This is my story from 3 months ago. 7 chemo treatments down but many more to go. This campaign is mostly for me to pay for cremation in advance and take one less worry off of my son at the end. I am not good at asking for help but since I am on social security, saving up for something like this is real hard! “It’s funny how quickly life can throw you a curveball and completely change the course of your life. Sometimes, it’s not so funny…
Earlier this year, I had contracted coronavirus and dealt with some of the typical after-effects of it. Eventually, dealing with the tingling, lightheadedness and general fatigue sent me to the hospital, where I spent several days undergoing testing. The diagnosis was bloodclots, one of which was in a lung. This is a common side effect of coronavirus and easy to correct with medicine.
Unfortunately, the testing also revealed potential colon or liver cancer. This was later confirmed as Stage 4 Colon Cancer. It’s also already spread to my liver. I had no idea and no symptoms. Unfortunately, at this stage, it’s not operable. I started chemotherapy last week, and will be going through this process for the next six months.
With stage 4 colon cancer, long term survival rates aren’t good. Even with successful chemo, most patients don’t live more than 2 or 3 years. However, every patient is different and some have made it 5 years or longer. Only time will tell at this point. I do know this though: If I had not been diagnosed until cancer-related symptoms had started, the outlook would have been much, much worse.
We all have a limited amount of time on this earth, but knowing just how limited your time has become can be really scary. I’m still trying to make sense of it all. It changes your outlook on everything. In the end though, you can still only take it one day at a time but try to enjoy time with family and friends a little more.”