Teresa's Story

In 1975 my father died from lung cancer at the very early age of 55. I was devastated. Months went by of mourning my loss. I felt like something inside of me was being eaten away. And, it literally was, my colon. The cramps came, followed by the mucous, followed by the blood. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis at 22 years old. Therapy consisted of the normal medication. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. During the time the medication work my disease was in remission for years. Until, three years ago I started bleeding. Nothing worked. I just maintained my normal meds and went on about my way keeping my GI doctor appointment. Surveillance for colon cancer every two years with the ever so popular Colonoscopy. That was the only time I can really remember not being in pain.

I was at a point with the disease where I had to make a decision. After having UC for thirty years and every year my chances increased for colo\rectal cancer. I had already survived one cancer (breast) in 10-99. Had the most aggressive treatment offered. Chemo four rounds, four surgeries in a month, four more rounds of chemo, followed by five and a half weeks of xrt. (Radiation Therapy.) NED (No Evidence of Disease).

The pain from UC became so severe I thought I was going to pass out one time. Not to mention how my life was always centered on the bathrooms/restrooms. I was miserable!

I called my GI doctor and told him I was ready for the surgery. I went to talk to my surgeon about the surgery and I also did a lot of reading online about the disease. I was not going into this blindsided. I knew it would have to be a Total Proctocholectomy complete with rectum and anus removed. I had the disease for so long I still ran the risk of rectal cancer as well.

Surgery Day: I however was not prepared for the pain I was about to feel! The anesthesia doctor could not do the spinal block following my surgery. My vein blew in my arm during surgery and I ended up with a jugular access. I had two units of blood. Upon removal of my colon by my surgeon, he found was called a Meckels Diverticulum. It's a begin tumor on my ileum. But it's something that takes place at the time I was conceived and the egg started doing the cell division. This is a very rare condition and for the surgeon to see this was rare too.

The pain was bad. The nurse blew my jugular in my neck and they had to pull it. That took any access to pain control away. I was on NPO (Nil by mouth) pain med the rest of the time. I could feel this bad at home, so send me home!

So far I feel better than I have felt in years. No more 16 plus pills a day to take that didn't work. Leaking and skin irritation is a problem but it's only been a year and I'm still new at this. It will all come together someday I know.

The best part is "I have my life back."

Now that's my story.

...Teresa

Previous

Stories

Next