Dr. Elizabeth Raskin

Participants in the Get Your Rear in Gear Twin Cities 5K will have the opportunity to try their hand at cutting-edge robotic surgery. The daVinci Surgical Robot will be at the race with event sponsor Colon & Rectal Surgery Associates (CRSL) surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Raskin offering once-in-a-lifetime test drives of the robot.

The daVinci Surgical Robot (Image provided by Intuitive Surgical)

The daVinci Robot is a $2 million piece of surgical technology that has been used for years for gynecological and prostrate surgeries, the opportunities for colorectal surgeries are just being explored, specifically for rectal cancers. Dr. Raskin is leading charge for making robotic surgery more commonplace for these types of procedures. “We hope that using robotic surgery for colorectal cancer patients will ultimately lead to less invasive surgery that allows for more precision and less blood loss during the procedure,” Dr. Raskin stated at the Survivor/Caregiver dinner hosted by the Colon Cancer Coalition on Monday, May 14. “We hope we will be able to show additional benefits including shorter recovery times and a faster return to normal healthy routines.”

Test drives for the DaVinci Robot will be available from 7 a.m. to noon at the Get Your Rear in Gear Twin Cities 5K on Sunday, May 20 at Southdale Center in Edina, Minn. Test drives will take approximately 5 minutes each.

For more information about the daVinci Surgical Robot please visit their website.

Anne was joined by (from L to R) Amy Johnson, Twin Cities event manger, Erin Steinlage, Get Your Rear in Gear national event manager, Drew Davis, volunteer, Kate Brickner, Twin Cities volunteer, and Christie Lockhart, Get Your Rear in Gear national event manager.

A happy coincidence we discovered this morning is that the producer for the KARE 11 Sunrise program, Christin Wilson, is a member of Wilson’s Warriors, one of the longest participating teams in the Twin Cities.

Thanks Sven, Christin and KARE 11 for helping spread the word about Get Your Rear in Gear!

(L to R) William J. Halpin, Jr., Board Chair Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Caitlin Gambee, Co-Chair, Get Your Rear in Gear Boston, Brian Shelly, Co-Chair, Get Your Rear in Gear Boston, James W. Hunt, Jr., President & CEO Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Cheryl Shaughnessy, Membership Services Director Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers

Representatives from the Colon Cancer Coalition and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers were on-site at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, to officially announce this new partnership. “We are very grateful to the local Get Your Rear in Gear affiliate for their generous donation,” said James W. Hunt, Jr, president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. “This funding will not only help  increase awareness among our patients about the importance of colon cancer screening and treatment, it will go far in breaking down some of the financial barriers that prevent patients from accessing the kinds of preventive services which are critical to their long-term health.”

The Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is a non-profit, statewide association representing and serving the needs of the state’s 50 community health center organizations, which provide primary and preventive care to some 800,000 Massachusetts residents.  The CCSEP represents the first-ever League funding initiative where health center patients receive direct assistance covering expenses related to colon cancer screening and treatment which are not reimbursable through health insurance.

Community health center patients face a distinct set of challenges in accessing health care; ninety percent of League patients have incomes below 200% of the federal poverty level, leaving them with limited resources to pay for insurance deductibles and co-pays, as well as child care, transportation and other costs associated with screening and treatment.  The primary mission of the League and health centers is to eliminate barriers to care for the vulnerable populations they serve. The funding from the Colon Cancer Coalition will aid in these efforts by allowing health center physicians to provide targeted financial assistance to patients on a case-by-case basis.  Eligible expenses through the CCSEP include:

• Pre- and post- colonoscopy prep products and medications,
• Transportation to and from procedures,
• Translations services needed during procedures,
• Co-pays and deductibles,
• Cost of diagnostics resulting from screening, ie: removal of polyps, and
• Cost of ancillary services needed to support patient through colon cancer treatment, including day care , meal, home care, and medication expenses.

Runners start the 2011 Get Your Rear in Gear Boston race. The inaugural event raised over $93,000 to create the Colon Cancer Screening and Education Program through the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

All funds for this program were raised from the inaugural Boston Get Your Rear in Gear 5K in November 2011. The 2012 race is set for October 13, 2012 at Castle Island in South Boston.

