15. Bonus Episode: Bunny talks Milestones

Episode Transcript

Bunny: (00:00)
Hi there. I’m Bunny Terry, and you’re listening to the I Love New Mexico podcast. Whether you’re a native new Mexican, who’s lived here for your entire life, or you’re just considering a visit, this episode is for you. Join us as we share a lot of New Mexico stories, Talk about all things New Mexico, and include topics like what’s magical here, where are you ought to visit, what’s happening, and the things you absolutely cannot miss in the land of Enchantment. We’re excited that you’re here, and we can’t wait to show you what an amazing place New Mexico is, because let’s face it, I love New Mexico. This is a special episode for me. And, um, those of you who may be seeing this in a YouTube video, um, perhaps not. I don’t, I don’t know what we’re gonna do with this one, but, um, I am, you’ll notice if you’re watching this on YouTube, that I’m in my bathrobe and my hair is wet. And that’s because this is a busy day for me, but it’s also a really important milestone, and it defines who I am. And, and, and one of the reasons that I so love New Mexico and I, and what I wanna entitle, this is why I’m in the fight. And, um, those of you who know me well, um, know that my passion is helping Northern New Mexico cancer patients get to their lifesaving treatment. And, and the way that I do that is by being the board chair of the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico.

Bunny: (01:53)
And the Cancer Foundation is dedicated to helping people who might find themselves, um, in a tight spot and by a tight spot. I mean, somebody who heard recently that they have a cancer diagnosis, but at the same time, they’re living in a place like, you know, Pinco or Mora or Questa or Tia Amaria. And they have perhaps small children living at home, maybe their grandparents raising their children. And, and the cancer diagnosis is almost secondary to them because their immediate concerns are putting food on the table and buying gas and continuing to work. And so, um, I am dedicated those people who find themselves in that place. And why am I dedicated? Why am I in this fight? Well, um, today, it, I know you’re gonna be listening to this at a different time, but today is November 11th, and on November 11th, 2012, which is exactly 10 years ago today, I was in a hospital bed at Christus St. Vincent’s in Santa Fe. And I had come two days before to the emergency room thinking that maybe I needed an appendectomy. I thought I was the healthiest person in the room. And, um, I had just moved to Santa Fe. I felt like I had the world by the tail, and I had grown up in northeastern New Mexico and, you know, exercised and ate, right ex, you know, other than the, um, rather frequent, um, breakfast burritos, smothered in green chili and cheese, or the, um, chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. I, I had lived a life similar to other new Mexicans. I was active, I spent time outdoors. I had, I felt like I had followed all the health rules. And, um, the one thing I hadn’t done, and I was 51, 51 and about six months, 51 and a half perhaps. Um, the one thing I hadn’t done is have a colonoscopy yet because I was so healthy. I was the healthiest person I knew. And the cool thing that November in 2012 was that I also had lost a lot of weight, which at the time I thought was a real gift from the universe. I was, it was, it was like the first time in my life that I was wearing a size six instead of a size 12. And I know I’m not supposed to find that important. And yet any, um, female who grew up in the sixties and the seventies is gonna think, Wow, wow, this is, this is amazing. I don’t know how I’m losing weight, but I love it. And every time I would get on the scale, I would think, Wow, Santa Fe is the coolest thing that ever happened to me. I’m having fun. I’m meeting new people, and boy, am I losing weight. Must be the altitude. I had not had a symptom of any sort up to that Friday in November, other than the night before.

Bunny: (05:12)
I had had a really serious pain in my side that, you know, felt like a stitch you get when you run too far. The other symptom I had had, um, and I found out that the weight loss was a symptom, but the other symptom that I had had was a little bit of lightheadedness. And because I was 51, everyone reassured me over and over that it was probably my hormones. You know, maybe it’s slow blood sugar, maybe you’re not hydrated enough. I, um, over the last six months prior to that diagnosis, I had frequently found myself really kind of lightheaded. I’d go for a run and it would end up being a walk, and it would end up being a, um, stop every block and sit down and catch my breath. What I found out the night that I went to the hospital and, um, they did a CT scan, was that the reason I was so lightheaded? And the reason that, um, oh, there was another symptom. I was chewing ice all the time. So if you live with somebody who can’t stay away from a cup of ice, um, please get them to the doctor, because what I found out was that I was bleeding out. I had a tumor that was five and a half centimeters, which for those of you like me who aren’t, um, part of really, really versed in the metric system that is the size of a small plum, I also had a corresponding tumor that was four and a half centimeters on my liver. So the tumor that was in my ascending colon had perforated my colon wall, and I was bleeding out into my abdomen. You know, one of the things that they always say is, if you ever see blood in your stool, you should immediately see a doctor. Well, there was no blood in my stool because the blood was going elsewhere. It was seeping into my abdomen, and it had done so for months, and I, your hemoglobin is supposed to be, uh, hovering around 15. Mine was 5.1. And when I say that to people who are in the medical profession now their eyes get wide and they say things like, Wow, how are you even alive? Well, I don’t know, except that on that Friday evening, I went to the er, I got extremely good care. The next day I had a colonoscopy. And then on Sunday, November 11th, an oncologist came into my room and said, You have stage four colon cancer. And I didn’t know that there, I didn’t know how many stages there were. I I had been watching the Big Sea on Showtime, and I recalled, uh, part of the dialogue where Laura Lenny was yelling into the phone, Don’t hang up on me. I have stage four cancer and there is no stage five. But that was the extent of my knowledge about cancer staging.

