I just did my six month cancer FREE (in remission) follow up and colonoscopy….and ALL is well. Back in August (2018) I was declared cancer FREE or NED…..short for No Evidence of Disease. I didn’t have a bell to ring after all my chemotherapy or, a pat on the tush for getting through the radiation treatments, nor did I get a present for getting through the robotic LAR surgery or the final ileostomy reversal surgery.
Instead, I got a “hey congrats, you’re all done” from the oncology team and a “have fun with all… that” from the surgical team when it came time to potty train myself all over again after my ileostomy reversal surgery.
So, after six months of being cancer free I got a “bend over and take it up the tail pipe” inspection with a camera (first) and then, a physical / full cavity search with the surgeon’s hand and oh, let’s not forget the six month colonoscopy.
I swear, I had more pain and discomfort at six months than I did throughout my year and a half cancer journey. I mean, why ALL the inspections? It’s ONLY been six months….what are they expecting to find? Something left behind from one the surgeries? Trust me, after only six months, you aren’t gonna find anything important. You don’t even have time to grow a new cancerous polyp for gosh-sakes.
So, they told me my blood labs were perfect, my CEA is a solid 5.0 and my colonoscopy only yielded a small tiny polyp that actually turned out to be NOT a polyp but a skin tag or, fleshy nodule as the technician called it.
So, aside from making a ton of dough and pushing my “out of pocket” expenses past most college students loan debt, there really isn’t much there….okay, playing it safe rather than sorry, I get it but, seriously??? Again, we’re only SIX month into this. UGH
So anyway, not much to report, I’ll be okay once my new rectal column heals from all the “personal touches”…..you know that saying, “Rectum? …..dang near killed em”. LOL
So hopefully the one year follow up go a bit more smoothly and I have more to report. I have an upcoming appointment for “medical marijuana”, an upcoming appointment for genetic testing to test for “Lynch Syndrome” and more CTs and a PET scan to make sure that cancer isn’t hangn’ out in/on my lungs, kidneys, liver, bladder or anywhere else.
Other than that, I’m in the process of creating a new website / blog called FightingCRC which will also yield a video podcast that I will post on the new FightingCRC YouTube channel, iTunes and everywhere else you see podcasts these days.
My goal is to provide valuable information to cancer patients, other survivors, caregivers and healthcare professionals looking to gain additional insight into the CRC community.
I will also setup a Facebook page and private group for those individuals but I’m not sure how well that will be received since there are so many great sites/groups already on Facebook. Guess we’ll see how it goes. But the video podcast should be a big hit and the Instagram stories/TV should do pretty good as well.
So….. there’s a lot going on and enough projects to keep me pretty busy for quite a while so, we’ll see how things go and I’ll try to keep you all posted and up-to-date with my weekly posts and monthly recap newsletters.
Thanks again for checking out my website / blog and social media sites, I really appreciate it and, don’t forget to buy a cool Sarzoza.Net t-shirt or ball cap or thong for that special “someone” this Christmas season. LOL
Hope all is well and, have yourself a wonderful day! –JR