“We are proud to work with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to create this program,” said Brian Shelly, Boston Get Your Rear in Gear Race Co-Chair. “We are excited to know that those confronted with a colon cancer diagnosis now have monetary resources available to help with treatment and other related expenses. Education and prevention are key with this disease, we are glad that the funds raised at the race can make such a positive impact on Massachusetts.”

Dr. Reddy gave reasons that people aren’t screened as people don’t know about the screening tests or they are concerned about the prep and/or sedation. She stressed that it is important to talk to your healthcare provider about the options available to each patient.

View the interview on the WBRZ TV website.

Our Charlotte race director, Sue Falco, is going the distance with her positive outlook on life, strength and possibilities.  So, even now, being recently diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer, we believe she is Suecretariat in the Kentucky Derby.  The night after surgery to remove tissue samples from her lung, Sue was up at two-o’clock in the morning coming up with ideas  for cancer patients.

I luckily received a motivational call from Sue last Friday. You would never know she had received news that her race track now has a sharp incline and now in a double marathon with cancer.  The call was filled with laughter and bubbly talk even laughing when she said, “I will be so pissed if I don’t beat it!” Like so many of you that are in the long distance run for your life, you pick us up.  You slap us straight.  You motivate us.

For Motivation Monday, we thought we would share how Sue, the spunky mare and long distance hero, intends to approach her recent diagnosis.   We are highlighting her most recent story on her blog and invite you to read all of her stories.  She hopes that by living life and not talking only of cancer, her journey will help others.

Sue plans to run the Nashville Half-Marathon, Sunday, April 28th.  While training for her run, she never realized it would be the reason that could save her life.  What she thought was a shoulder injury was metastatic colorectal cancer. This is the most recent blog, but you can back up to the first story written on April 5th, the night before surgery.   See blog link at the end of this page!

Sue Falco (L) with Charlotte co-director Mary-Karen Bierman

Charlotte Man to Run 52.4 Miles in a TuTu!!!!!!
By Sue Falco
Charlotte Get Your Rear in Gear Race Director

Are you kidding me???  I still can’t believe it and I’m not sure I will…it just sounds too crazy.  On April 28th I will wake early, power down some type of fuel, have a sip of coffee and venture off to my very first half marathon.  As many of you know this is no ordinary half…this event literally saved my life.  Had I not gotten the guts to train for it, we never would have found the cancer and I don’t even want to know how that story ends. Instead let’s focus on what did happen.

So I signed up for the training program … best $100 a girl could spend.  Part of the training package is a super duper, use any time, 15% coupon for anything at Omega Sports (yup that’s the training sponsor).  During my first shop prior to our first training session I met one of our coaches, Mike Vance.  He’s twice as tall as me and as nice as nice can be.

I remember Mike asking if I was ready for our Saturday run.  (I was thinking, “Hell I had better be, it’s only two miles”).  Always up for a chat I engaged in conversation and asked him what his plans were for the weekend.  He responded with “50 miler.”  I asked, “over the course of the weekend?”  No he replied…”just one day.”  Are you kidding me?

I had never met anyone that ran that far…well I had, but over the course of a week, month or year.  I was amazed.  Mike has continued to be a source of inspiration for me whenever I run.

A few weeks into our training program he posted this on Facebook:

As an example for anyone who has ever felt discouraged about their running, I ran my first marathon two years ago next Saturday.  I would run 5 minutes, and walk 1, which last through 15 miles or so, after which I was too tired to really keep that up. Finished in 5:03:59. Barely beat a guy wearing sandals.  You may feel like you’ll never get faster, and never improve, but trust us, you will. Just keep running. – Michael Vance 2/26/2012

Mike and I will be at the St. Jude Country Music Nashville Full and Half Marathon together on April 28th along with many of our teammates. Most of us are running the half (13.1 miles) or the full (26.2 miles), but Mike will run THE FULL MARATHON TWICE IN MY HONOR…I put this in caps so it is easier to read twice.

