Today was a wonderful day. It was the one-year anniversary of the surgery (28 Aug 2018) that removed the sigmoid section of my colon, taking with it any potential cancer (there wasn’t any!).
By virtue of the joys of trying to align various schedules, it was also the day for a follow-up colonoscopy to see if there were any more polyps or signs of cancer. After the rather horrid preparation process, I went to the hospital this morning, had the test, and received the news that there were NO further signs of cancer!
Between this colonoscopy today, a CT scan earlier this month, and some recent blood tests, it does seem that the cancer is all gone. The other excellent piece of news is that I don’t need to do a colonoscopy for 3 years!
Many thanks to Dr. Peter Cataldo’s team - and to all the nurses and others at the UVM Medical Center here in Burlington. They were all excellent and very helpful and supportive.
All in all, a great day.
P.S. As a bonus for me as a geek and engineer… when they were taking me into the room for the procedure, the doctor asked if I wanted to be asleep or awake. I had been planning for sedation (and NOT looking forward to it) and wasn’t aware that there was even an option for being conscious.
Of course I had to stay awake and watch! So I got to see the video as they moved the scope up through my colon. I saw where they did the surgery (and was reminded that I actually have tiny titanium staples inside of me). And I got to see where my appendix is. All very cool to see!
Previous entries in my cancer stories:
- 21 Aug 2018 - The Big C Returns As Colon Cancer... and with me this time
- 3 Sep 2018 - Post-surgery recovery: Every day brings a series of small victories
Image credit: Cristian Escobar on Unsplash
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