Wednesday, May 11, 2011

One Day At A Time

Hi there... I am new to blogging so please forgive me until I get the hang of this.  Why am I starting this blog.  Well, in my search for Stage Iv Rectal Cancer survivors I have found that they are difficult to find.  Not because they are not out there.  Many, many people survive and the numbers are increasing every day.  I wanted a place that if someone is searching they would find a nice, positive place to come to for encouragement that this can be beat.

A little about myself.  I am currently 44 years old.  I first found out that I had Stage III Rectal Cancer in June of 2009.  I was shocked beyond belief.  I had a few minor things that I had thought had to do with getting a little older so when the doctor delivered the news I was caught totally off guard.  We will get into it more about how I survived the radiation, chemo and a few surgeries later.

In December 2010, I found out that there were some issues and more testing needed to be done.  Never have tests done in December... they can ruin your Christmas.  Turns out the cancer had returned and bumped me to Stage IV with one, operatable, spot on the liver.  Let the games begin.  A couple of surgeries later, I am now CANCER FREE!  I am doing mop up chemo now - a much more agressive chemo which I will talk to you more about later.

I just wanted to tell you to keep a positive attitude.  Allow yourself some bad days too but just know that you have to believe that you will beat this - attitude is everything.  Look at chemo as a friend.  Its fighting for you not against you.  You might get bruised a long the way but its okay, you will survive.

Much love until my next blog.