Bunny: (08:18)
Here’s what happened after that. A lot of people, uh, especially a lot of people into Mexico, rallied around my daughter. I was single at the time. And the one thing my doctor kept saying to me was, Do you live alone? And he’d get this really worried look on his face, and, and I would say, Yeah, I’m, I’m, I very happily live alone. I’m so proud of my status, I’m taking care of myself. Things are going well, and they weren’t going well except that I had stage four colon cancer and my prognosis was 12 months. And all I knew was that I needed to do the next thing in front of me in order to get well, in order to continue living this life that felt so big at the time. So I did all the things that my doctor told me to do. I did six rounds of chemo where I would go to the, to the cancer center here in Santa Fe, every other, every two weeks, and get hooked up to my chemo. And I would take it home in a fanny pack. And, and, and then that would last for about 43 hours, and then I would get disconnected, and then in two weeks I would do it again. And I wrote a book about it. You can find it. We’ll put a link to it in, uh, in the materials that go with this podcast. But, but the good news is after six treatments, I was eligible for surgery. I went to MD Anderson, where another new Mexican was one of the star colon cancer surgeons. He, um, um, Dr. Steven Curley, who grew up in Rio Rancho, whose mother still lived in Rio Rancho, and who every time we came in would, you know, wanna talk about green chili and skiing. And, um, he was my surgeon. He, um, took out about 12 inches of my colon and lopped off a piece of my liver and put me back together and sent me home for another six rounds of chemo. And, miraculously, amazingly, on June 23rd, 2013, I had my last chemo. And since that date, my scans have always been clear. So today, the reason that I’m doing this podcast for I love New Mexico is cuz I want you to know that I am in a fight to help other new Mexicans who have been diagnosed with cancer get to their treatment and get well. And so if you follow the podcast or if you’re on my website, you’re always going to see some sort of a link or a plea for help for fundraising, help for the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico. It’s a local, very caring organization whose only goal is to make sure that every northern new Mexican who needs to can get to their life saving treatment in Santa Fe. Right now, our mission only includes people who are looking for treatment in Santa Fe, but we’re hopeful that as the fundraising continues to grow, that we can offer this to, um, new Mexicans who are seeking treatment elsewhere.

Bunny: (12:04)
That’s the dream down the road. So when I ask for help, please know that it’s because I have sat in the chair where those people are sitting today or next week or last week and hearing for the first time the words, You have cancer from experience. I know that while they’re frightened and petrified and, and sort of stopped in their tracks, of course, because what are you gonna do other than sit back and think, How do I conquer this? The other thing that they’re thinking about all the time is money. And at the Cancer Foundation for New Mexico, we provide mileage reimbursements for people who qualify for our services. We provide free overnight stays for anybody who needs to come here and, and either have an early appointment or be here for three or four days for a round of medical visits, maybe, um, somebody’s getting radiation and it’s five days a week for seven weeks. That happens all the time with advanced cancers. We also offer grocery cards and we offer a stipend to people who live in Santa Fe County who aren’t having to travel, but who are still in the midst of this really, really difficult phase of their life. Somebody said to me recently, Wow, you just, you let this disease, you let this condition define you. And I said, No, I am not letting it defeat me. That’s, that is the important part. I don’t want to be defeated, and I don’t want anybody else to be defeated by cancer. I know that you’ve probably got somebody in your family who is, who you’ve either lost to cancer or who’s in the middle of the fray right now. I just want you to know that there are people out here who are paying attention, who care, who wanna help people get well, and I’m one of them. So between now and the end of December, I’m gonna ask a lot of people to join me as a sustaining member of the, of the crew, the tribe, the, the group that helps other Northern New Mexicans. And I’m gonna ask that you commit to at least $10 a month, um, as a donation to the Cancer Foundation.

Bunny: (14:36)
There will be a link to that campaign as well in, in these materials. But, you know, $25 helps with mileage reimbursements. $50 helps with overnight stay. A $75 a month donation gives a family a grocery card that’ll help ’em get through the month and get the proper nutrition that they need. Your donations also help the support groups that we run for people who are either caregivers or survivors or who have lost somebody who are who or who are in the middle of their cancer diagnosis. And it helps support all the volunteers that the Cancer Foundation puts to work over at the chemo suite at New Mexico Cancer Care and the Christus St. Vincent Cancer Center. So folks, this is a big day for me. I’m celebrating I’m sorry, but I’m gonna get a little emotional. But who knew that a 51 year old woman from Logan, New Mexico, who grew up on a farm, who, who never, ever dreamed of being inion of leadership like this in New Mexico, who knew that first of all, I would get diagnosed, second of all that I would survive such a horrific diagnosis. And third, be in charge of an organization that is dedicated every single day to helping people into Mexico get well. So I’m hoping you’ll join me, and if not, I’m hoping you’ll reach out. Let us send you one of my books that I wrote about my journey. Um, let us talk to you, let us figure out the ways that we can help and how we can connect you with other people who are in the same boat or who have been there before and can help you going forward. This is what New Mexico is about. We are a small state, we’re a small community of care, and I’m so proud to be a new Mexican and I have to stop here because I’m gonna start crying. But I love New Mexico and I appreciate you being here. Every moment is enormous and it is all we have. So please live all your moments in the best way possible. Take care.