Thursday, March 12, 2009

Takin' the "port" out of Portnova...



Chad took this of me right before the procedure.Thumbs up!

So today I have come full circle in my cancer journey. I had my port a cath removed. For those who may not know it is where they infused chemo, took my blood and once off chemo, flushed it every 6 weeks. Before we even got to the office I was so nervous that all I could do was pee! And even when we got there I had to pee again! I just sat there in the waiting room asking God to pour his peace over me and settle my nerves. Every other procedure done to me in the past, I've been knocked out. Once the procedure started, It felt like forever for my surgeon to take it out. I was numbed really well and didn't feel a thing! I could have kept it as a souvenir but decided not to...one memory I don't mind letting go of:-) Both he and I had a chuckle over the Today Show and this man jumping out of a helicopter onto a huge marlin(in the ocean) and holding on to (it was a seriously CRAZY sight!)Later his P.A came in, and then I realized who she was. She was the one who pulled out(felt more like ripped out) my J-port tubing after my colon surgery! That hurt so bad, but she did do a good job distracting me by having me talk to the ostomy nurse at the time. WHAT A JOURNEY this has been. Now I'm port-free!

Sunday, March 01, 2009

I'm a BELLA GIRL !


Oh! I'm so EXCITED! In this month's Bella Magazine, a free publication that is distributed throughout the Roanoke Valley,Southwest Virginia and beyond, I'm featured as one of the women in the community, which they call 'Bella Girl'. I had contacted them and showed interest in sharing my colon cancer story in the March issue because that is Colon Cancer awareness month. At the last minute they were able to squeeze me in as a Bella Girl and answered a couple of questions pertaining to my cancer journey. It's not a full page article(well kinda it's full page!), but I hope those who read it will understand that cancer does not discriminate. I know that all cancers are terrible, but I hope that I have brought awareness to the one cancer that deserves recognition, because it is the 2nd cancer killer in America, yet it's the one cancer that can be prevented through early screenings.