Surviving Cancer for Mike: “Birds Sing Sweeter”
“Scared and confused.”
Those are the raw emotions that Mike Lukowski, a 54-year-old retired machinist from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, felt after being diagnosed with bladder cancer in June 2004 following the discovery of blood in his urine. In the next 4 years, Mike went through treatment, relapse, more aggressive action, and the promise of an enduring recovery.
Shortly after his diagnosis, Mike underwent surgery to cut out three tumors from his bladder. After surgery, Mike took two cycles of chemotherapy over 3 months, including sessions lasting up to 6 hours.
Mike and his medical team initially held out hope that the surgery and chemotherapy had cured his cancer. But 6 months later, the cancer reappeared in his urethra. This time the machinist of 33 years opted for a more aggressive strategy.
Doctors worked on Mike in the operating room for 9 hours, performing a urostomy. Under this procedure, the surgeon removed Mike’s urethra, bladder, prostate, nerve bundles, and several lymph nodes. Part of his colon was cut and then fitted to his kidney to allow him to urinate into a urostomy bag, which collects waste on the outside of the body.
More than 7 months after his last surgery, Mike has adjusted to daily life, which now includes a different diet, limits on his physical activities, and getting used to his urostomy bag (a worthwhile trade off versus the cancer, he admits).
“You just make the best of it and I especially never miss the opportunity to say I love you to those in my life, my girlfriend Marlene, and friends who helped too,” Mike relates. “I (also) see things more clearly; the sky seems more blue, birds sing sweeter, and since I fish a lot, I seem to notice the things around me that perhaps I overlooked in the past.”
Mike credits the success of his treatment with the medical staff that he worked with.
The staff at the Bay Medical Cancer Center (Marinette, Wis.) was the most outstanding group of people that could have treated me… right up to the people at the front desk,” he says. “I still go back and see them from time to time. I even brought them flowers once and they planted them outside and take care of them now.”
Mike also finds time to correspond with fellow cancer patients. Here are some words of advice that Mike offers that you can find on the Caring4Cancer Message Boards:
- Hey I went thru chemo. The most important thing is to eat, even when food doesn't taste right, eat. Nibble on peanuts they are good for you and help with the taste in your mouth.
- Just remember you are the most important thing that should be on your mind. Get a Dr. who has time to explain to you what is going on, there are plenty of them out there. Check the phone book and the websites of hospitals for different doctors. Those resources can tell you how long they have been in practice, their specialties, and how they are rated.
- Trust your doctors, caregivers and yourself… keep positive, never give up, and every day you wake up you know you have started to win your battle. And a little prayer never hurts either. Just be strong, think strong and never give up. It isn’t always easy but pain also lets us know we are still here for another day. Do what your body tells you if you are tired, then sleep.