I still read it and have a hard time comprehending it.  So while I am plugging away at my 13.1 miles Mike will be kicking ASSphalt in my honor in a tutu!!!  The funds he’s raising will go to Get Your Rear in Gear Charlotte.  I hope you will help Mike and I reach our goal for this event.  Funds raised will stay here in the Charlotte area to help other Colorectal Cancer survivors.

P.S.. Mike and I agree that for his safety he will wear the tutu during daylight hours in the company of other marathon runners…alone, in a tutu in downtown Nashville after midnight is just not safe not matter who you are!!!  Mike, you are without a doubt a Long Distance Hero!!!!

To donate or read Sue’s motivational blog, click on the links below.

Donate Now
Sue’s Blog 

Dr. Neelima Reddy from presenting sponsor Gastroenterology Associates spoke with NBC33 about the importance of colon cancer screening and the preventable nature of the disease.

Screen capture from NBC33 in Baton Rouge. Watch the story on NBC33TV.com.

The effort was headed up by Laura Lodge, daughter of the founder, she sent us this recap:

Mr. Don Lodge with two Faith Christian School students and his wife at a graduation celebration.

Faith Christian School began with my parents’ dream to start a Christian school in Gloucester, MA in 1978. There was always something “different” about FCS students. Many people think of the Christian school/Catholic school kids as the “too sheltered, never going to survive life” kind of kids. However, it was my dad’s mission to make sure these kids were exactly the opposite, giving them opportunities to be a part of their community and explore their surroundings on trips all over the east coast.

In the spring of 2009, there were a lot of changes at Faith Christian School. The middle school mainstream teachers were my dad and one other teacher. In March, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, and in April, the other teacher had to go on maternity leave. Throughout this time, students were impacted in ways I am not even sure we completely understand. It was a 25 month battle where many of his students visited, wrote letters, prayed for him, and so much more. All this is to say, this battle with colon cancer was bigger than our family. The significance it had in the lives of his students was huge.

As a teacher, he always pushed his students to think outside the box and outside of themselves. In April of 2011, colon cancer took his physical body from this earth. Nonetheless, we knew we needed to continue to help students to see there is a world outside of their own, a world which we were not exposed to before this 25 month long battle, a world of those hurting, fighting, struggling, persevering, and surviving this thing called colon cancer.

Faith Christian School Dress in Blue Day

In November of 2011, the oldest students in the school, the eighth graders, were given the opportunity to join our family in participating in the Get Your Rear In Gear 5k in Boston.  As a result, we chose to have the whole school participate in “Dress Blue Day” in March. We talked about helping others who are enduring this hard time in their lives and tried to give students an understanding that this is bigger than dressing in blue for the fun of it! Students were challenged to raise $500. For a school of about 45 students in kindergarten to eighth grade, we saw that as an attainable goal that may require some work to reach.  Each class chose what they would do to raise money. Some classes chose to shoot basketballs at a certain donation “price” per basket, while other classes chose to do a one mile walk/run. We were blown away when students raised $946!!

At Faith Christian School, we have chosen to “get our rear in gear” because we have been impacted by a world outside our own, a world we were not exposed to a few years ago, but a world in which we are now committed to making a difference and being an encouragement to those still fighting!

Watch the video from the school.

Get Your Rear in Gear is super proud of these kids and their faculty. A big THANK YOU for your support and efforts.

My name is Kari-Lynn Cermak and 23 years ago my dad had a colonoscopy due to symptoms his doctor was concerned with. That’s when my family’s life was changed. I just turned 4, my dad was still in his 30’s and we got the new my dad “has cancer”. Those words no one forgets hearing, being diagnosed with CANCER. Well it wasn’t just any Cancer it was Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. At the time my dad knew he lost his mother at 5 from cancer (she was in her 20’s) but didn’t know what type. After talking with his father he learned it was Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. That’s when my parents’ worry grew, not only did they know my dad had cancer from the disease his mom died from, but I had a 50 percent chance of having the same disease. I was their only child, their miracle. They were married 14 years before they had me and doctors were amazed my mom had me as they didn’t think she would ever have a successful pregnancy, but I was born, a healthy 10 pounds, 1 ounce, one month overdue baby girl.

My dad had to have multiple surgeries and came close to death many times, but in the end he survived his fight with cancer and he now has a permanent Ostomy.

