My Story

If \"Attitude Not Aptitude Determines Altitude\", then this is the story of me, Edel Blumberg. As a two-time Colon Cancer survivor, I feel I have garnished the attitude that allows me to speak from experience on the virtues of positive thinking. The battles with cancer are difficult by itself. But my real story begins at the endâ?¦it goes back to my youth. I will explain, and hope that my story will never become YOUR story!

The surgery, the doctors, the chemotherapy treatments. All together, these hurdles are difficult to climb. I am living, breathing proof that a positive outlook, a positive environment, and a positive attitude can lift you to heights one never believed possible. Four years ago, at 47 years of age, I was diagnosed with a grade 3, 6 ½cm tumor. After removal of the tumor, and subsequent resection, I embarked on what I believe to be the most difficult challenge I\‘d ever faced—chemotherapy! A year later, and I was on my way to recovery. And for the next three years I lived healthy, happy, and feeling over the dilemma. Until once again, in 2006, I was diagnosed with another 6 ½cm tumor in my colon. The chemotherapy that followed surgery was twice as difficult as the previous treatments, and thus the mountain I had to climb became steeper. One thousand hours of treatment later, I survived. Another year of my life, gone. Again, the power of positive thinking, along with a wonderful support system helped me to endure. Another year has passed. I feel fine, and hope—very positively hope—that I am on the path to full recovery. My prevailing attitude of \"never say never\", and \"never quit\", helped get me there. And of course, some help from my medical team!

An ending has to have a beginning, and that\‘s where my story, and my message really takes shape. See, I was 13 when I was diagnosed with Colitis, 14 when I was diagnosed with Chrohn\‘s & 15 when I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disorder. For the next 22 years I forged and lived a lie. I was afraid of my illness. Embarrassed by it, I hid the truth from my family, from my friends, and most importantly from ME! Oh, I went for checkups and colonoscopiesâ?¦sometimes. Other times I hoped it had gone away. I hoped I had seen the last of it. I was afraid for what the doctors might say. When I was a youth, I spent more time hiding in bathrooms and running away from my problem than confronting it. All those emotions confounded me. So when I felt good I \"assumed\" it was over, finished, gone! I stopped going for those annual checkups. My last colonoscopy was four years before my cancer was discovered. My doctor at that time told me the tumor probably had been in my body for a year to a year-and-a-half. If I had kept up my checkups, if I had gone every year like someone with a chronic illness since 13 was supposed to, and if I hadn\‘t hid from the truth, could I have prevented it from getting to where it eventually got? I believe soâ?¦you should believe so. Testing is the best form of prevention. The Colon Cancer slogan is \"Preventable, Treatable, Beatable\". How true that really is. I should know: I speak from experience! One can never look back, for reaching back for yesterday can make you miss the tomorrows. But you can learn from the past. My message is clear. I hope that the right attitude about testing, about checkups, about dealing with this kind of illness, will ring loud & true. For as mentioned earlier, I wouldn\‘t want My Story to become Your Story!