WHY BLOG YOU ASK?

I would like to begin this journey with an explanation of why i have chosen to start a blog as well as my expectations.

When I was first diagnosed with Colon Cancer in April of 2015 I did not want to broadcast the information.  We had made a decision (My wife Jill and I) that we did not want to draw attention to our family and try to keep this somewhat private with the exception of Family.  There were only a couple mentions on social media as a vehicle to give close friends and family updates.   Our intent was to inform without being bombarded with a million questions and sympathy posts.  This strategy was fairly successful and we were able to focus on our task at hand.  By March of 2016, the cancer had advanced to Stage IV (More about this later).  In 2016, great friends chose to create a group on FB messenger where they could provide updated information privately to select people.  This strategy was a success for the people in the closed group.  Even though I was not in favor of making my story and information public, a decision was made to do so as we were having to answer just to many Facebook messages and phone calls from those that knew about the cancer and were not part of the closed group.  It wasn’t tell mid to late 2016 that we went public with detailed information.

From the onset diagnosis in 2015 to present time, I have elected to spend a great deal of time researching.  I wanted to understand exactly what i was dealing with, have the ability to discuss matters with the medical community and have some level of comprehension.  So here i am 1500 research hours later.  It was during this time frame of obtaining an education that i had come across several Websites and Social Media sites that not only were a great source of education but also provided great supportive help as well.  It was through these sources that i was able to come to grips with my cancer diagnosis.  I never realized how much i rely on those connections for my own mental well being until now.  It is my hope that I can now help others that are in a similar situation.

Another goal of this blog will be to educate.  Educate colon cancer patients of new research, trials and tools available to combat their cancer.  Educate people as to the importance of Colorectal cancer screening.  Bring awareness to the growing number of colorectal cancer diagnosis for people under the age of 50 (this is no longer an “older persons disease”).  I will be providing links to Websites and social media sites to help aid their education as well as support groups.

Information is power and I choose to empower as many as possible.