We were about a month into cancer at this point and now that panic had been induced, it was finally time for someone to talk some sense into me. Talk some sense into us. My husband likes to show a brave face but I’m pretty sure we were co-freaking out.
My official diagnosis was Stage III Rectal Cancer. Specifically, Adenocarcinoma which is the most common type of rectal cancer. Here’s a spiffy graphic I found on the internet if you, like myself, hadn’t had an opportunity or reason to memorize the stages of cancer.
The surgeon that performed my colonoscopy thoroughly explained what this diagnosis likely meant for me but all I heard was stage III and that was way too close to stage IV for my liking. I didn’t blackout but I was not fully in the moment. He didn’t say when I would perish but every tv show I’ve watched in the last year with cancer themes suggested that it was inevitable. Needless to say, even though I didn’t want to think about it, the possibility of this being the end of me had been the undesirable outcome elephant in the room.
So, how do we treat an almost worst level case of cancer? The first step was to talk to a surgeon that specializes in gastrointestinal cancers. The same surgeon that I had previously mentioned made a recommendation of someone that we could meet with but we opted to go with a surgeon at The Ohio State University. The Buckeye surgeon had successful outcomes with someone that we know that had a similar diagnosis some years earlier. Having her still here with us is all the recommendation I needed.
The “funny” thing about surgeons is that they are a very serious bunch. Honestly, I wouldn’t want them any other way but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to deal with people, like myself, who think that everything is hilarious. I almost lost it when he looked me in my eyeballs and said that his top priority was to “preserve my anus”! 🤣 I have since learned the importance of said anal preservation but that doesn’t mean I can’t still be hella giggly about it.
At any rate, he performed what’s called a Sigmoidoscopy which is a scope that just looks at the lower part of the colon or sigmoid colon to get a baseline measurement of my tumor. Then I got in the car with the fam and went to Florida. Btw, long car rides in my current condition get 0 out of 5 stars but thanks to the universe having more sense than me, we ended up flying back home.
We also met my Radiation Oncologist around this time but we’ll save that for another day. -❤️VA