Feb 22, 2017 to now

People frequently ask me how my diagnosis came about.  There seems to be a misconception that the body goes through a dramatic change and alarm bells go off indicating to the individual that something is wrong, that cancer has arrived.  Not so.  It is more like the frog in the boiling water scenario; slowly the water temperature is increased and the frog happily splashes around not aware of the impending doom until it is too late.  This is often that case with colorectal cancer.  It began with periodic loose bowel movements, blood here or there, gas pains; all contributed to a history of IBS as a child.  It wasn't until fall of 2016 that the bowel changes became so consistent that I mentioned my concern to my physician at my annual physical.  Thank God for Dr. Anghel; the first physician to listen and take seriously my concern.  What resulted was an appointment with the gastrointerologist who didn't even finish the case history before setting down his pen and telling me I would have to have a colonscopy.  Four weeks late, as I slowly awoke from my drugged stupor, I heard the murmurings of nurses voices talking about scheduling with a surgeon ASAP, the word "tumor" was mentioned, and then I heard my name.
What followed was appointments with my surgeon, the oncology team, blood work, CT scans, PET scans, ultrasound, and liver biopsy until the diagnosis of Stage IV rectal cancer was made.
My spring was spent with daily radiation and oral chemo treatments over 6 weeks.  My body responded well and I was optimistic going into my first surgery.  June 26, my first major surgery to remove the rectal tumor, adjacent lymph nodes, and create a temporary iliostomy, and power port placement.  Four weeks went by learning to live with "Chloe" the iliostomy and recovering from surgery.  July 24 arrived bright and early for a 5am surgery check in.  Goodbye Chloe!  Iliostomy reversal and liver metastases removal was on the agenda.  All but one of the liver lesions was able to be removed.  After an 8 day stay in the hospital getting my bowels to wake up and managing the pain from the liver resections, I am back home. Next step, I will need to travel to Salt Lake City to have the stubborn liver lesion removed.  It is located just under my diaphragm making it a surgically difficult spot to remove.  After surgery, I am ready to begin 6 months of "mop up" chemo though infusion.

Thank you for continuing to walk this journey with us!