Doctors told my parents that I had 50 percent chance of having the disease, but they would not test me until I was closer to 20. Well, that was not good enough for them and their battle begun. They wanted to be proactive and know if I had the disease or not. They were told that if I were tested even if I had the disease that I was too young for doctors to see the disease with the scope. They said they never tested a 4 year old before for the disease. Eventually my parents found a doctor at a local Children’s Hospital and a team who were willing to test me. And all the stories about me being too young to see the disease were made false as at 4 years old I was diagnosed with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis. I still remember every doctors appointment before being diagnosed and after. I remember my parents telling me that my tummy was like my dads and one day when I was older I would need surgery like him. My parents always told me the truth.

Every year I would get a colonoscopy and many other tests to see if the disease was spreading or growing. Then one fall day, at 9 years old I went for a scope. I clearly remember going to the hospital to meet my doctor for the results with my parents and my grandmother (on my moms side). The morning of the doctors appointment I remember my parents talking more to me about the possibility of surgery. I remember going to the doctors a little more concerned than before. I needed surgery and not a surgery like my friends were getting at my age for their ears or tonsils, I was getting an organ taken out.

A few weeks later I met with a man who as an adult I admire, Dr. Blair. He was a tall man who anyone I knew had no choice but to look up to but he was so soft and gentle. He got to my height and drew pictures of what he was going to do in the surgery. he made surgery not scary and I remembered being a little scared but excited that he was going to fix me. My parents had concerns because my dad had complications from his surgery that almost killed him and that maybe I would have cancer. Dr. Blair told me he would have the intestine tested for cancer and then if everything was clear I would be fixed.

A few months later, my mom and grandma picked me up after school. I knew something was different because my teacher asked me to stay after class. I was a good student who never had to stay after school. But then I remember him giving me a hug and seeing my mom’s sad looking face and I was told that in the morning I would be on my way for surgery. I was sad, scared of the unknown but I knew I needed this to help me.

At the hospital the staff were amazing. I was told everything they were going to do to me. The day prior to surgery I was took down to a treatment room where 2 nurses explained to me that they were going to put a tube “down my nose and in to my tummy”. I didn’t realize how awful that was, I cried, I gagged and then it was over. It was not the best feeling in the world but it was one step closer to being fixed. That night the nurses let me help them pull the tube out as they wanted me to sleep better without the tube in my nose. Before I went to bed my doctor (Dr. Blair) came in to say good night. He and an ET nurse drew on my tummy where my main scar would go and where my ostomy could go (2 different spots). Dr. Blair drew on a white board what he was going to do inside me (he erased my large intestine, drew in a j-pouch and an ostomy).

The next morning I was awoken very early to take a bunch of pre op medications. I drank a med that burned my throat but knew it was so I wouldn’t look like a balloon after surgery (my vision at 4 when I was told it was to stop swelling). My amazing doctor came in to say good morning and to answer any question I or my family had. My parents slept at the hospital so they were with me and i was taken with them downstairs to the good bye doors. The doors that changed my life, not for the worse but for the better. I remember my parents and I crying as I was scared. The doctors let my parents in until I feel asleep.

While I was under I had no idea that my surgery was taking way longer than it should have and that they ran into complications. My intestine was too short for a colostomy. Dr. Blair and his team had to turn a 3 step surgery into 1. Eventually I woke up during the surgery but the staff were calming and told me I would go back to sleep with some more medication (I was told this could happen as my dad did the same for all of his surgeries).

A few hours later I woke up on the table to a nurse trying very hard to put a hospital gown on me. I refused. It was a blue hospital gown and it was not pretty (my grandma bought me pretty night gowns and i had them all in my room upstairs). I refused and Dr. Blair came over to me and wrapped me with tons of hot blankets. He said I didn’t need any hospital gown if i didn’t want and that I was going to go see my parents in the recovery room. At that time I remember him telling me that he could not give me a ostomy and that i was hooked up normal just like my dad. I remember a bit in the recovery room (my parents and a nurse who I always has after my scopes was there and she always called me sunshine). Eventually I was wheeled up to my room.

