Remembering Last Year's Guardian Angel

My 9 month Ned-aversary is 1 short week away, there is no pomp and circumstance with this one, no scans, just a bit of  blood work, a little poking and prodding and then I am out the door to finish off the last 3 amazing months of my first year of being cancer free!

woo,  we made cancer look good ;-)

(yup,  both cancer patients here)

I am calm, truth be told, I am actually in a rather zen-like state lately. However, I am in this state because life is settling down, I have left the upheaval behind me, I have simplified my life focusing on being positive and grateful and I have found a calming joy that is both simple and intense.

In a few weeks, my sister and I will be speaking at a Charity walk for Vickie’s Angels and I wanted to take a minute to share my experience with this amazing organization. 

When I went into the hospital for stomach cramps, I had no idea I would emerge 2 weeks later with half a colon, I had no idea I would be diagnosed with Stage IV Colorectal cancer I had no idea what to expect from the next 6 months of chemo.

My first chemo treatment lasted 7 hours, I ordered sushi, a few hours in and at the end after they plugged my chemo pump into my port for another 44 hours of infusion, I went to Costco with my husband to grab a rotisserie chicken for dinner and then we took Bean to our favorite trail for a light hike. The next day I went to work, hooked up to my chemo pump.  I did it again the following day.

About a month and a half in, I started hitting a very sleepy wall and admittedly, while I made it in to the office…I was in a fog.  

I was about half way through my treatments when I started to get sick, it was at this point that my doctor asked me what I was doing and then tried not to slap me for being stupid (It is very frowned upon to hit a cancer patient, even a stupid one).  He told me that my body was working to stay alive,  he told me that 1 year from now,  not using up all of my sick time would mean nothing if I was dead. (Insert light bulb going off here).

 So I stopped pushing.  When I was tired, I slept.  When I was sick, I slept.  When I felt good, I went to the office. My time off ran out very quickly.  

It was at this point that a friend told me about Vickie’s Angels, an organization that provides a financial bridge for those struggle with mounting medical bills and the inability to work.  I called them and within a week, we had spoken on the phone, I had explained my treatment and they offered to pay our mortgage that month so that I did not have to stress even one iota about not bringing home a full paycheck. 

They were a godsend not just because they helped with bills but because they let me breathe.  I did not have to spend a second of my recovery, re-budgeting our household.  I could focus on napping and not feel even a twinge of guilt.

Vickie’s Angels stepped in just when we needed them and they continue to do so for so many families in our area. So on October 10^th, if you would like to join my sister and I, we will be walking with my sister for Vickie’s Angels in New Cumberland.

We have come a long way from nose drains and stomach injections!

 If you would like to donate to our team, that would be amazing (even if it $1).  If you would like to think of a super snazzy team name for 2 apparently brain dead sisters that fought and beat cancer but cannot think of a decent name, THAT would be STUPENDOUS!