In 2004 I was diagnosed with Colon Cancer.
In 2004 I was diagnosed with Colon Cancer.
Story Published on
September 2009 The Colon Club
I was Miss October 2010
I
distinctly remember when I first thought something was wrong with me. I
was 33 years old and I thought I was healthy.
I was
enjoying a Thai lunch with my friend Maureen. It was September of 2004
and we were sitting in the restaurant catching up on our lives. As I
started to eat I got a vicious pain in my stomach. The pain made me stop
and take deep breath and rub my stomach to ease the pain. The color
drained from my face and I started to sweat. I told Maureen that I
thought the pains started while I was on vacation in the Dominican Republic but
that they were sporadic and I was going to get them checked out. I
thought I had eaten something that made me sick. I did not do anything
about the pains until November of that same year. They were coming and
going and I was having difficulty going to the bathroom, yet still I didn’t
think anything was wrong with me other than a little bit of constipation.
Finally, in mid-November it became unbearable and I could not go to the
bathroom at all. That is when my ordeal really started. I went to urgent
care and they immediately sent me for a CT scan. The results indicated
that I had a bowel obstruction and surgery must be performed to remove
it. I was shocked. I thought I was just a little constipated.
Here is
where it gets fun (NOT!). I was released from urgent care and told to go
to the emergency room at another hospital. I was alone during all this,
so I took a cab to the ER and checked myself in and called my
family. I was quickly admitted and then every doctor in the ER felt
the need to give me a rectal exam! After what seemed like years in
the ER, I was moved into hospital room. Over the next few days, the
doctors tried to get the obstruction to move by giving me countless enemas,
none of which worked. My abdomen was so distended that I looked like I
was with child. I was in so much discomfort. After a couple of
enemas, I told them enough! It wasn’t working. A surgeon came to
visit me and told me that I would need surgery. I am sure he spoke to me
about the possibility of cancer, the risk of surgery, the possibility of a
colostomy, etc., but all I remember is that I said, “Get it out so I won’t be
in any more pain!”
That
was the first of 4 surgeries that I’ve had. A colectomy was performed and
a one foot section of my colon was removed. I was also given a temporary
colostomy. After pathology dissected my tumor and the section of my
colon, they confirmed that I had Stage 3C colon cancer with 11 lymph nodes
involved. My cousin and aunt were with me when the news was delivered and
we were all in shock. I was healthy! How could this have happened
to me? Then I delivered the news to my mother and the rest of
the family. It was a very difficult blow to them and I found myself
consoling them. I am a very positive person and I did not spend my
days in recovery dwelling on how bad it was that I had cancer. I started
making myself knowledgeable on the subject and what I could do to deal with
it. It took me 3 months to recover from surgery. It was a very
debilitating and painful recovery. Dealing with having a colostomy was
also very difficult. I had a wonderful visiting nurse who taught me what
to do. After I recovered from the surgery I went back to my full time job
as an Executive Assistant at a hospital. That turned out to be great
because I chose to have my FOLFOX chemotherapy there as well. I worked
full time while I was on chemo for 6 months. The chemotherapy went pretty
well and I dealt with it by booking friends and family to come sit with me
during each session. It allowed me to spend time with everyone that cared
about me and it also gave them a chance to see that I was doing well.
In the
following years, I have had 3 surgeries. In 2005, I had the colostomy
reversed. That was also a very difficult recovery. I developed an
E-coli infection that had to be treated with at-home antibiotics. So,
there I was giving myself antibiotics for 2 weeks, then the antibiotics made me
sick too. In 2006, I had a recurrence in the same area, so it was more
surgery – a spleenectomy, distal pancreatectomy, partial colectomy and an
omentectomy. That was followed by another 6 months of chemotherapy
(Avastin) and 5 weeks of radiation. The daily radiation was very
tiring. To this day I cannot stand too close to a microwave.
It smells like radiation. Yes, radiation has a smell. The
final surgery was in 2008 and that was a right lower lobectomy. They
removed 25% of my right lung and I was diagnosed with metastatic colon
cancer. Whew – that is a lot for one body to take. Fortunately or
unfortunately, I won”t have to do chemo again. Now it’s really just a
waiting game. Hopefully the cancer won’t come back. But guess
what? I am too busy living to worry about it. I am still
here! Living it up one day at a time and enjoying every minute that I am
still here. I am hosting my TV show, drinking some fine red wine,
dancing up a storm and doing all the things that make me happy. Cancer
cannot stop me!
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