My stomach was left open for 7 days in case they needed to go in again as they do not normally do a 7 step procedure and it would help reduce complications. The best part about the surgery besides getting better was that Dr. Blair allowed me to see inside my stomach when it was open during a dressing change. That amazed me. He showed me the different layers and everything. I think that is what made me fall in love with medicine. The worse was every 20 min being moved and the needles. From my hips to my knees and my shoulder to my elbow I was bruised on both sides from needles. My parents never left my side 24 hours a day (My mom only went home 1 night out of my entire stay)

I was standing for the doctors after surgery. I remember forcing Dr. Blair to let me go pee and he gave in. The nurse brought me a bed pan and I told them I wanted to walk. Dr. Blair was on my side and he allowed me with a ton of help to go to the washroom. I needed lots of help. I had 3 IV poles, a wheelchair (in case I changed my mind) a bottle thing for my nose tube to empty into and a couple people to hold onto me as I was still drugged. I walked to the bathroom and back and peed. From that point on there was no stopping me! I walked so much that my parents and medical staff had to force me to rest. I I was originally told that I would be in hospital at least a month. Dr. Blair told my parents if I was home at one month post op it would be a miracle. I went home before the one month.

I didn’t want the mushy baby food so I was bumped to soft food and then to a regular diet before they thought I was have originally. I was bored of home school and finished all my school work a month a head so the doctors gave me permission to finish the school year that June even though I still had a dressing. (They did not plan on me returning before November/December the following school year). I wanted to swim in the pool in my yard (my scar hadn’t fully healed and so Dr. Blair and his team figured out a way I could swim. They got me these large sticky cover that would go over a dressing so I could swim in my pool.  The best advice I was told was from my parents, “You are fixed, and you can do whatever you feel you can”. In school I played on sports teams, and did anything any other child normally does.

Now I am turning 27 this year (In spring it will be 18 years since my surgery). Every 6 months to a year, I go for regular scopes and checkups to make sure I am cancer free and every year I am perfect. Yes I go to the washroom more than anyone else,  I know and I cannot eat all the nuts and popcorn I wish I could, I have scars  (that I am proud of) and, I AM ALIVE AND HEALTHY! As Dr. Blair told me after my surgery that “my J-Pouch was textbook perfect” and he wished he took his camera into the OR to take a picture of it. I have never been in hospital since my surgery (outside of 2 obstructions in my teens). I do everything I dream of and never give up. I never use my J-Pouch or surgery as a reason to stop me. I know I have a risk of colon cancer but why not live my life to the fullest. My dad and I are both lucky to be alive because of a simple scope that many people are too scared to do or scared of the unknown or embarrassed to share their symptoms with a doctor. I wish everyone could be tested and treated as I was as I believe that is why my story is such a success.

I participate in Relay for Life for Cancer every year and remember all my family and friends who lost the fight but I celebrate that night for my parents. technology and doctors who let me be tested and my Dad, my survivor! All this changed my life not for the worse but for the best. I believe it made me closer to my parents and showed me how much life is a gift. I tell adults who are scared to be tested that if any baby can be scoped than they are strong enough too as well. Get checked as it can save your life!

Thank you for listening,

Kari-Lynn Cermak

Return to Faces of Blue

On May 8, of 2009 at the age of 29, I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer that had metastasized to my liver. The tumor was found when my gynecologist felt a mass during my annual pelvic exam. I have three little girls, Mylee, Ava & Adalyn and at the time they were 4, 2 ½ , & 7 months old. My very first thought when I heard the words “you have cancer” was “o’ my gosh, I’m going to die and my little girls are going to grow up without a mother”. My hopes and dreams went from wanting to see them graduate high school, go to college, get married and become mothers themselves to asking God to please at least let me see them go to kindergarten. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I had virtually no symptoms and the few that I did have, I chalked up to the c-section that I had had seven months earlier and stress from our 2 year old who was having health issues of her own. In fact, she had a biopsy just two days before I actually had mine. Thankfully, her results came back differently than mine did.

