Our story began on October 2nd, 2015.

A typical Friday evening where the

discussion around the island centered on dinner out? or pizza in? The
phone rang and it was our doctor who had performed our Ive turned 50
routine colonoscopies. Matt had just had his scope 3 days prior to this, so
why would he be calling? I had my colonoscopy two weeks prior and
everything was fine, so why wouldnt Matts? The next 5 minutes changed
our world forever. Matt had 1 large polyp (yes, just one) and it tested
positive for Adenocarcinoma. What? Us? We looked at each other with tears
in our eyes. We reached out to each other and hugged for what had to have
been a good 5 minutes (5 minutes is a long time, especially when you feel as
if time is standing still). A tidal wave of emotions swept over us as we held
each other tighter that we ever have. Our thoughts were no longer on where
would dinner be, but what do we do next? How would we tell our children?
Our Moms? Our siblings? Our friends? What doctor do we turn to next? What
do we do? Your mind is racing, your heart is beating fast, and the tears are
streaming down your cheeks. The one commonality that Matt and I both
hadwe were going fight this dreaded disease with everything we had! This
is where our journey begins.
October 5th is the day that our life switched to hyper drive and the phone
calls began. The most important call was with Dr. Caligiuri of the James
Cancer hospital. After a lengthy conversation involving many questions, he
set us on our path to be connected with two of the best. Within 20 minutes,
we had appointments with Dr. Mark Arnold (our Colorectal Surgeon) and Dr.
Richard Goldberg (our GI Oncologist). Our appointments filled our days with
tests, some new and some repeat but probably more prodding than Matt
cares to ever have to deal with again. At the end of week one, we knew
more.the location of Matts tumor was in a difficult location and it was
called Rectal Cancer. Our next step, surgery to remove it. Well, that was the
start of Matts very difficult recovery. In a two week time period, we had
many things to get in order and the main priority was our children. How
would they deal with this? How could we help them while dealing with our
own emotions? Let me tell you, this was not easy! As much as we all like to
think that as parents we are the teachers, Matt and I were taught something
very valuable from our children.the true meaning of unconditional love.
Whether it was a Kleenex to wipe a tear, a hug to try to erase the moment,
or just being together laughing at something very unimportant..we knew
we were blessed beyond belief to share this journey together. I dont know if
our children will truly ever understand the gratitude that Matt and I hold in
our hearts. Normalcy as we knew it would forever be changed, but
sometimes that is a true blessing.
October 19th at 8:00amthe phone rang again! Dr. Arnolds asst. called and
asked if we could be at the hospital the next day for surgery at 6:45am? (On

Friday, October 16th we were booked for surgery for November 16th). There
had been a cancellationcould we do it? Matt and I were so glad to be able
to move this earlier for many reasons, but boy were we scared! Sometimes
when things happen so fast you think that some emotions are able to be
skipped..how we were wrong! Just compile every emotion and throw them
into a tail spin and you have what our life consisted of for the next 30 days.
October 20thSurgery day. On the short drive to OSU, Matt and I talked
about everything under the sun, but most important was the conversation
about our love towards each other and our children. Did we know how
difficult the next 30 days were going to be? Did we know that Matt was going
to be in the hospital for 21 of the next 30 days? Did we really understand the
complexity of this surgery? Did I know that I was going to have to be
everyones emotional everything? NO, to all of the above. Throw in the
worry about how bad the cancer really could be..wow, at times almost a
little more than one can handle. I did my best to shield Matt from all of this
for he needed to worry about himself and himself only. Surgery entailed a
removal of the tumor by doing an Anastomosis of the rectum. Matts doctor
was successful in performing this surgery without a temporary colostomy,
but wow this surgery kicked Matts butt (literally). Matt spent the next 11
days on the 19th floor of the James where our care was absolutely above and
beyond. The staff (nurses, pcas, dietary, and environmental services) went
above and beyond with their care and compassion. Not only were they
concerned about Matts physical and emotional well-being, but mine as well.
Matt and I spent a lot of time talking about what our future could entail while
we waited out the next 10 days for the results. What was going to be the
outcome? We knew that we had zero control.God was in charge of this one.
The only thing we had the ability to control was to put all of our faith and
trust in HIM. No matter the outcome, we were going to fight with every
ounce of positivity that we had in usand the day finally came.
October 29th (the time was 2:37pm to be exact.yes, I will never forget this
date and time) Dr. Arnold came into Matts room. He pulled up a chair right
next to Matts bed and we knew he had the results from Pathology. The
words that came out of his mouth next were everything we truly did not
expect to be blessed to hear..all 35 lymph nodes tested negative. They
were successful in removing all of the tumor by the resection and Matt was
clear! Matt was Stage I rectal cancer..almost never caught so soon! We
knew at that moment God has a plan for us and we are going to take the
time to figure out how we can share it. Now on the road to recovery with a
discharge the next day, October 30th.
October 30th was an extremely emotional day for us, so blessed to be going
home cancer free and grateful for the treatment that we had just received at

