A Short Update

2018 has been a hard year. I was hoping 2019 would be better, but it will still be a challenge for at least the first 4 or 5 months.

I hope to post soon of my official diagnosis which has been changed quite a few times and it actually pretty interesting. But for now, just a quick overview of my the last 12 months of my life...

• November 2017 - I had a colonoscopy because of some issues I was having.

• December 15, 2017 - Diagnosed with colon cancer.

• January 2018 - tests, tests, more tests

• January 18, 2018 - colon resection surgery (At this surgery, it was determined that the cancer was actually colo-rectal cancer and that it was more extensive than at first thought. In addition to not removing all the cancer at surgery, the hospital pathology lab lost pieces of the tissue so not everything was able to be tested.)

• February - March - healing from surgery and finding a new medical team

• March/April/May/June - tests, tests, more tests, the wrong tests, yet more tests

• August 1, 2018 - very invasive surgery at University of Maryland. I lost more of my colon, a tiny bit more of my rectum, had some muscle damage fixed and had my ovaries removed. I ended up with a temporary ileostomy and spent a few days in Shock Trauma ICU. 

• August 2018 - healing at home and getting official diagnosis of cancer. 

• September/October 2018 - Radiation and Chemo Pills for 31 days. (5 days a week for six weeks and one day.)

• November 2018 - healing and resting at home

What's Next?

• Another round of chemo, most likely pills for three months.

• Ileostomy reversal surgery, likely spring on 2019.

• WHO KNOWS?

I hope to keep posting here as the process of writing is good for my chemo brain. I might not be as interesting as I wish to be, but at least I'm writing something!