and proceeds to do a thorough workup of not only blood and urine samples but finds out all she can about family history and quality of life. She prescribes blood pressure medication and then takes a stool sample to confirm that indeed there is blood in my stool. She believes that it probably is a hemorrhoid, but to be on the safe side she refers me to a
gastroenterologist, Dr. T, who will perform a
colonoscopy.
November 2006There are fates worse than death and let me just say that having to drink a gallon of the CRAP GoLytely is one of them. Just thinking about it makes me want to barf. I stayed up the whole night drinking it and doing Fleets enemas. It was truly a night of enchantment. The next time I have to do this I'm asking for a pill...or to be killed. I refuse to drink that ever again. The morning of the
colonoscopy was uneventful. I was prepped and ready for nearly an hour before Dr. T came sliding in all apologetic and slightly sheepish due to his tardiness. I wasn't too happy to be laying on a gurney with my behind exposed to the cold air. Luckily the nurses figured out that warm blankets were the best way to keep me from jumping up and slapping somebody. It took about 10 seconds for me to pass out after they put the medication into the IV. I vaguely remember coming to and seeing a blob on the screen which was my colon and Dr. T, saying "yeah, it's pretty large", before drifting off to sleep again.
When I woke up Dr. T looked stricken. I mean he actually looked pale and scared. I knew something was up just from his look and he was staring at me very closely. He began by slowly saying, "we did find something but we don't know at this point what it is." "I did not expect to find anything in a woman so young, you're only 39 and..." at this point his voice broke and he turned around, then he concluded, "we will fix this!" I felt as if he were talking to somebody else, not me. What about the ulcer or colitis? Possible cancer, no way!
I had several more tests run that day. The rest of the day is a blur. I was numb. How could this be happening to me? What did I do wrong? My friend who had come with me dropped me off and said to call if I needed anything. I barely heard her and stumbled into my house. Barely able to get through the door because of the veil of tears that began to fall as I came in. I called my mother to come over. I really needed her then and she came as soon as she could. As I laid in her lap and cried I felt all of the safety of when I was a little girl and she would comfort me.
December 2006I meet Dr. O who will perform my surgery. He too is very kind and very thorough. He tells me all the steps that he will take in removing the tumor. He shows me diagrams, he draws pictures he spells out words all in an effort to help me understand the procedure. He tells me that I should prepare for the surgery as if I am "preparing for a race". He instructs me to get exercise for at least 30 minutes a day to help with healing after the surgery. Drink plenty of fluids and get adequate rest. He tells me not to worry myself with the upcoming surgery. I'm not worried. I have prayed and asked God to guide and protect me. Several others have been praying as well. I feel calm, I feel loved and I feel protected. I have no fear.
A week before the surgery, I go shopping. The doctor chuckles when I tell him it is the reason he has had trouble getting to me on the phone. He advises me to do a PET scan to make sure that he knows exactly and precisely that he is getting out all of the tumor and where it is located. I have a wonderful Christmas with my family and continue to work. I continue to prepare for the upcoming surgery.January 2007 Happy New Year! Only 5 days until surgery. I begin the soft diet and and two days later begin the liquid diet. Yummy! Ensure is tasty! NOT!! Again with the GoLytley and the Fleet's enema. I work up until January 3rd.January 5th 2007D-Day. I am up at six trying to clean the house. I mostly end up stuffing things into drawers and closets and closing doors so I don't have to look at anything. I''m nervous but not scared. Check in time is at 9:30 am. At 2:30 pm I am FINALLY wheeled into surgery. In the waiting room are my mother, my sister, my godparents and family friends. From what I hear Dr. O said everything went great. What they didn't know is that the epidural that was in my back during surgery fell out and I woke up in PAIN!!!!!!!!!! Once the epidural was back in I was OK, although the first moments that I woke up in the recovery room were pretty tense. I snatched and grabbed at someones arm and remembered feeling a second set of hand pull me off. Once out of recovery I vaguely remember my mom kissing me and my sister saying something too me. They wouldn't let anyone else up at that time.I spent six days in the hospital. The last day was added because I had had a fever that needed to be watched. I was sent in for a CT scan to find out whether or not I had an abscess or an infection and had neither. I was in some serious pain though. Vicodin does NOT work for me. I hallucinate, shake and say things that make absolutely no sense. Motrin has been working just fine, thank you.PresentlyI spent a week at my godmother's home and then came to my own home. I am in some pain but progressing very well. At my post op appointment I was told that I was doing "more than most" as I had already been driving and taking care of myself within the first week and a half. I guess I am doing more than most, since most people with colon cancer are in their fifties and sixties. I feel kind of like a freak but if I can be of help to anyone else my age who developed this so be it.Yesterday, I went to see Dr. D, an oncologist. He recommends chemotherapy because one of my tumors (yes, I had three and didn't find out until yesterday) was "poorly differentiated" and was the fastest growing. While the tumor was encapsulated it had just begun to break through the colon wall. My lymph nodes were completely clear (41 were harvested), but the concern is that the wildly growing tumor has a slight possibility of making a triumphant return. Even though Dr. O took out a foot of colon (and clipped off some ovarian cysts while he was in there). The cancer is completely gone...but the docs want to be very cautious. I have to really pray for guidance on this. Chemo will be for 6 months every two weeks. I'd still be able to work but...I don't know. I need to do more research. In the meantime I'll keep praying.
Posts
