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    After the Cancer, What Now ???: Facing the "First Day of the Rest of My Life"
    After the Cancer, What Now ???: Facing the "First Day of the Rest of My Life"
    After the Cancer, What Now ???: Facing the "First Day of the Rest of My Life"
    Ebook128 pages2 hours

    After the Cancer, What Now ???: Facing the "First Day of the Rest of My Life"

    By Darrell L. Smith, Sr. "The Miracle Man"

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    About this ebook

    This book is about standing up to colon cancer, even when all odds are against survival. It takes you into the hospitals, operating rooms, and emergency rooms, and it will show you all the compassion and dedication doctors and nurses have in their fight against the monster living inside of us. And it will lead you from heartbreaks into miracles. It will span one man's fourteen-year constant fight against cancer, and it will show you that even in the darkest of hours, there is hope, if you stand up and fight cancer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateDec 16, 2011
    ISBN9781449733360
    After the Cancer, What Now ???: Facing the "First Day of the Rest of My Life"
    Author

    Darrell L. Smith, Sr. "The Miracle Man"

    Darrell Smith is a 2x Cancer survivor.  In 1998, he was diagnosed with two terminal colon cancers, and given only a few hours left to live. In 2003, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and in 2008 he underwent a massive surgery to completely remove his colon, to rid the fear of ever having colon cancer again.   You’ll find in the pages of this book, he was devastated by years of fighting cancer, living in hospitals, and multiple surgeries, medical bankruptcies, unemployment, divorce, loss of worldly possessions, and homeless, had all taken their toll. He had survived cancer and through his faith in God; he was given nothing short of not just one, but three different Miracles.  He now faced a new road untraveled on “The first day of the rest of his life”.   Acclaimed “The Miracle Man” by several of his doctors, he has made his home at a pristine 425-acre state park in Alabama; it is there, that every day, he can appreciate the magnificent beauty and tranquility of God's work. 

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      Book preview

      After the Cancer, What Now ??? - Darrell L. Smith, Sr. "The Miracle Man"

      Contents

      Foreword

      Preface

      Introduction

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter 14

      I would like to thank the dozens of people who suffered alongside me in my struggle with cancer. I thank my Lord and Savior, who carried me through my darkest hours, as well as the pastors and churches that kept me in constant prayer.

      I thank the numerous teams of doctors and specialists who fought against all odds just to keep me alive. I lay dying in an operating room, and death was certainly standing by to claim me, yet teams of dedicated, caring, medical professionals were determined not to let me go without a fight.

      I thank the nurses, who provided unwavering love and care during my recovery. You took me into your hearts and care as if I were family. You took over when the doctors were done with their work. You fluffed and pampered me and gave me hope. Not once did you give up on me; more important, you would not let me give up on myself. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

      Thanks to the love and support of my children and family, who suffered through the horrible nightmare with me. I also thank my friends, co-workers, and relatives who were there supporting me.

      There simply are not enough pages to individually thank each and every one of you who cared for me and inspired me in my darkest hours, when we all stood up to cancer.

      Foreword

      One of the greatest privileges in a surgeon’s career is to care for patients and families dealing with cancer. Despite the challenges of this tremendous responsibility, the experience itself is unforgettable and curiously rewarding. Unfortunately, over the next year, 150,000 Americans will be newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Once the diagnosis is made and the process of treatment begins, a collection of difficult emotions and questions will follow. Anxiety, fear, anger, and depression are not uncommon, and many will struggle with the unexpected and the unknown. The hesitancy of what to do next is pervasive. You should be assured that there are answers.

      Among the hectic schedule of a surgeon’s practice and the exhausting pressures of patient care, certain patients stand out as an inspiration and encouragement to our own lives and to the lives of other patients. Darrell Smith is one such patient, and I would like to introduce you to him. Darrell’s battle against cancer has continued over the past fourteen years, and I suspect that even though the outlook is optimistic and Darrell is now cancer free, there is that concern of recurrence.

      Diagnosed with both colon cancer and prostate cancer, his story exposes the daily difficulties of cancer and its transforming effect on the individual. It is a story of both medical victory and personal triumph, and a reflection of God’s grace as well.

      In the midst of good news and at times not-so-good news, Darrell has remained confident and ever positive. I am quite certain this has not been easy.

      His transformation has been remarkable. As you read his story, my hope is that Darrell’s life experience will not only be educational and informative, but it will serve as a word of encouragement in a time of struggle and uncertainty.

      Dr. Jon S. Hourigan, MD

      Assistant Professor of Surgery

      University of Kentucky

      hourigan%20final.jpg

      Preface

      What if today, at this very moment, you were told you had cancer? Should it strike you or a family member, there are some things that will require immediate attention, and knowing what you are up against ahead of time may make an important difference.

