Day #21 Living with Cancer

This is my sad face. This is day #21 living with cancer. (Probably the longest three weeks of my 46 years...) They gave me this bag today at the radiation consult. Not gonna lie, I wasn't overly excited or appreciative of this gift. This is really happening. This is a realization of what I'm about to endure. My mom said this is the saddest face she's ever seen me make. Ok yeah, it did take several selfies to look this pitiful. I prefer to laugh and smile. Not frown. So I will continue to smile and give thanks no matter what each day brings.

Keep on smiling! I intend to!
xoxo

My Favorite Devotional

I wanted to take a moment to share a page from one of my devotions this morning. I love how God knows just what we need to hear. So many people are commending me on how I'm handling my diagnosis. It seems kind of silly because how else would I handle it? I made the decision the second I heard those words, "We found a mass," that I would fight hard, pray harder and overcome this. How will I do that? With God on my side. And when I take the time to listen, He tells me just what I need when I need it.

If you're going through a rough spot in life or know of someone who is, I highly recommend the book "Jesus Today" by Sarah Young. My friend Debbie sent it to me after I was diagnosed. And it is sooooo good.

Ok, I'm off to have a great day! I hope y'all do the same!

xoxo

God's Thumbprint

I'm back again with more scripture that I've been circling and some good news! Today, I left the Cancer Center humming at the thought that I might only have stage 3 colorectal cancer! Crazy, right?

The MRI's confirmed what the PET scan showed. No cancer in liver, lung or bone!! It did show a lesion on my liver that they're calling a "vessel anomaly." I'm calling it God's thumbprint! it showed a "slightly predominant lymph node" so that can't rule out involvement there just yet. But praying that it's just a reactive lymph node and not indicative of disease. (I stole those terms from my surgeon friend). They won't know for sure about the lymph nodes until after surgery. But, this is still much better than we thought this time last week. I have an appointment with the surgeon tomorrow and radiation therapy on Tuesday to better determine the next steps. But, it looks like we might be back to the chemo pill and radiation for 5-6 weeks, rest for 6-8 weeks and then surgery. God is so good. Praising his healing hand that it is not stage 4! Stage 2 or 3?? Easy Peasy. We've got this.

#Godisgood #ialwaysdidlikerollercoasters #fistsup #bringit #prayerwarriors  #grateful

#fistsupforcori

So apparently we've started a revolution and a hashtag! It all started with that first photo I took to send to my mom the morning we were waiting for my biopsy results. I ended up posting it on Facebook when I shared our news. Then two of my besties on my Plexus team made a video on our team page saying "fists up for Cori" and the rest is history. I wanted to scrapbook some of the photos and posts. The support means more then I can ever put into words. And my hope is if I'm having a rough day, I can look back on these to lift up my spirits. I hope to do this with the sweet texts, cards and gifts I've received as well.

You all encourage me and make me smile in this new season of live. Thank you!! Here's to another week of tests and doctor appointments!

xoxo

Glowing from my PET Scan

Here we are, off to my PET scan. Fists Up. Lipstick on at 6 am - I am so my grandma's granddaughter...

And this was the first text I see after I finished my scan. A sweet friend that works at the boys' school sent it to me. Tears. So glad she sent this to me. 

This just warms my heart. :)

This Bible verse. It's never resonated with me more than it has this last week. The number of friends, family and people that I've never even met that have come together in prayer for me and my family is amazing. It is blessing me more than I can put into words. Eddie and I got tot he imaging center about 7 am this morning. After I was injected with the radioactive sugar stuff, I had to sit quietly in a room my myself (under a nice heated blanket) for 45 minutes. And then the scans and machine took about 20-25 minutes. That was a great opportunity for a lot of prayer time. Do you know what I saw when I closed my eyes? I saw Jesus standing in the first room with me. And then during the scan, I saw Jesus with his hands on the PET scan machine. Vividly. After the test, I had so many messages that people were praying for me. I just cannot describe it all. It's been a roller coaster of emotions for sure but the love and support has been constant. And I will be forever grateful.

