Heids, that is our wedding picture !!!!!!! we got married at Judge Roy Beans Old Tyme Photo in Eurika Springs, AR, in 2003. We lived together for 20 years before we got married just to make sure it was gonna work so we weren't even married when I had the 1st. cancer........... He is my rock😍 ... View more

Hey Heids,  That is such great news & so happy for you.  Not all   things with cancer are bad.......if not for the cancer I never would have started going to FL. which is where I met Lee & Kim Greenwood as they were in the same row of condos & we became fast friends. We took a trip with him to OK in 1999. I have always loved his music & during that weekend he told me about how he wrote God Bless the USA.  I have gone to 5 of his shows & always get  a hug & kiss & a how ya doin..... ( to this day he thinks I don't own any shoes)  So ya gotta look for the humor in all of this. You sound like such a positive person that I have tons of prayers for you & sure enjoy hearing from you so take care & keep in touch,    Hugs, Terri xoxoxo     ... View more

Heids,     You asked how old i was for the first surgery, I was 41 & am now 68. We sure have alot in common between loving the water & singing & now cancer !!!!! I am so happy that you can travel without many problems. I used to go to FL. 2months a year but the shingles put an end to that too but I do love the beach. I never had any grand ideas about singing either, just really enjoyed it. I did travel alittle when I sang with a Country/Rock band in the 70's then started singing in a duet ( Rhonda, she became my best friend& has been with us for all my surgeries) in 1990 Southern Grace, we do all kinds of music, then Recorded with Glory Road for 6 years. We always joke that we are "Legends in our own minds" lol.     Really glad we met on here as I will always be here for you or anyone else I can help beings I am old as dirt now !  Hugs & stay in touch, xoxoxo Terri ... View more

Hi  Heids, I will answer anything I can just remember that mine was in 1997 but as they say, rad. is the gift that keeps on giving !!!!! I would not have been able to go thru any of this without my husband & family. Not sure how blunt you want  me to be but I feel the truth is the best. We have not been able to have intercourse since the rad. treatments. My vagina was burnt so bad that it is too narrow so we pretend we are teens in the back of a  car steaming up the windows, lol.  Oral & direct manipulation works for us as he has had prostate cancer & can no longer "stand at attention" anymore, lol of course we miss intercourse.......back then they didn't even have dilators so that a plus for you. My mornings are the same as you but get better until I try & eat. I kinda live on frozen fruit smoothies & protein drinks. What little I do eat may stay or may not & I never eat out anymore. I was doing pretty good until the hystorectomy which thru me right into the change having hot flashes before I left the hospital. Then I got the shingles on top of where I had the rad burns & that did more nerve damage to the point that I seldom leave the house at all now. The VIN was just the icing on the cake=removing right labia so all i can wear are dresses which i wore alot anyway. Most of my life I have been a back-up singer with 3 different groups & that is what I miss most. I can still sing & do at a studio but I haven't gotten back on stage in 2 years. We do still have jam sessions in our family room. So, this is my life now & I shall not complain. My husband bought us a large house on a lake 10 years ago so since I have to be home I couldn't have asked for more. I hope I have answered most of your questions & just know I will always try to tell you the truth. You are in my prayer's & please stay in touch. Hugs, Terri                             ... View more

I had anal cancer back in 1997 when no one would talk  about it so hopefully alot has changed.  They did not know I had cancer I went to surgery thinking a fissure was going to be removed but that is when they found the cancer. Half of my anus was removed at that time. {I don't think they even do that anymore & I sure don't advise it. If I could do it over I would have had a colostomy.)  they did not reach clear margins so rad. & chemo were both advised. I refused the chemo but did try 16 out of 36 rad. treatments which put me in the hospital for 2 weeks for burn/pain, called a saddle burn. That is when I stopped treatments. Fiber  helped to bulk up my stool & helped with the diarrhea  because I had little warning and had to wear pads & continue to do so as it only got worse over the years & I seldom leave the house. SO, that was my story but that was years ago. I recently helped a lady that did not have surgery, just rad. & chemo & she did great. No problems at all. In 2001 I had a hysterectomy & in 2018  I had  VIN & a Vulvectomy. As I look back maybe I should have had the chemo. I hope this helped & has not upset you. I am just telling u my story because I had no one to talk to. Always here if you need me, Terri ... View more