I had been having mild abdominal pain for a couple of months but didn't think anything of it. Then one morning in 2010, I woke up with excruciating abdominal pain. When I used the restroom, there was bright red blood in the toilet.

On August 4, 2010, I had a colonoscopy & was told I had a large mass in my sigmoid colon which resembled cancer. I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe it! I remember thinking "cancer at my age?! My 31st birthday was in exactly 14 days and now I have to have surgery."

On August 23, I had an open sigmoid colectomy. Out of 31 lymph nodes, 3 were positive. The surgery was a success! Then, I had to go through another surgery and get a portacath inserted into my chest in order to receive 6 months of chemotherapy for Stage 3 colon cancer!

Chemotherapy was not pleasant at all. I received treatments every other Wednesday, so every other Wednesday, I lost my strength, my voice, & my appetite for a total of 5 days. Finally on March 25, 2011, chemotherapy was complete! I could get back to some type of normalcy.

In 2015 I started participating in the Undy Run Walk, a 5K created to bring awareness to colon cancer to raise money for colon cancer research. I am Team Captain for Sensational Survivors and we have participated in seven 5Ks.

My advice to anyone going through any type of cancer is "With God and a strong support system, you can make it thru anything! Never give up & always push through." On March 25, 2023 I will be a twelve year survivor! Praise God!

My motto is Execution Over Excuses! Live your life to the fullest! Be the best version of yourself! You are only in competition with yourself! Me vs. Me!

You can follow me @_vygfitness on Instagram.

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