I couldn’t get the thought of having to leave my husband and three little girls behind out of my head that day. I will never forget that day the rest of my life. I woke up the next morning with a completely different attitude. I wasn’t going to let this disease take away my life that I had worked so hard to make for myself. I wasn’t going to let it take my little girls mommy away from them, even if I was given only a 50% chance of living for another five years…with treatment. I was going to fight with everything in me. So that’s what I did over the next 8 months. I fought hard and I prayed hard. I had to rely on my faith to give me the strength to get through this journey. It gave me hope in what seemed to be a hopeless situation.

The first step in my treatment was to see how bad my tumor was, so I had a colonoscopy 4 days after my diagnosis. My colon surgeon let us know that the tumor was very large, 9 cm to be exact, and it was very advanced. He was afraid if it wasn’t  removed immediately that it was going to obstruct my colon, so surgery (a colon resection) was going to have to come before any kind of chemotherapy. One week
after I was diagnosed, I checked into the hospital and had a foot of my colon removed along with the softball size tumor. I recovered from that very well and three weeks later I started chemotherapy (FolFox). I had twelve rounds, one every other week for six months. Before each round I would pray that the medicine would do its job and that it wouldn’t get me down. My prayers were answered because it worked tremendously well and I had little to no side effects. For the most part I was able to still be the mommy and wife that I love being.

We were blessed with so much support during this time, including friends and family who would cook for us on my “on” weeks so that I didn’t have to worry about it. The chemotherapy worked unbelievably well. After just 3 rounds it shrunk the tumors on my liver 80%. I was told that that was above average results and I was so happy to hear that. After the last round it had shrunk the tumors a total of about 95%.

At this point my oncologist thought I was ready for a liver resection so he referred me to a local liver surgeon. I had to go through extensive tests, blood tests and scans to determine whether my body was ready for the surgery. When we met with the surgeon he explained that this procedure was 10 times more serious than open heart surgery and that they would have to remove 75% of my liver. Thank God the liver is one of only two organs that actually regenerates. He explained that the recovery would be about a six month process and we really wouldn’t know for sure if I would have enough liver left to live until after the surgery. I was again filled with all of the emotions that I felt at the beginning of my cancer journey.

My 3 beautiful little girl’s faces flashed in front of me again and I worried that they would have to grow up without me once more. I remember wondering if I should write them letters that they could read when they got older just in case I wasn’t around to tell them all the things that I wanted to say to them. When I would start to think those thoughts a little voice would tell me to stop and I would have a peaceful feeling come over me. I knew I was going to be okay. I had to be.

We scheduled the Liver resection for January 7, 2010. I went in that morning more nervous than I think I have ever been. I remember lying down on the operating table, not knowing what the next few hours, weeks or months would hold for me and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room and heard my sister say “does she know they were able to get it all out?”. I was very loopy, but I caught that.

I stayed cancer free for about 8 months. I went in for my second routine scan in August of 2010 and a small 1.6 cm spot showed up on my liver again. Hearing this news was like being hit by a truck once more. It really wasn’t a surprise, as we knew there was a good possibility the cancer would show up again. However, it’s not any easier hearing the news for the second time. I again had to go through additional scans and tests to make sure this was the only spot of cancer in my body. After the scans, there was a questionable spot on my thyroid. I had a biopsy a few days later and it was determined that that spot was not cancer, thankfully. At this point we scheduled another liver resection to remove the spot. I had that surgery on September 10, 2010.

I recovered for three weeks and started chemotherapy (Fol Furi) again. We had a plan to complete 8 rounds of a different type of chemo than I received before. I went in for the first round, expecting it to be similar as before. My body reacted to this chemo very differently than the previous mixture. I got very ill almost immediately. I was sick for 9 days straight. It was one of the most difficult times of my life. I would lay in bed and could hear the rest of my family getting on with life in the other room. It was very hard to lay there and not be able to play with my girls or take care of them the way I wanted to. Thankfully, we added additional nausea medicine and the other rounds were much better.

I completed my last round of chemo on January 24, 2011. My last scan was on June 27, 2011 and all was clear. I am now in remission once more. I pray that this is the end of my journey with cancer. It has forever changed my life and those around me, but I honestly don’t think I would change a thing.

