So said Dr. S two weeks ago after something like an emergency colonoscopy. On Jan 15 I had to go to the ER with some serious bleeding from where one shouldn’t normally see blood. It had been going on for a few days and seemed to be getting worse. Now we knew the reason why.
In a major way, the bleeding was an early warning that something was wrong. The doctors said that even though the cancer was present, it was too early to be bleeding like that. What was interesting was that the symptoms were nearly identical to that of my mother’s colon cancer of about two decades ago. Anatomically, it was in the same place and what tipped them off was what they called “early bleeding.” She had a sigmoid resection, took a little pill for a while and is now twenty years removed from the event.
On Jan 25, Dr Z performed the sigmoid resection on me. I have about twenty inches of incision down the middle of my gut. The nurses thought it cute that Dr Z went around my belly button leaving me that part of my anatomy. It seemed a rather large cut to me, but he wanted to be able to look around inside and see if it spread anywhere. It didn’t, and he says my lymph is clear. So things look good and I’ll be going to an oncologist this week to see what, if any, follow-up is necessary. I hear they are a cautious lot, so I’m guessing there will be a pill to take, but probably no serious chemo, for which I’m very thankful.
It’s all somewhat surreal to me. In three weeks, I have had cancer, had it cut out, and am now into the recovery period of some six to twelve weeks. Now I have it, now I don’t. Anyone besides me think that a bit strange?
It’s not like the first time I have had to face my own mortality. I’m not afraid to die. I’ve come to enjoy life and living and would like to stick around for a little while longer. Now, by God’s Grace, I intend to.
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