#IAmACancerChick

Een artikel van mijn persoonlijke blog van afgelopen februari...

#Cancer. This is something that happens to other people, right?

WRONG! No one is above the laws of nature ... 

Today is #WorldCancerDay... I guess today is as good a day as any to let you know I was not above that law either ...

Not many know that I have been added to the #ColonCancer statistics last year.

To avoid answering all those well-meant questions, I isolated myself from the world and social media.  I needed this absence from the world to take care of myself. Knowing that many disagree and again others were searching for contact with other #CancerPatients, I needed a #BreakFromLife all-together.

I was 51 years old when I was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer almost a year ago. 

#Fatigue and #constipation were my main symptoms. I am not talking about the tiredness after exercising or a days' work. No. Total exhaustion. Physically and psychologically. If you nourish yourself well, exercise, and are in general a happy person, then there is no reason for that kind of fatigue. 

I am talking about my #symptoms because they are so #BANAL. So acceptable to many of us. Of course these were my main symptoms and there are many others that I have (thankfully) not experienced. 

I ended up to meet with my family physician because I was swollen like a 6-months pregnant woman. Total #occlusion of the colon by a #tumor. Within 3 weeks of my first visit, I had a battery of tests including colonoscopy, full-body scans, a liquid diet and was minus 40 cm of #bowel and 32 #ganglions after an 8-hour operation.

I have just finished 6 months of #ChemoTherapy. I have been exhausted. Hurt. And scared, of course. My kids are still so young. I simply could not imagine not being there for another couple of years to see them mature. And I still have so many ideas, so many projects to carry through, so much to give, that I really had no time for being tired. But ... my body and mind were perfectly in sync with what I needed, so I trusted in that and withdrew from most of the world to heal. During these 6 months I started wondering about how to explain to a non-cancer person how it feels and often lacked the words 'on the spot'.  

So, to use and view my cancer in a positive manner, I decided to start describing how I felt, and asked my #oncologist to put me in touch with other patients to find out if they were interested in working on a project with me. Then, next step, find #artists (#painters, #photographers, #sculptors) to translate our writings into #art. And, hopefully, find the best possible means to create an exhibition to make our #feelings known to the world. #ArdensMissus is born ...

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