On April 18, 2000 I was wheeled, on a gurney, down a hallway in Mt.Sinai hospital and into the Operating Room.I remember being very nervous and my legs were shaking. A nurse came with a warm blanket and put it onto my legs. It felt good and they stopped shaking. I was operated on for 7 1/2 hours. The cancer tumor was removed from my colon and several other parts that it had invaded went too. I was 50 years old and I have not missed any of those parts. I have learned to live with a colosotmy. It is at most a minor inconvenience and in some respects a plus.
I have not had any recurence of the cancer. For ten years I went for a CT scan and a meeting with the oncologist at Mt.Sinai. Every time I came out, after the meeting and learning I was cancer free, I would walk out the door, look up to the sky, and give thanks for being alive.
There is nothing like facing a potential ‘end of life’ to put things in perspective ! I know that many other cancer survivors feel the same.
Finally, I want to say, and I say this every year, if you are faced with a surgery that will result in you having a permanent colostomy then do not hesitate to go ahead and have the surgery. It could save your life as it did mine. Do you remember Farah Fawcett? She was a tv star in the Charlies Angels series and was a pin up star in the 1970s. If you would like to know more about her click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrah_Fawcett
Farah Fawcett chose not to have an ostomy and died in 2009 at the age of 62. I would have died too but now I am officially a “Bag Lady” and happy to still be here heading to my 74 Birthday in June.
I have lived to see both of my children reach adulthood and both now successfull in their careers. I have lived to see my Gransdon born. I was in the room when he squawked his first squawk. Life began! I have lived to see many wonderful things. I have the surgical teams at Mt .Sinai and my ostomy to thank for that.
“I discovered to my joy, that it is life, not death, that has no limits” Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Mt Sinai hospital, Toronto, is the tall building on the left.
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