So, we did get the PET scan results this afternoon. The surgeon said that the original spot on my colon lit up which indicates cancer cells. But the liver, bone and lungs DID NOT! He said he thought for sure the liver would light up after seeing the CT scan results and really cannot explain why it did not. (Um, I have an idea). He said this was definitely good news but we're not out of the woods yet. There's still a chance the cancer has reached the lymph nodes and spread to these organs. We are moving forward with the rectal ultrasound tomorrow (Happy Birthday to me) and now he wants to do an MRI of the abdomen and pelvis to take a closer look at the liver and spine. But, based on the PET scan, it is possible those are benign lesions. We are rejoicing that this little bit of good news today is God's healing hand at work. The ultrasound is at 1:30. We appreciate and are humbled by your continued prayers.

#fistsup #ibelieveinmiracles #bringit# powerofprayer #blessed #lovemyprayerwarriors

I'm sharing the Facebook post I made after I received the call regarding the CT results. It took the wind out of my sails for a few minutes but then I circled this verse over and over.

Here was my post:
Sorry to keep everyone hanging yesterday but I "needed a minute" to process the news we received yesterday. The CT scans revealed 2 lesions on my liver and one on my spine. This was not the news we were hoping for as my blood work (tumor markers) came back normal so we were optimistic. But, this just means I have to fight and pray a little harder. Next stop is a PET scan tomorrow morning at 7:30 and a liver biopsy (to be scheduled). These things should help determine our battle plan. I told the boys yesterday after school about the CT results and that is the hardest part of this all - but we are locking arms, fighting hard, praying harder and still finding joy and laughter in each day. Eddie came back into town last night thank goodness. We had our big ugly cry together last night but have God's armour back on today and ready to fight. Eddie is using his nervous energy to clean the house and I realized that he polished all of the furniture with Lysol. I mean... he tried. ha ha.

My morning was filled with a women's Bible study at church. I looked at the studies offered a month ago and nothing really spoke to me. Then, a couple of weeks ago I looked again and felt led to sign up for a specific one. I really wasn't sure if I had it in me to go this morning but I put on my big girl pants and went. When I got there today it was a big group and I was thrilled to see my friend Becky there. We had to stand up and introduce ourselves and share what we we loved about last summer or what we're looking forward to this fall. Well, I shared and I cried. And then Becky cried. And probably half of the room cried. There are two women in there battling breast cancer (who shared their contact info with me) and that was comforting. They along with the leader surrounded me and prayed. What are the odds? Oh how I love seeing God's hand play out in this new journey I'm on - the people He's put in my life and those coming together in prayer. I'm just in awe of the kindness, love and joy that has come out of our little speed bump. Our family continues to be humbled by prayer, love and support of our friends and family. xoxo

Hashtag alert: #fistsup #bringit #iaintscaredofnochemo #blessed #Godissogood #humbled #didyouscheduleyourcolonoscopyyet #wearenorthmetro

Barium Cocktail - Cheers!

Today I had the first of many upcoming tests - the CT scan. Cheers to this yummy concoction. And much to my dismay, the pretty glass did not make it taste better! I managed to get them both down and had my lovely chauffeur pick me up and escort me to the imaging place.

This kind of stuff is always better with friends!! 

Getting ready for the last bit of my drink before the scan. Don't I look fancy?

So thankful for this group that were there for me at the imaging center today. Friends and Prayer Warriors. #fistsupforcori We've got this!

Happy Birthday - You Have Cancer

On August 29th, I had my first colonoscopy done. I was having some issues and with a family history of colon cancer, I figured I better get it checked out. My sweet mom took me to have my procedure done as my hubby was working out of town. I will never forget hearing those words as soon as I woke up after the procedure. "We found a mass." I will also never forget looking over at my mom and the seeing the look on her face. Deep down I had a feeling it was cancer. But I put on a brave face while we waited and waited for the results.

The photo above is one I sent to my mom, dad and high school pff's this morning along with the text: "Ready for whatever God brings my way." Waiting for the biopsy results from the colonoscopy was not easy. It was a long holiday weekend and that didn't help matters. My hubby stayed home today in case we got the results. Unfortunately, they were not what we had hoped. Together, we made the decision to share this news and our journey. So we are calling all of our prayer warriors. Yep, 10 days before my 46th birthday I'm told that I have colorectal cancer. We don't know what stage or anything else yet but asking for BIG prayers. Whatever these next tests show us, we are armed and ready. We have a mighty God who will fight for us, family and friends that love us, an amazing Plexus team that has my back, and the mindset to face the fight and beat this.

Let's do this!