I retired from the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Dept. in December of 2013 and now I’m a boardmember/Membership Chair of the NFLA PCCheerleaders, I cheered for the Eagles from 1965 to 1969. My background is Fitness and Dance.
Cheryl Gargiulo
Philadelphia, PA
There wasn’t any history of cancer in my family. I started to see small amounts of blood on the toilet tissue and thought it was just my hemorrhoids and I would get sever pains in my lower stomach. I had a colonoscopy and CT Scan at the Pennsylvania Hospital. A tumor was discovered and I had an operation to remove the tumor near the rectum. I was scared, worried, and depressed. During my recovery I was always wondering if it will return or spread to some other part of my body. I though my medical team at Pennsylvania was outstanding.
My advice to other is don’t put off having a colonoscopy just because you don’t like the prep. That is what stopped me from having one. Finally at 66 I decided to have it done. After the test the doctor came out and told me the bad news. Oh, was God on my side, my cancer was only Stage 1 T-2.
Cheryl thanks so much for sharing, being honest and giving others like me courage, God bless you x
A 62 year-old coworker just told me, yesterday, that she won’t have one because of the prep. I sent her a link for your story and she said she’s going to get one. Thank you for sharing your experience so it can help others.