*This entry is a part of a continuous series, reading the previous entries will help you follow without missing a beat*

July 10, 2006 I entered the hospital full of faith, hope and love! The counselor came in to speak with me to make sure I was prepared for my surgery. If you are depressed and go into surgery, you won’t fight. Well, towards the end of our almost two hour talk…the counselor was crying and he said; “wow, you are definitely prepared for this surgery. You have a strong support system and faith strong enough to pull you through everything. I really wish I could have you talk to other Cancer patients because you would give them so much hope.” We hugged and he left. All of my nurses said I was glowing and they would love to come in my room and just sit and talk with me before and after my surgery.  On July 11th, with my support system there and praying…my mom, children, aunts, uncle and friends all carried my burden and the surgery went well. I was in the recovery room and all I remembered was painfully coughing, machines beeping and nurses running into the room. My eyes were still closed and I couldn’t come into full consciousness but I knew when the chaplain came into the room…something was seriously wrong. I literally had an out of body experience where I could see the chaplain praying while they were working on me and then it was over. When I finally awoke, I asked the nurse if something had happened because I had this weird dream and she put her hand over my hand and said, “hush child…you gave us a scare but you held on. All is well. Get some rest before we let your family in to see you. They’ve been waiting a long time you know?” She smiled and walked out. It was over! The doctors had to remove a rib to get to the cancer, cut an entire section out of my airway to get all of the cancer and then resection my airway. I survived…the worst was over.

Recovery was rugged but supernaturally quick. I had tubes in my side that had to be checked and cleaned daily and urethra tubes. I hated those. At one point all of my veins collapsed and I had to get my IV inserted into my neck! THAT was painful; I really thought I was going to die from that. It took them about an hour to find a suitable vein in my neck. All in all I was in the hospital for a little less than two weeks. My mom stayed with my children at my house and my friends were making sure they ate and were cared for without any stress.  I came home on the 19th and my birthday was the 24th. This was going to truly be a celebration of life!

My birthday was spectacular! I was still on bedrest so my daughter made me stay in the room while they prepared my surprise birthday. They had music blasting so I couldn’t hear a thing and they would bring me breakfast and lunch in bed. When they came into the room and blindfolded me, I didn’t know what to expect. India Arie’s Private Party was playing and I was jamming, singing to the top of my lungs until they took the blindfold off…LOL! All of my family and friends yelled Happy Birthday and I was laughing and crying! Embarrassed that they were all witnesses to my singing (that’s not a gift God blessed me with) but so overjoyed that they were all there! My daughter and her friends had prepared a meal fit for a Queen and we had a ball. That definitely is number #1 in my birthday top 5!

While still on bedrest and fairly getting sick of being in the bed, wound cleanings and bandage replacements; I woke up one morning and said I am going to record a CD! I spent the next 24hrs downloading software, making beats, finding beats and recording my CD. I did not sleep and the next day I put the finishing touches on it and sent it off to company for packaging. I wanted to tell my story, I wanted to encourage others and I wanted to give God the glory! The local newspaper found it interestingly enough to do a story on my trials and triumphs! The rest of the year I recovered. I worked out with Roman to strengthen my lungs and I had my mind set that I was getting off of disability. I now treasure every breath…because each one is a gift!

http://www.sanjojendayi.com

 Oh, please listen to my daughter’s poem in honor of me…Cancer, YOU CANsir! 

https://www.reverbnation.com/SeKeithia/song/23911306-cancer-you-cansir-dedicated-to