On August 14, 2013, at 49 years old, I had a colonoscopy performed by Dr. Samuel Giday at Florida Hospital. The results quickly revealed that I had rectal cancer. My world was immediately turned upside down . . . It has been quite a journey since that August day, but I am happy to report that today, July 23, 2014, I have completed my last Chemo treatment, and am now cancer free. I have been blessed with having some of the best Doctors in the world treat me. My surgeon, Dr. Mathew Albert, a true specialist in rectal cancer, and Dr. Lee Zehngebot, my Chemo specialist, instilled great faith in me through this entire process. I cannot begin to thank them enough for saving my life. I have been through pre Radiation and Chemo, two major surgeries, and post preventative Chemo which I completed today. Over this past year and a half I have experienced, fear, pain, and at times, tears . . . But I have also experienced a tremendous amount of love and support from my wife, Noelle, who never let me give up, and all my friends; of whom I cannot thank enough . . . Also, I truly believe that my sense of humor got me through this process. I have no problem dropping my pants at any time now . . . And if you want to know where the nearest restroom is at Universal - Im your guy . . . Now comes the period of time where my body can truly heal, and hopefully, I will start to feel much better over the next year. Yes, there will still be additional Dr. appointments, CT scans, and on occasion, rubber gloved Dr.s driving their Porsches up my rectum, but that is all part of the process. And after all I have been through, it is a small compromise to make to be alive. I have learned that life is truly precious, and my experience with Cancer pales in comparison to many of the people that I have met along this journey, some of which will not have as optimistic of an outcome. However, I have never met a group of fighters like those who are fighting Cancer - they never give up. Again, I feel very fortunate . . . Obviously, one of the things I enjoy is to post music lyrics on Facebook. Music has always been my passion, and represents a huge part of my mental makeup. In closing, I felt that the following lyrics represent my thoughts regarding my journey . . . Im bulletproof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away. Ricochet, you take your aim. Fire away, fire away. You shoot me down but I wont fall. I am titanium. You shoot me down but I wont fall I am titanium. Please consider giving to V Foundation for Cancer Research: jimmyv.org Again, thank you for taking time to read this. I appreciate all of the love and support that has come my way. What the world needs now is . . . MORE COWBELL !
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 14:19:44 +0000