You're kidding right?

I'm not real good at expressing myself in writing. Words come out the way I talk and don't always make sense but I'm going to give this a try.
As most of you know in November of 2011 Scott was diagnosed with Renal (kidney) cancer. It had already spread to the bone in his hips. He had his right kidney removed and then for the next year underwent multiple treatments. His blog is scottsjourneyandrecovery@blogspot.com but he hasn't posted any updates in a while. 2012 was a blur but we made it through and he's a rock and is stable at the moment. He continues to do as much as he can, working, play cards, projects around the house, and riding his Harley whenever possible.

So now to me. Even before Scott was diagnosed I started having trouble with my stomach. I've always had a little nervous stomach and just kept thinking things would get better. I self diagnosed myself (bad idea) with IBS because of my symptoms. This went on for over 2 years (bad idea). My symptoms continued to get worse and I lost about 40 lbs. during all of this time. I had been scheduled for a colonoscopy just before Scott was diagnosed and I cancelled it thinking it would make my upset stomach even worse (another bad idea), then Scott was diagnosed and I just kept dealing with the symptoms.

Fast forward to 2013. In February I finally had the colonoscopy or at least tried to. They found a tumor in my colorectal area and couldn't get past it with the scope to complete the colonoscopy. Needless to say this was surreal to both Scott and me. I immediately switched all of my care to Emory Winship Cancer Center. That's where Scott is being treated and if you have to deal with Cancer I sincerely believe it's the best place in Georgia to be. So now we're driving to Emory for me and not Scott, he's the one sitting in the waiting room while I have MRI's, CT's, labs, etc. Again surreal!

Treatment Plan: I started radiation in late March.  28 treatments for about 10 seconds, 5 days a week. I was also taking an oral medication. Once I completed treatments I waited about 6 weeks to give my body time to recover before having the surgery to remove the tumor.
On June 19 I had surgery to remove the tumor. It was successful (all tumor removed) and nothing showed up in any of the 16 lymph nodes they tested. Now it's time to recover..... well not so fast. My surgery was major (over 7 hours) and that takes a lot out of you. My surgeon is Dr. Marie Russell, and she is awesome. Of all the doctors I have dealt with at Emory she is my favorite. All of a sudden you don't have energy for even little things. I spent 5 days in the hospital and then went home to recover. The type of surgery I had calls for what they call a resection of the colon and area that was removed. They need to give that area time to heal so they do what's called an Ileostomy. (I'll let you look that up if you want more specifics.) My type of Cancer also calls for additional treatments after surgery to give me the best chance of no re-occurrence. I started taking the same oral medication, Xeloda August 6, that I took during the radiation just at a higher dose. I seem to tolerate it well with very few side effects.  I will take it for 4 months, 2 weeks on and 1 week off. Once I have completed the treatments I wait about 6 weeks (again to give my body time to recover) and then I have the surgery to remove the Ileostomy and connect my colon back. Boy all of that's a mouthful right....... Then I should really be on my road to recovery.

When you hear someone has cancer, unless you have been through it yourself or know someone personally who has, you really have no idea what they are going through.
The patient and their caregiver have to keep going..... work, shopping, cleaning, daily functions, family and friends, trying to be as normal as possible while dealing with everything that is involved with a serious illness. When both you and your spouse have Cancer, well you say a lot of prayers, know GOD has a sense of humor, and walk through it day by day.

While I was out of work and Scott was to be home with me.... let me back up for a second... my sister Teresa spent 10 days with us. From the night of my surgery until Friday June 28 when she went home, she didn't leave my side, she stayed with me nights at the hospital and came home with Scott and I to help take care of me. She was a life saver! She took care of things I couldn't during those first 2 weeks! I love you sis!

So while I was going to be out of work and we were both going to be around the house, Scott and I decided before my surgery that we would have our much awaited new deck built. Most of you know we bought a 1978 2 story brick traditional 15 years ago that had had no updates done to it and we have spent most of the last 15 years renovating it. Completely renovated basement, new kitchen (for someone who doesn't cook much) but the kitchen is beautiful, opened up walls, hardwoods, slate in kitchen, renovated bathrooms, etc. etc. Our last big project was a patio with a beautiful stone seat wall and swing under the screen porch.  Then last year (during Scott's treatments) we put a trey ceiling in our master bedroom and finished off with a sitting area (removed closets) and built in's for the DVD's and my scrapbooking and bead projects, finished off with a nice flat screen so we have plenty of floor space in the bedroom now. My brother in law Steve and nephew Tyler took direction from Scott and did an awesome job on that project!
So now back to the deck.... They started work on the deck the day after I came home from the hospital. Tore the old deck off in no time and started on the new. While we were at it Scott had the bright idea to increase the size of our screen porch. This is an awesome idea because we and the cats really enjoy the screen porch. Did I mention the deck is almost twice the size of the old one?
Now as most of you know Scott is a Structural Engineer , go Georgia Tech! and a bit of a control nut. I may have the only deck in Cobb County that is built strictly to code! The project has taken longer than anticipated (always with any renovation project) but it is almost done! We still have a few finishing things to do and we have had a brand new hot tub sitting in our garage for over a year that I can't wait to enjoy! Doing this project was a little stressful at times, all the rain didn't help and getting contractors, for screens, gutters, electrical, etc. to show up is always a challenge but Scott took most of it in stride. He was very hands on during this project and it kept him occupied while he needed to stay close to me. I will post pictures later.....

I return to work September 3. I am stronger than before my surgery, appetite is much better, and I am looking forward to getting back to my normal routine. Not sure when my last surgery for the resection will be, at the very end of the year or maybe even January. I will be out a couple of weeks with that and then really should be on my road to recovery......

So, there's a lot to read here I know. Some of this pertains to Cancer and some of the things a person deals with and some of it is personal regarding Scott and myself. If you want to share with anyone you think it might help please feel to do so.
 
In ending for now.... colon cancer is a very curable disease especially when caught early, do I wish I hadn't cancelled that colonoscopy in 2011? maybe, but then we might have been dealing with Scott and me at the same time and maybe that was more than GOD thought we could handle at the time. I do highly recommend NOT to self diagnose yourself, especially when symptoms of any kind linger for too long.

Questions, comments, please let me know.

Love and prayers to all,

Sheryl