the James (we are truly blessed beyond measure to have this in our back
yard!), but scared nonetheless. Matt enjoyed Friday being home surrounded
by his kids and a home cooked meal. Unfortunately, we werent home for
long. This time Matt shielded me from how he really felt physically because I
was in charge of a fund-raising event on Saturday evening. While our girls
took care of Matt, I was gone the entire day on Saturday. Upon returning
home Saturday evening, I knew something was not right. We went to bed
and yes, I prayed that this was just a dream and for God to please look over
Matt and help him on the road to being stronger.
November 1st, we woke up and did not get a good vibe. We ended up back at
the ER where Matt was admitted. Matt had a leak where they performed the
anastomosis. Not an uncommon complication, but a very, very serious one
nonetheless. Did we know how serious? No, because I refused to google it!
When I did google it, my heart sank. I turned to God again and asked for him
to please give Matt a chance, and once again He answered by having him
turn around. Our surgeon did not want to open Matt up again, and he truly
felt this would heal on his own. Matt was in the hospital this time for 6 days
on very intense IV antibiotics. Once again, his numbers improved and we
were released on November 6th. Matt went home on antibiotics and we were
sure this time would be for good! Guess what, God had another plan. This
was not one I agreed with, but once again I had no control!
November 9th and here we go again! I texted our Doctor (who gives their cell
phone to their patient, right?) and told him something was not right with
Matt. Temperature was 99.1 and he was on Tylenol and strong antibiotics.
He sent us to get blood drawn, and within 2 hours we were back in the ER.
Matt was really sick and heading in the wrong direction. Started him on IV
antibiotics and admitted him. After scanning Matt, it was determined that he
had an abscess. He needed a drain put in to rid him of the infection. A drain
was put in on Wednesday, November 11th and the drainage out of him was
not pretty. Matt was discharged once again on November 14th, and we
prayed that this was finally the day we were home to stay. Slowly but surely,
Matt began to finally make progress and was able to have the drain removed
on November 20! Wow, what an amazing turn around in a couple of days.
Would this really be the day that Matt starts returning to his old self? Would
we be able to begin the new journey back to our normalcy? Would we be
able to handle our emotions? Time will tell, but I have faith in us and faith in
God.
Our journey has been a lot in a short amount of time, many details I have not
shared for now they seem unimportant. We wanted everyone to feel a little
of our journey, so you will be proactive about your health. As many of our
friends and family approach 50 or have already passed it, we feel the need to

make you all understand that Matts life has truly been saved by having his
routine colonoscopy! If we had prolonged this test, our outcome may not
have been the sameactually, the doctors said it would not have been.
To all of our family and friends, we thank you for your love, support, and
especially your prayers during this incredibly difficult time. We would not
have made it through this without you.and to my rocks (you know who you
are), I thank you for everything you did for me when sometimes to you it
seemed like nothing. To Dr. Arnold and his staff, thank you for your amazing
care and compassion. To Justine, Taylor, and Cathyrine on the 19th floor of
the James, thank you for providing the utmost in care to Matt and providing
an ear to me when I needed it the most. To our children Claire, Connor, and
Carolinethank you for handling this with grace! You are 3 amazing children
and we are beyond blessed to have had you by our sides every step of the
way.
Now you know a piece of our journey, so please take a step in protecting
your health. Schedule your COLONOSCOPY today.early detection can save
your lifeit did save Matts!