As I write this story I will have survived cancer for 18 years. I was diagnosed with small bowel cancer when I was 28. Now at 47 I would like to tell my story so others see that cancer is not the end of it all. My name is Jimi, I was born October 1962 in NYC . I was the sixth child of what would turn out to be a family of seven. We were/are a close family.3 boys and 3 girls.My sister Kathy had passed away at the age of 12 just before I was born. My parents were middle class people. My father was a captian and a pilot in WWII and was working for the NYC transit company. My mom was mostly a stay at home mom.
At the age of 3 my parents moved us to North Bergen NJ. My life was just like any other. Mostly growing up with close friends in the neighborhood . Playing stickball in the school yard and wiffle ball in the street. North Bergen was a town , just like any other town . you could go and hang out with your friends and not have to worry. I attended a catholic school . St John's in Guttenburg. most of my friends attened the local public school, Lincolin school. We as kids mostly played sports most of the year round.
We played football in the streets dodeging cars every few minutes. We even played hockey in the street, this is where I suffered my first knee injury. ( someone for some unknown reason decided to enter the dead end where we were playing. I didnt see it and at full bore skated straight into the metal bumper on the front of the car. Hockey to this day is in my blood. Although with a family and now living in Arizona it is hard to find a place and time to play. Growing up in North Bergen wasnt the worst thing that could happen to me. I graduated from St John's in 1976. some of the highlights/lowlights : Oneday in 7th grade ( mind you I was a bit of a class cut up) We were in class and my teacher Miss Lane must have been having a bad day , for some reason she starting the class and really had it out for me . Her story was that I standing on the top of the desks and reciting the Gettysburg address. This was not true and as she got on my case I proceeded to tell her "where she could get off"! I then decided I had taken enough crap from her and grabbed my coat from the closet and walked right out of class. She chased me for about 2 blocks screaming for me to get back into the class room and I would have none of that.
( Next my Mom meets the teacher)
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hi skates, my name is kelly i started reading your blog, just wondered if you could give me some information if you didnt mind, my dad has small bowel cancer of the jejunal, he had an op to remove the tumour,but its come back on the small bowel and they cant operate, hes getting blasted with chemo, just wondered where you had it, or fighting it for 18 years and if so what treatment are you getting,you see we live in england and i dont no if things are done differently over there , any info from you would be greatly appreciated skates , its nice to hear a success story ,especially as this type of cancer is so rare and there is little info on the subject,hope to hear from you soon thanks kelly.
ReplyDeleteKelly, Man I am sorry that it took so long to get back to you this blog never updated me on your post. Here is what I know. The small bowel cancer is the rarest form of cancer. But it is beatable! I am now 20 years in and I am cancer free. There are a few vitamins that I swear by that I have been taking and i am 2 years cancer free. Phytoplankton , graviola, along with E and D , shark cartlidge are the best for fighting cancer . The e and D have side effects that stop the growth of polyps which for me is where the cancer forms. Please contact me directly if you have any other questions. Jvalenzano@gmail.com
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