The call came this morning, right as my regular weekly Strategic Communications team meeting was starting up. Once I saw the call was the Burlington hospital, I muted my connection, shut off the video ... and waited breathlessly for the news...
The surgeon was delighted to call and say... no more cancer was found in the colon walls or lymph nodes!
It's done. Finished. Fertig.
I'm as close to "cancer-free" as anyone with colon cancer can be.
No further tests needed. No chemo. No other treatments. I'll go back in about three months for a "flexible sigmoidoscopy" where they'll use a probe to check how my reconnected colon looks. And they'll monitor my colon more often (which presumably will mean colonoscopies at more frequent intervals). But that's it. (Yes, I still have further recovery from surgery ahead of me, but that's moving ahead well right now.)
Done.
There are no words to truly express the relief washing over me and my family right now.
As I said in my original post, if a colonoscopy is recommended for you, don't delay, just do it!
The test caught my cancer early. Had I waited and delayed the test months or years... the cancer could have spread so much farther... and this would have been a much different post to write.
There are no words to capture the relief, joy and happiness of right now.
Image: a photo I took of part of the Burlington harbor from the patio of the restaurant where we had a celebration dinner tonight. Yes, the Burlington area is a gorgeous area in which to live!
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