Welcome! I’m a stage four colon cancer survivor. I write about my personal experience beginning in 2010 with multiple surgeries, colostomy, chemo, radiation, ileostomy, completing the take down (reconnect) and being “clear” from cancer in fall 2011, and the return of cancer a year later. I hope my experience can encourage someone else on the cancer journey. Click here for more info about the decisions I made that were best for me and what I did that helped me when cancer came back as stage four.

Cancer Smarts is my personal blog sharing faith-infused encouragement about the stage III and stage IV colon cancer journey. Since there is no stage V cancer, I decided I’d better write fast. My treatment journey included colostomy, chemo, radiation, ileostomy, and take down (reconnecting my body so the bag was no longer needed); I was clear for about a year; cancer came back with a vengeance; I got mad; I gave myself permission to do things differently the second time around.  For a quick summary check out the timeline. I’m clear again as of April 2016, praise Jesus. Really, I do praise Jesus. I write to continue processing the journey and hopefully to encourage someone else.

You’ll find thoughts here about restoring personal joy in the face of life threatening disease; finding a willing spirit to make choices about treatment options; and being sustained daily by God in the “new normal”. You can sign up to receive my blog posts quietly in your email inbox. You can also connect with me on Facebook.

Even though I think I have some awesomely encouraging information to share about my personal journey with cancer, remember – the content on this blog is for general informational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is highly intended to offer perspective and hope.