“TJ, believe me, this is never something I wanted to tell you, but unfortunately the disease has returned. There is recurrence in…….
​What a familiar feeling? To look around and see your friend’s and family’s eyes filled with tears again. No, they are not tears of joy. They come from some place different, some place much, much darker, a place where you hide away and harbor your deepest fears, hoping, praying, wishing, that they will never have a chance to bloom 

I bet most of you thought I retired from the writing game huh? Well, I always said that I was not going to write unless I had something substantial to inspire me. Unfortunately, I was just given a ton of it. Not only am I being called back from retirement from writing, but to the battlegrounds I thought were so happily in my past. Incase any of you missed it, my routine quarterly blood work turned up an elevated Carcinogenic ...

After 1,248 hours of chemotherapy, 28 radiation treatments, a liver resection, a gall bladder resection, a sigmoid colon resection, 2 colonoscopies, 1 upper endoscopy, 2 blood transfusions, countless CT scans, MRIs, Blood draws, X-rays, EKG’s, Soft Diets, Post Surgical Diets, High Fiber Diets, Low Residue diets, Emergency Room visits, Medications and 3 missed diagnosis’s totaling 11 months in treatment and over a year of symptoms all caused by Stage IV Colon Cancer which entailed a CEA of 296.7, a primary ...

Profanity: also known as swearing, cursing, foul speech, and cussing, is a show of disrespect, a desecration or debasement of someone or something, or the act of expressing intense emotions. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, obnoxious, foul, desecrating or other forms.

A casual stroll through the grocery store or shopping mall while dressed in clothes that so elegantly sport one of many four letter words we have become acquainted with over our lifetimes will surely be ...

It has been over a month since the last time I have written, and it has certainly not been due to a lack of content. As I progress to the last quarter of my chemotherapy treatments, the side effects become exaggerated. A subtle fog creeps over my mind as the potent poison not only attacks the cancer but nerves throughout my body, including in my brain. You may notice during conversation with me a pause… as words, numbers, thoughts and even names ...

Recovering from surgery is a long and emotionally trying process. Each day you wait patiently for improvement, for your limb, shoulder, hip, heart, bowels, or whatever was operated on to return to some level of normalcy or regularity. You wait eagerly to get on with your life… maybe even, your new and improved life, as the surgery treated some discomfort, pain or ailment.

Recovering from surgery while fighting cancer is different, it is no longer only a process to return to ...

Over the past twelve days while my body battles healing complications, insomnia and discomfort, my mind has been at war with anxiety, frustration and depression and I have not made it out of the clouds yet. Deliverance to a content and confident mind does not come easily… Does one rage against the impending darkness with fight and vigor or attempt to move calmly forward by acceptance and patience? In all honesty, neither come easily nor are they the answer to ...

To the Troops,

TJ is finally out of surgery and all went well.  Dr. Cusack performed laparoscopic surgery to remove the mass in the colon without any issues.  He will be in recovery for the next 2 hours and then moved to a room where we should be able to see him.  The surgical team got a bit of a late start as the actual procedure began around 12:10 pm. Thanks again to everyone for so closely following Teej’s progress and rooting, cheering, texting, emailing, commenting, walking , running, donating 

TJ was “very ready” to get this surgery over with and was brought in at approximately 10:30am to have the mass removed from his colon.  We anticipate the surgery will begin sometime around 11:30am and should take approximately 3 hours or so. It is hopeful that Dr. Cusack will perform the surgery using a laparoscopic technique which will be much less invasive.  .  I will update everyone once we hear from the surgeon.

Again, many thanks to TJ’s Army as everyone’s ...

Good Morning Friends, Family, Strangers,

I’d like you to visualize an expansive thanksgiving table, the plush cushioned seats are packed with dear friends, family, acquaintances and a sea of other individuals that have at some moment touched your life. The fine china stacked high with delicious golden turkey, casserole dishes filled with sides stealing all the colors of autumn, and a giant carafe of warm, thick, gravy. A picturesque scene that will surely get you salivating, yet, all of these items are absent ...