The news....

So, I just returned home from the doctor. He walked into the room and a knot took over my stomach. I had been nervous ever since the surgery. I had sleepless nights, pain, stress, and worry. It all came down to this one moment. What he was about to say made all the difference in the world to me. It was one of those surreal moments where you knew your life was about to change one way or another, and there was nothing you could do to stop it. It's like slow motion time that you see in the movies, where the guy is dodging the bullets and he is watching them ripple through the atmosphere passed his head. I could feel my heart beating, I could hear myself breathing, and I was frozen solid where I sat.

He gave the usual American "Hey how are you guys doing?" then his face turned serious.

"Uh oh, here it goes", I thought.

"A very good report." He said it without really looking up at all, he was opening up the pathology report. He moved his chair closer to us. He pointed to a page that was written entirely in greek. I thought it was weird they had a report in a different language, but one thing made perfect sense to me; one thing I could understand. He pointed to a spot on the page and all I saw was a letter and a number that changed everything. T1. "That's the key" he said.

Because it was T1, the procedure we did was all the more reasonable. It's what you would normally do for a T1. The ultrasound had overshot the diagnosis. It wasn't a T2 after all. A miracle. He said they removed all of it. All of the margins surrounding the cancer they removed came back negative. This is despite the fact the margins were much smaller than normal (because of the position of my cancer). A miracle. I won't need another operation. A miracle. And I'm 100% cancer free. A miracle.

I am 28 years old. I still have 22 years before I would have gotten my first scope. 22 Years for the cancer to grow, for the cancer to change, and for the cancer to kill me. I was 22 years early finding this. 22 Years. My kids could possibly all have been married. We'd be living in a home who knows where. And this news would have devastated us. Now it won't.

A sinus infection saved my life.

A sinus infection.

Blessings in disguise are all around us. It has taught me not to jump so fast to decide things that happen to me are bad. Things that happen to us, are for a reason. Sometimes we don't even know. This was obvious to me, which provides a great learning experience. An eye opener. Something to sink my teeth into. But subtle things in our lives may go unnoticed as blessings in disguise. Be careful what you are cursing over.

What if you are running late for work? It's okay. Because had you been on time you may have been hit by the semi truck that ran the red light 5 minutes earlier.

What if you are denied the loan for the new home? It's okay, because that home burned down due to an electrical failure 1 year later. You were lucky not to be in it.

What if you get a sinus infection that in turn causes C Difficile; a nasty case that won't go away. And you have to take 500mg of Vancomicin 3 times a day, and continue tapering off of it for 6 weeks. All this after 3 other medications, and failed treatments spanning a time period of over 2 months. It's okay....because you had cancer, and you found it only because it happened. And you won't have to worry about it when you turn 50. You won't have to make that phone call to tell your children you have stage 3 or 4 colon cancer, and that things are going to get really rough. I won't have to. I won't. All because someone gave me a bug, that gave me a sinus infection.

I'm cancer free. I won.





As for what happens now?

Well in 3 months I'll need to give blood. And I'll need to do that ever 3 months for a year. Then give the blood annually for the following 5 years. This to see if the cancer somehow has gotten to my liver.

I'll need another scope in a year, and then two years after that another. Then every 5 years for the rest of my life. This is because I have a 30% chance of growing another polyp.

I am going to be meeting with Oncologist to determine if I need any further treatment for the cancer itself. Dr Foley (surgeon) said he really doesn't think I'll need any radiation and chemotherapy. In fact he went as far as saying that I should seek a second opinion if the Oncologist recommends it. He believes the benefits don't outweigh the risks due to the success of the surgery.

In a week Dr Foley has cleared me to go back to work on the 4th (the 3rd is my normal day off). My life will get back to normal. No more bacterial infection. No more cancer. And a nice and strong immune system (something I've been without for probably the last 5-7 years). My life should actually be better than it was before. I'll feel better. I'll be better. I'll live better.

It came. We fought. I won.

And if it wants a round two...I'll be ready.