On Tuesday, November 28, 2023 I had a portion of my colon containing cancerous growth removed at the exact same spot another cancerous growth was removed almost exactly one year earlier. The surgery was successful and I am well on my way through recovery.
Just so you know: There was a blood leak which caused my hemoglobin to be low. A new tumor was discovered by the colonoscopy done to check for the blood leak. Yes the two colon cancers are the same strain. Yes, I have also had kidney and prostate cancer. Yes, some sort of treatment, chemo or immunotherapy is in my future.
What I am writing about is the fear surrounding the word cancer. The point I want to make is that the anxiety caused by the fear of cancer is not helpful. Caught early cancer is most often not a death sentence. On the other hand, if fear causes you to not get checked out, that anxiety can be fatal.
Being periodically checked for signs of cancer is the best defense. If you feel a change in your body, get it checked out. Advocate for yourself. Encourage those you know to get checked out whenever they feel something amiss. “Oh, it’s probably nothing”, is not a good enough reason to forgo getting checked out.
Cancers can be deadly. Over a half million Americans die of cancer every year. Most every adult knows someone and many of us know more than one person who has died from cancer. Cancer can be a slow and painful death. Not all, but many of those deaths, could have been avoided if the person had been checked out earlier than they were.
Everyone of us will die at some point. Death is a fact of life. There is always a cause of death and in many cases that cause was unavoidable. We leave a mark when we pass, you will be missed. Missed a lot. Be proactive about cancer.
This was my fourth cancer removal surgery. First was kidney cancer December 2019, then prostate cancer April 2020 and then colon cancer on November 29, 2022. All required surgery through my abdomen. As surgeries go this last one was routine and the least painful. Yes, my belly looks like a war zone.
Surgeries are stressful. They are not fun. The routine in my cases included blood work, CT scans, colonoscopy, biopsies and an x-ray. Call from the doctor telling you the results. Surgery is then scheduled, a pre-op physical, then prep for surgery including stopping certain meds, eating or not eating certain foods, the hospital check-in, surgery prep, visit from anesthesiologist, a visit from the surgeon, blood draws, tubes being connected and vitals being checked.
I get wheeled into the surgery which looks nothing like surgeries look on TV. There are lots of machines, several people and people coming in or going out. It is not a huge empty room. People are talking to you and to each other.
The anesthesiologist technician says are you ready to count down. I say yes and before I even start counting down, I’m out. The next thing I know, I’m waking up in recovery. Time passes as I fade in and out of consciousness during the process of coming to. Soon I’m wheeled to my room.
Cancer is a scary word. The dictionary defines cancer as, “a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body.” Not all cancers are the same. Cancers can form on most any part of your body. In fact there are often different types of cancers that can form on any given part of your body.
I’m never sure how to talk about my cancer journey. All of my cancers were discovered and dealt with early. Serious disease but I never was told I was in immediate danger of death.
With one kidney, my hemoglobin is a bit lower than normal so I get tired a bit faster than I would with two kidneys. Without a prostate, I need to wear a pad because I can leak a bit of urine when I do things like pick something off the floor. With a shorter colon the poop doesn’t dry as much so your pooping is different. Not worse, just different.
The biggest change in my life because of cancer has been because when your abdomen is cut open and sewn back together, there is a ten pound lifting restriction for six to eight weeks. In addition as one heals they get tired. Multiply this restriction times four over a period of four years.
In addition, each cancer requires several doctor visits immediately before and after the surgery. Then periodic doctor visits every six months. It gets hard to put the cancer in the rear view mirror because you get asked about your cancer a lot by well intended people and the professionals hired to keep you safe.
On the other hand, I’m alive even though I’ve had four cancers, any of which would have killed me if they had not been caught early. I am just plain lucky in one sense. However, I’ve also been proactive when something is not quite right.
So this is me being done preaching about cancer. I hope you do not have to deal with cancer. If you feel something is a bit weird or not quite right, get it checked out. If it is nothing you wasted an hour or two. If it is something you’ve added years to your life.
The closer you look the more you see.