Larry Pilarski

It was about 3 a.m. when I woke to go to the bathroom. As I looked out the bathroom window, I could see it was snowing. Thinking I would do my parents a favor and shovel the sidewalks for them, I got dressed and went outside. There was something strange about this early morning venture; I could feel it. I started shoveling and suddenly a bright light passed before my eyes … I could feel myself caught up in some kind of whirlwind. The next thing I remember was two policemen and a neighbor from across the street hovering around me. They picked me up and took me into the house. That was my first episode with epilepsy. I was thirteen; I’m now seventy-five. If you do the math, you’ll see it was 1948. Fast forward sixty-three years: Almost 12 years ago I went to see a surgeon about removing what my family doctor and I thought were hemorrhoids. After bending over and having what looked like a small telescope shoved up my rear-end, the doctor exclaimed, “I’m afraid it’s a little worse than hemorrhoids, I’ll have to take a cutting.” As soon as I heard the word “cutting” I thought “CANCER!” But, wait, I thought, “It can’t be; I’ve had a barium enema and a sigmoidoscopy both proved negative.” Three days later I was called by the surgeon telling me I had colon cancer. He had made arrangements at the local hospital … I had to have surgery. Immediately! Thank God I’m still here but why didn’t the cancer show up in the barium enema or sigmoidoscopy? The cancer was holed up in a muscle at the end of the anus. When the tube was inserted it passed the diseased area before it could be detected. (So much for modern medicine.) After my colostomy surgery, I tried to find support in my community. Unfortunately there was none! I looked in neighboring towns to no avail... I even contacted Hudson County (the county I live in) for a list of ostomy services; There were none! The hospital had done away with “Ostomy Nurses.” The nurses in the hospital were poorly trained, in Ostomy Care, in fact, their training was much the same as mine after surgery … watching a short film on how to care for your colostomy. (Which was nothing more than showing you how to change your "Pouch.") At one of my three-month sessions with my surgeon, I mentioned the fact there were no support groups in the area. He jokingly said, “Why don’t you start one?” I started to think about this and what could be done to help others in similar situations. Searching the Web, I submerged myself in everything I could abou