I have gone back and forth on how to share my story and landed on creating this blog to keep friends and family informed. I will try to update when possible and know that your prayers, love and support are appreciated. I also apologize if this is how you are finding out this unfortunate news and I wish I could reach out to each and everyone of you but that is just more than I have to give right now.

First off, I am going to start with GET A COLONOSCOPY! The new recommendation is age 45 or if you have a family history please talk to your doctor, that is at age 40 but could be less depending on your situation. Please just get the colonoscopy, pooping in a box doesn’t clear up the unknowns and so many never follow thru and get the test completed. ( I am sure at least one person reading this has had the box in there bathroom way too long) This will not be the last time I remind you how important this is!

Here is the first part of my story, I was just about to turn 50 in September of 2022 and something was telling me it was time I got my colonoscopy. At that time I thought I was right on schedule and being proactive, I was not aware that they had lowered the age to 45. It was not difficult or painful, very routine and I felt good coming out of the procedure. Dave was waiting for me and I am sure he made a joke as we waited for the doctor to come into the recovery room. When he came in we could tell that my routine procedure may have found something a little more that a standard polyp that many people encounter. He let us know that I did have a tumor size growth that was too large to remove during the colonoscopy and he took a biopsy. We would then wait to see the results of that to determine the next steps but most likely surgery would be in my future.

That December I had a colon recission that removed 7 inches of my lower intestine, though not how you want to spend the week before Christmas I was able to recover pretty quickly and felt like I dodged a bullet and preventive medicine did its job! The tumor came back as a stage one and all of my lymph node were clear and no other cancer was detected. I would follow up in a year and get anther colonoscopy and try my best to be healthy.

Fast forward to November 6th 2024, yes that was my birthday. I woke up right after midnight with a pain in my right side. I had had a hysterectomy and my gallbladder out in August and sometimes I still felt a few phantom pains. That night was different and I thought I was having an appendicitis. Of course in my problem solving ways I thought if I got to the hospital fast enough I could have surgery and be home by the time Dave needed to go in for a minor procedure on the 7th and all would be fine. Boy was I wrong….. A CT Scan was done and as my chart popped up and said results in, I see appendix clear but I missed something. I realize this after I handed my phone to Dave and saw his face. A look of my husband that I will never forget. The scan also showed a 10 CM tumor was on my liver. Not something anyone ever wants for their birthday.

The next hour was a whirlwind, in the world of my chart it has become very easy to be delivered bad news. They walk in the room asking you if you looked at it. I am not a fan and we have learned the hard way there are just somethings you shouldn’t be told in that matter. Technology has a place but not in this way. I was treated wonderfully by the staff at Summa, Akron City hospital and was admitted right away so that we could quickly get a biopsy and additional tests that could move this is along faster. This was also the first of many times that we have experienced a “Godwink” on this cancer journey that we are on. When I was being rolled up to my room right past my husbands shift guys standing there with eyes wide open as to why their captain was in the ER and me being pushed on a bed. I think he needed a reminder that we are not alone in this journey and no matter what they always have his back. It was also good reminder to me to put on a bra even when you go to the hospital at 3 AM.

They next day I would get a very painful liver biopsy and be reminded that I did spend my entire 52nd birthday in the hospital. I did have the most wonderful nurses on 7W and felt very comforted that they took care of me so well and helped me manage my pain. My husband on the other hand had the unfortunate job of communicating to our children, family and close friends that at this point we were not totally sure but I did appear to have something seriously wrong that looked like cancer. I did have an oncologist that I had visited twice in that last 2 years from my original diagnosis but this story will take forever if I include all of those details. Needless to say were were shocked, scared and confused as to how I got here.

Once my biopsy returned the following Monday, I received yet another my chart message that said three words. Metastatic Colon Cancer, office will call. Needless to say she is no longer my oncologist. This is also the part of the story that I became grateful to know that this was the monster that I was dealing with and not some rare additional cancer that we did not have any research on. Yes, this totally sucks, no sugar coating this. I had about a 1% chance of having a reoccurrence of colon cancer after my surgery on 2022. I think my odds were actually better of winning the lottery. I guess this is the cancer lottery…….what else are you going to do but laugh.

I will pause on the details of the rest of the story and use this platform to share additional stories and details of my journey as we go along. Since the day I was released from the hospital I have made major life altering changes that I truly believe will help me heal myself and get well. I believe that each prayer, well wish or positive vibe that you send me makes a difference. We are blessed that our children are all self sufficient and Dave is the best caregiver that I could ever ask for. We have had so many people reach out and wish me and our family well, it has been hard to even describe and we feel so lucky.

I started Chemotherapy on December 20th and have done remarkably well, I am gearing up for my next treatment on January 7th and will be on track every 2 weeks until first scan in March. I hope to not only use this as communication but to also help others that may be going thru something similar to not lose hope and to educate others on the alternative options available.