Massive apologies to Destiny's Child.
Just met for likely the last time with Dr. Lakshman, the surgeon with a poop emoji on his laptop. One final check on everything, and he and I have parted ways. The final check had nothing on the colonoscopy, the surgery, or the recovery, but I can say (warning here - skip to next paragraph if you don't want to visually picture, well, what is coming), I absolutely understand the concerns of people who get abducted by aliens. Probes are unpleasant.
But all is healed, all is well, and I believe I can now call myself a colon cancer survivor. That's exciting. Certainly tempered with the knowledge that, as I understand it, I won't ever be able to say that about the brain tumor. Maybe brain tumor Endurer, maybe brain tumor long-term Endurer (I hope), but Survivor is not really in the cards. Still, you take the victories as they come. And with this, I must express my apologies to my brother and Kaileigh who now both have expedited colonoscopy timelines, based on their family history (me). And Abby and Alex, though they won't know this or understand it for some years.
February 2036: "Happy 35th birthday! Time for your colonoscopy!" Maybe they can get a two-for-one special.
Recently, I joined the board of a small, young organization in Austin called Regarding Cancer. They connect people who get cancer diagnoses and their family members with people who have gome through that experience. They also place volunteers in chemo clinics (interrupted by global pandemic), to sit with patients who are enduring the hours-long chemo treatments. This seemed like a place I could lend my particular skillset, as I now have way too much experience with getting cancer diagnoses.
One of their fundraisers is a comedy event - Stand Up for Cancer. Sadly, with the Delta variant, it's being cancelled this year. But it got me thinking of my own stand-up, the one time a few years back when I surprised my staff at a comedy event fundraiser we were having by doing 3 minutes of stand up. Jill's cellphone video is below. If this worked correctly, you probably need to copy and paste this to your browser, and when the page comes up, click on the date "March 1, 2017" to play. Don't worry about your bank account, but feel free to send me your pin and DOB.
file:///C:/Users/au-ceolt/Google%20Drive/REFUGEE%20SERVICES%20OF%20TEXAS/CEO/Personal/RSmith%20Comedy%20Routine-click%20date%20March%201,%202017%20to%20play.html
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