Throughout my cancer journey, I have learned a lot about myself and about life in general. I learned how strong I can be and how precious every moment is that we are given. The little things that used to bother me, aren’t a big deal anymore. It’s okay if my girls leave the house without a bow in their hair. I thank God every morning before I get out of bed for blessing me with yet another day to spend with those that I love.

I’ve been referred to as a “miracle”, which by definition is a wonder; marvel. I feel like a walking miracle. I am so happy to be alive. I live everyday as if there is no tomorrow. I tell people how I feel, I give my girls hugs every chance I get and tell them that I love them. I could not have gotten through this time without such an awesome support system, my wonderful husband who stood right by my side the entire time, and other family and friends that rallied behind me and were there from the very first step and still continue to be there. Life is a gift and I plan to treat it as if it were the best gift I have ever received … because it is!

Return to Faces of Blue

I woke up and as soon as I saw the doctor I knew it was bad. He had such a look of despair and heartbreak in his eyes. It was rectal cancer. My first thoughts were how would I survive? Is surviving even possible? There is really no words to describe what it feels like to hear you have cancer. I think back on it now and it reminds me of a game of jacks. Remember how you would toss the ball so high and try to scoop up all the jacks before the ball dropped? Cancer was the ball and all the little pieces of my life, of me as a young woman, were the jacks. I wanted to have all of those little pieces of my life before cancer ruined it.

I started treatment right away, I had tumor shrinking that needed to be done. I opted to do 6 weeks of chemo and radiation first. My tumor was very low and very large, at the time of diagnosis all my physicians thought I would ultimately end up with a permanent colostomy bag. There was no way that could happen. I could not imagine my life with that stupid bag! Treatment wasn’t easy. The chemo made me sick. I went to the oncologist office Monday and was infused for 5 hours with Oxalyplatin. When that was done, they hooked me up with an extremely fashionable fanny back that contained the 5-FU that would be constantly pushed through my veins 24 hours a day until I was disconnected Friday! 5-FU? Are you kidding, so I figured it meant 5 days of feeling really f***ed up! I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t touch anything cold, and I lost the feeling in my hands and feet. I just kept trying to tell myself I needed to do this so I wouldn’t need the bag. I also found out that I tested positive for a mismatched mutated gene, I had Lynch Syndrome. That explains why I was diagnosed at such a young age. Radiation, for me, was harder then chemo. My skin was so irritated and raw. The pain was intense. I learned that sitting in a warm bath every night would help.

I had a great response to my treatment. My surgeon at Sloan Kettering was very impressed. I chose Sloan because I heard they did surgical procedures that prevented a colostomy bag. My surgeon advised that he believed he could put me back together again, but he couldn’t guarantee that my quality of life would be what it should. He was afraid this procedure, a j-pouch, would leave me with urgency,frequency and incontinence issues. He thought I would end up wasting my life sitting at home so I could be close to the bathroom. I needed to choose, to bag or not to bag, that was the question. Guess what? I bagged! 6 hours later, I left the operating room a completely different woman, minus several items I went in with. Due to the Lynch, it was decided I should also have a total hysterectomy, since my risk of uterine and ovarian cancer were greater higher than the normal average.

So here I am almost three years post diagnosis and going into my second year of being cancer free. I don’t always agree with that term, because even when it is gone, I personally don’t ever think I will be free. Having cancer is a life altering event. My advice to anyone going through their own cancer journey, is easy. A cancer diagnosis takes hold of everything in your life. People are telling you where to go, when to be there, what to eat and what to think. Own your feelings, they are the only thing that truly belongs to you! If you are mad, be mad! If you want to cry, then cry! Scream if it makes you feel better!  The bag has left me with a permanent reminder of my cancer. There is not one day that I can forget. So, I got tired of their only being scars or the bag to remind me. I took control again and on Saturday February 4, 2012, World Cancer day, I got a survivor blue ribbon tattoo! My terms cancer…..my terms! This reminder was made permanent by me!

Get your Rear in Gear is an amazing way to spread awareness for this treatable disease. Get screened. For me in means get moving folks! Do what needs to be done to save your life. Don’t be ashamed, talk about your body and all the things it tries to tell you at the first sign of not feeling well. Also know your family history and discuss it with your doctors. The ass you save may be your own.

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