#4 Jun 25^th  part 2

Because I’ve had a sedative the hospital requires that someone pick me up from the floor after the procedure.  Mike has been to visit his mom at the other hospital, and now he’s downstairs in the car, waiting for a parking spot so he can come to the 4^th floor to collect me.  It actually takes quite a bit of convincing, but I’m finally allowed to walk myself to the elevator so I can go out to meet my hubby.  I know - Liability!

That evening we go to celebrate the grade 8 graduation of twin daughters of our long time friends.  I put on a pretty good face. I keep my fears and concerns in check.  No way do I want to spoil their day, nor am I ready to share my medical details, at least not yet.

Jun 26^th

I’m a real estate sales representative and as such I have to maintain my license with regular classes and upgrades.  Today is the day for a 4 hour session at the local ice rink meeting room.  It’s time to sit and listen to someone tell us all about their field of expertise, or something vaguely similar.  Enough said. This afternoon, however, is being spent with a retired couple who plan to move here from Toronto so they can be closer to their children and grandchildren.  This is much more fun than sitting in class.  We tour around town and view several prospective homes.  We talk wants and needs for their new place, budget, location; all the things that make a difference to them.  Oh, by the way, these are the grandparents of the grad twins.  Small world!

I am waiting to hear something about the pathology report on the items removed during the colonoscopy.  The doctor suggests if I don’t hear anything in a couple of weeks it means they found nothing notable.  

#3 Jun 25^th

9 a.m. and my tummy feels so empty, and I’m really quite nervous about this.   Mike is supportive, but he doesn’t know what he can do for me, if anything.  I get dressed in the sexy open back gown and lay down on the appointed stretcher.  The staff here are kind-spoken, which helps a lot, and I receive an I.V. for the promised sedative.  Tick, tick, tick, it seems like a lot of waiting, but finally it’s my turn.  They wheel me into the procedure room, and there’s that overhead monitor again!

An I.V. is started, the tube is inserted and this time navigated by yet another tech.  A nice, pristine white colon is on screen.  Good job Judith!  Inch by inch they proceed and then they inject some air.  Ooops, I felt that.  In goes more sedative; aahh, that’s better.  Take a picture here, stop and examine something else there - this is a breeze!  I feel no pressure with the drugs in my veins, so I say, “Have at it, no issues with me!  I’m feeling fine.”

We go past the mutant polyp then up across the top of the intestine and down the other side.  Nothing much to see, just lots of folds and wrinkles.  Now the fun begins.  They backtrack to the site of interest and take more pictures.  Then this little metal loop comes out of the end of the rubber tube and lassoes that wiggling, jiggling mass.  Next thing I know the errant polyp is being removed from my body and imprisoned in a little labelled jar.  We go on to the next one.  It’s a bit smaller and not at all colourful, but they snare it as well and into the jar it goes.  This continues a couple of times more on small white bumps of interest.  Did I mention how thankful I am that the colon has no pain receptors?  The metal loop actually uses electricity to burn off the tissue and cauterize the wound.  Now that is really kind of neat!  A few minutes later I get dressed. Done!

#2b 

Polyps are not usually a threat at that size.  And then, about half way up the sigmoid section they discovered two rather large polyps on stems; like little mushrooms.  The second one was unusually large on the monitor, very irregular in shape and multi-coloured.  My heart skipped a beat; this couldn’t be a good thing.  In my mind I knew it was something really, REALLY, bad, but I refused to think about it.  The tech’s comment was, “You’re lucky you had this done today.”

The doctor was called in to see the spectacle of this mutant polyp.  He concurred with, “I’ll bet you’re glad you came in.” and then to the tech, "Get her back in within a month."  The tube was taken out; I got dressed and waited for my husband in the waiting room; colonoscopy and polypectomy pamphlet in hand.

The next week I received a call to book my colonoscopy for June 25^th. This is a little more involved.  No solid food was allowed the whole day before the procedure and I had to drink a gallon of nasty, foul-tasting liquid to cleanse my system.  Starting in the evening I had to drink an 8-ounce glass of the concoction every hour until half the container was empty.  In the morning I was supposed to finish the other half.  My gag reflex kicked in about 2 glasses from the bottom and I promptly dumped the rest of it down the sink. By now I was passing clear liquid every few minutes and I didn’t think there was anything left to clean out, but a Fleet enema completed the prep and off we went to the hospital again. 

Mike had to drive.  I wasn’t allowed to drive myself as mild sedation is given for a colonoscopy.  It involves all of the large intestine and is therefore a little more uncomfortable.  Actually, with the sedation, this process went much more smoothly and with considerably less discomfort than the sigmoidoscopy had.  Go figure!   

#2 

My name is Judith - 
Judy to my family and long time friends, and now, in 2013, I have reached the respectable (???) age of 61.  My journey may have started many years ago (for all anyone can tell) but what I’m recording here is details since early spring of this year.

My husband, Mike, and I have 3 children, all grown.  Our family physician has been looking after our medical issues for several years - not that we have had that many.  When we turned 50 she asked us to take part in a fecal occult blood-testing program.  We simply picked up a package at the office, took very small smear samples of our stool for a couple of days and sent it off to a lab to test for blood.  Every year we have received a letter stating that both of us were clear, no blood and no concerns. 

This spring we receive another type of letter from our doctor asking us to both have a sigmoidoscopy. This is not a major procedure, but you do have to prepare your body a little bit.  In our case it was no solids before the procedure, a Fleet enema first thing in the morning, and then another administered one hour before our scheduled appointment.  We tend to do a lot of things together, so I booked our appointments back to back on May 28^th.  That way we could maximize our time at the hospital.  I went first.

Yes, it is a little uncomfortable having your posterior exposed, larger than life, on the overhead monitor while a lady tech introduces a rubber tube containing a light and camera into your anus.  It isn’t actually painful (your bowel has pressure receptors but none for pain), but when they blow in air to facilitate passage of the tube, it sure is noticed!  As the procedure advances up the side of my intestine, the tech points out a few small, white bumps . . .   Polyps. 

#1 "The Big C"

“The Big C”

     Everyone, including yours truly, shudders to think of the word “CANCER” and all of the surrounding implications.  Originally this story was going to be called “My Journey” but I soon realized that this cancer has affected more people than I thought.  It’s not all about “me” and my cancer, but more about our family, our friends, our co-workers and our support groups. 

     This cancer became a part of our life early this spring, May 2013, and I thought I would share some of my experiences, thoughts and feelings throughout this very emotional journey.

    There might be times when I use a little too much detail and graphic description, but this will be amply forewarned for those with a more delicate disposition. Watch for an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the segment; if you tend to be a bit on the squeamish side, you might want to just scroll down to the next segment.  I probably won’t post pictures, as there are more than enough of them online now, but I do welcome comments and related experiences from those who have had a similar procedure.  

It helps to know you’re not alone!