August 2007. My appointment with Dr Hope Rasque is scheduled for August 16. I have had almost a week to become severely depressed. I have cancer. That is something you NEVER want to hear.. When I meet Dr Rasque she is a very young pretty lady. She informs me that I have colorectal cancer.. and that I have an 80+% chance of survival depending upon the STAGE of my cancer... that will not be known until further tests are completed. She wants to do CT scans of my pelvis to see if the cancer has spread. They need time for the scans to be approved so the scans are scheduled for Aug 22rd.

4 months prior to being diagnosed we purchased tickets for a RUSH concert in St Louis. The concert was on the 24th of August. I told JR that we were CRAZY not to go to the concert. We were going with a group of friends and there was NO way I was staying home!

The day before the concert Dr Rasque calls and tells me the cancer has spread and that is what is causing my sciatica pain. A secondary tumor has been growing on my sacrum and has penetrated the bone. The tumor is so large it has been pushing on my major artery and sciatica causing nerve damage down my leg and causing my leg to atrophy! I am now considered STAGE 4... the worst stage.. I tell her we are going to a concert the next day.. she is not happy. She prescribes me a pain patch.. and new pain medication... she does not think I should go to the concert. I didn't care what she thought. I figured I was going to die and I wanted to have fun!!