      It’s the aftermath that inspired me to write my book, because it is my most sincere hope that my personal battle for survival will help you and others who may have cancer and face the battle ahead. I also hope to shed some light on the struggles one may face after the victory of standing up to cancer.

      I have always believed that God saved my life to show others of his awesome healing power and love. I realize that he had not given me more than I could endure, because he carried me through the darkness. He guided the surgeon’s skillful hands, but in the end—after medicine and science gave me only a few hours left to live, and I was under the shadow of death—it was only through my faith in God that I survived those countless ordeals you are about to see.

      After waking up that next morning and finding myself still alive, I felt it my mission from that day forward to share my story of the Miracle Man with everyone I meet.

      I leave you in my prayers that if there are any doubts or fears that you may have cancer, then please lay those aside and have the necessary tests. It is at this point in your life, when your body tells you something is wrong, that your faith in God and early detection will be your two strongest allies.

      Introduction

      Certainly all of us know we cannot return to our childhood. For some of us, after fighting cancer for several years, we may find that the road back to where things were the day before the cancer struck may never be found again. Doctors will tell us that as cancer patients, we must wait five years before we can safely say we’re cancer free, and yet what happens during that time may change our lives forever.

      The world as you knew it—life, family, and society—must go on without you while you’re in a hospital fighting for your life. And surprisingly there are many challenges you will have to face ahead of you, when you finally hear the words You’re cancer free, and you’re being released this afternoon. You’re going home. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

      Wonderful as it sounds, for many long-term cancer survivors, it can be one of the scariest moments of their lives because in their absence, home as they once knew it may have been lost forever. Friends and even family members may have passed, jobs were lost, and homes were foreclosed. All of their personal belongings might have been auctioned off by creditors. And now, branded with cancer, they cannot find insurance available anywhere. They’re left to face unpaid medical bills, divorces, bankruptcies, and all the uncertainties that may lie in the road ahead.

      Yet, we must move on, and put the past behind us. And with a positive attitude, we can begin a new and exciting journey on the road that lay ahead. I sincerely believe that in surviving the fight, God has given us a second chance at life.

      As cancer survivors, we’ve been given the rare, and most wonderful opportunity few people on this earth will ever enjoy, and that is to start life over again, from the day the cancer hit. Can you imagine the thrill and excitement of being able to have another chance at life? We can see things differently now, as a direct result of our close brush with death. It’s as if we have a whole new world to explore and enjoy. Family and friends and all those who supported us in our time of need are closer to us now, and every new day is truly a blessing, and becomes a new adventure, on the first day of the rest of my Life.

      Chapter One

      Cold, Hard Facts

      It was that same year Katie Couric’s husband, Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer. On March 6, 1998, I was diagnosed with two stage-four colon cancers. Just two weeks after Monahan’s forty-second birthday, cancer claimed his young life. The news of his passing rocked the world, and yet horrible as it was, it brought the dawn of a new era on colon cancer awareness and the hope of one day finding a cure.

      From my own personal experience, let me assure you that he did not die in vain. There are now millions of colon cancer survivors worldwide who were given renewed hope. There are many people who are preparing to face the horrible thing, the silent monster living inside of them that is literally eating them alive. What will you do when one day, life as you know it comes to a screeching halt, and you are told you have cancer?

      And just as important, what will happen after the cancer? I think as you read and live my story along with me, you’ll find there is yet a dark and gloomy aftermath of the victory. For me and others like me, we may never find the road back; rather we discover a new road leading to a new beginning and a new life.

      I think that you’ll find that so many things have changed while you dealt with cancer. With just a six-month absence, some survivors have said it’s almost like they had returned from the dead.

      It’s been said, that one in every four Americans will face some form of cancer. For many cancer survivors, the battle was won—only to realize the war still loomed ahead of them.

      For most of us, the road leading back to life as we once knew it is often difficult to travel. You must ask yourself, as a cancer survivor, what are you going to do on the first day of the rest of your life.

      There are many stories, of thousands of people who have stood up to cancer and survived. The surgeries and follow-up prevention treatments will certainly take their toll, both physically and mentally on a cancer survivor and their loved ones.

      Surviving is not an easy thing to do. Nor, is it an easy thing even today, for me to write this book about it. Cancer is an ugly word in our society, and just thinking about it happening to one of us, or a loved one, scares us to death. And it’s just not politically correct, to talk to others about cancer. It’s the C word. So, for the most part, we just try to put it out of our mind and pray we never get it. But it is my sincere hope that writing this book will help give you some insight about any questions and fears you may have concerning cancer.

      Perhaps you or someone you know may be fighting cancer, and if so, I pray that you’ll find inspiration in this book, when you read how God intervened in my life, during my darkest hour.

      Cancer is devastating to the patient, but there is also an equally dramatic toll and hardship on those family members and loved ones who care for us during our fight. For those sitting in that doctor’s office alongside the patient, the shock and numbness of hearing a family member has cancer, rips through the heart of loved ones just as well as

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