Life Happened Part I: Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis | LuxEco Living
By Michelle Dennis, LuxEcoLiving Marketing Assistant and author of??COLON TALK?, a cancer survivor?s blog.

Michelle, Matt pre cancer diagnosis
At age 38, I was youthful, active, carefree and in love. I was on the adventure of my life with my boyfriend, now fianc? Matt, and traveling, bicycling all over the West Coast, hunting for a home and enjoying life. I had been away from my home in Portland, Oregon on an extended stay at Matt?s Southern California home when I began noticing changes in my bowel functions. Minor at first, they escalated. My symptoms were not unlike a bacterial or amebic infection. They began with frequent and urgent bowel movements and terrible bloating. Then came a change in stool size and shape. Blood and mucous started appearing. I did not feel sick, yet something was certainly *off*.
Eventually the persistent discomfort lead me to pay a visit to urgent care, and then to follow up with a comprehensive stool exam at an independent lab. When neither test turned up any definitive answers for my symptoms, I scheduled a colonoscopy. Nearly one month after the first true suspicious symptom, and one horrible day of fasting and evacuating for colonoscopy prep, exam day came.
As Matt drove me to the appointment I stared out the car window at the beauty of the ocean along our drive in to Santa Monica, trying to disconnect my mind from the hunger pangs in my stomach. When we arrived, we walked into the clinic calmly, joking with the receptionist, signing forms, and waiting for my name to be called. When my time came, I greeted the nurse warmly, wide-eyed and open for the next few hours of the exam. What could there be to worry about? The exam was only to rule out the worst diseases, so I can explore other less threatening culprits. Matt entertained me in the prep room, and when the anesthesia came, I was out.
I awoke in the cozy wrappings of the hospital blankets to find Matt with his million dollar grin hovering proudly over me. The exam was over, and I didn?t feel so bad! Then the gastroenterologist appeared by my bedside, handed me a printout and said, ?Here?s your problem. You have a napkin ring growth in your sigmoid colon.? The report had my name on it, and underneath were color photographs, measurements and notations. He said,
~~~ drum roll ~~~
?I?ve never seen anything like this that?s not cancerous.?
~~~ TADA! ~~~
That one statement was all I needed:
?Oh no! Now what??
The life changing journey to fight colorectal cancer began?
?
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Source: http://www.luxecoliving.com/vitality/life-happened-part-i-colorectal-cancer-diagnosis/
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