u4cats' Journey with Colorectal (Colon) Cancer

I went to hospital to have a colonoscopy. I was by myself, coming out of anesthesia waiting for my parents to come pick me up and the doctor came in to tell me the news. I was a lot groggy still and was not very coherent. The doctor asked if I wanted her to come back and explain it to my parents or if I wanted to. I was pretty sure I had no idea what she really just said to me so I asked her to do it. I felt badly for my parents having to listen to what was about to be the life of their only child.

Port placement before treatment started. I was so lucky to be involved with a treatment team who took into consideration my lifestyle and recommended considering a clinical trial.

My treatment team was a great group of professionals who made what could have been a terrible experience a not so bad way to start each day.

I feel very lucky to be a part of a clinical trial. I got great care and the follow up is so comforting, even this far out of treatment. Knowing that I was being looked after by not only my doctors but also the research team made me feel very confident in my treatment plan. I know it's not for everyone, but for me it was a no brainer. Either I got the best possible, cutting edge care or I helped save someone else later, or both. My thoughts were that anything I can do now to help someone else later is my purpose in this journey.

Ileostomy

This was the worst part of my whole experience. I don't think I ever got the hang of this. I ruined more clothes, bedsheets, blankets, etc. I finally put plastic protectors and crib liners on my bed. My bed was a mess between the ridiculous amount of things I did to try and prevent making huge messes at night from leaks and eruptions, and the electric blankets and mattress wrap to prevent me from freezing to death (exaggeration) from the chemo side effects. I carried around an emergency kit everywhere I went. People began to chuckle at seeing me coming with my brown bag full of stuff.

Before diagnoses, and during treatment and surgery both my husband and I were experiencing upheavals in our professional lives. Between layoffs, and other very stressful events, we just couldn't deal with each other and the stresses we were experiencing. After almost 15 years of marriage, we decided to separate. For 9 months we lived apart, going on dates and working through our issues. We began to see a Christian therapist and work on our marriage.

Thinking straight, neuropathy, hot flashes, early onset menopause, taste change, osteoporosis, oh my!! Of all the things I miss the most, I miss my mind. I feel like I was the recipient of a lobotomy in my "remembery" lobe. Not only does it have an impact on my personal and home life, seriously, where are my keys? It has severely impacted my professional life. I think that if I were at all depressed about anything in this whole journey it is how the chemo impacted my ability to do my job, which is teach 7th graders. It has turned my passion for teaching into an everyday source of anxiousness and worry. Did I remember to do this, did I do that right, etc. I'd have to say this is the worst part of the whole thing. Being a type A perfectionist and being a brainless chemo patient are not compatible.

Fuzzy spots appeared on my liver, doctors did not like this at all, more tests, those didn't look good either, biopsy, good news no cancer in my liver, just fatty spots. Before finding out that it was nothing, I ended up calling 911 for the first time in all of this. It was truly traumatizing. To feel so helpless that I had to dial 911 was a very sobering experience. Two days after the liver biopsy I had the worst pain in my right side. Fearing something terrible, and my family out of town at 2:00 am, I dialed 91 and sat on the couch for a good 15 minutes praying about what to do next before dialing the final 1.

Fuzzy spots are not cancer, I just have a fatty liver

My doctors and the research team are the absolute best. I would never have made it through this without them. Not just the medical expertise they possess, but the personal touches and they way they made sure I was able to continue my life with as little disruption as possible. The behind the scenes people who worked with insurance, scheduled appointments, made sure all the pieces worked in harmony made this whole experience tolerable. I'd never have been able to do it on my own, especially while dealing with the chemo side effects. Thank you Franciscan St Francis Indianapolis treatment team members for making this journey doable.

4 years clean checkup

last abdominal ct shows something fuzzy/spotty in the lung area