I am a Survivor
Thursday, April 2, 2009
By: Theresa Reece

In 2003, one year after getting re-married I was diagnosed with bowel cancer. My mother died of lung cancer in 2001.

No one was more surprised than me to find out, in November 2003 that I had bowel cancer!

After all my only problem had been excessive gas "down there". Being a nurse by profession, I had always been careful about the amount of red meat I ate. I always ate the recommended quota of fresh fruits and veggies and drank my 8 glasses of water daily. This could not be! Surgery quickly followed, within 2 weeks, just before Christmas.

I had no time for this. I wasn't ready for Christmas! I then thought, "Oh well, I will be back at work in six weeks", and was shocked to learn this was only the start of my road to recovery. Eight long months of chemotherapy and radiation followed. Why was I so tired? I had always had energy and "done" for people. Now I had to be "done" for. Lessons in humility were also learned.

I dreaded the yearly retests. Would "it" return? I have now been cancer free for almost six years and my energy has almost returned. It is time for me to "do" again and give back to help find a sure for all types of cancer.

Prior to this, I nursed my mother through to the end of her life with lung cancer in 2001.