Fighting early-onset, stage 3 rectal cancer
Fuck cancer
I can only speak for myself, and I’ve been told more than once my brain’s a bit wonky, but “Fuck Cancer” isn’t how I feel about having stage 3 rectal cancer. Saying “Fuck Cancer” isn’t for me, someone who has it. It’s for those who don’t.
Your oncology team… Are they any good?
My mother’s opinion is clear. She wants me to live with them while getting cancer treatment in NH. The alternative is to stay in Boston either at my condo or with friends and get treatment there. My friends are team Boston, knowing it’s home to some of the country’s best doctors and hospitals.
Nothing compares to…
Since I was seventeen, I've wondered if I could pull off the Sinead O'Connor look. After my second IV chemo treatment, I woke up one morning and discovered about a dozen hairs on my cream colored pillowcase. I ran my right hand through my hair. More. I probably did it another five times with the same results.
The tumor—where it’s at
I had my colonoscopy on Friday, December 3rd. Right after the procedure my gastroenterologist told me I had rectal cancer. That’s all he knew. He could see the cancer on the surface of the rectal wall. I needed to schedule a CT scan and an MRI to find out more.
What they didn’t say… cancer
The blood started showing up in late August. Didn’t hurt. There it just was with my stool and on the toilet paper. Back in my late twenties I had hemorrhoids. There’d been blood then. Prolly something similar I’d thought. They said it could be hemorrhoids, colitis, polyps, some kind of inflammation or growth...