Donation protected
On Wednesday October 9th, 2024 I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. This couldn’t have come as more of a shock, I’m absolutely dumbfounded and still trying to wrap my head around everything that has happened in the last two and a half weeks. Honestly, it is all still surreal and overwhelming, but for what it’s worth I’m legitimately doing as well as can be expected under these crazy circumstances. Colon cancer sucks, I’m gonna kick its ass, I’m gonna need your help and here is my story. I’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible to bring folks up to speed on all of the things and included a list of ways you can help at the end of this narrative. Thank you in advance for your love and support, we got this, just remember:
I'm Molly Mutha Fuckin' McVeigh and I am gonna kick colon cancer's ass. Obviously.
WTF HAPPENED????
So….I’d been constipated for about a week. This is VERY VERY unusual for me, I’m a three times a day kinda girl and have never had any issues with my bowel movements. Tried everything I could at home, no over the counter medications worked, and I knew something was very wrong. I was uncomfortable because I was literally full of shit, but not in pain, and decided to go to the ER on Tuesday October 8th after finishing my shift at The Rush Inn. I had narrowed it down to two possibilities, either a fecal impaction (which would require a hospital grade enema and maybe some suction) or a bowel obstruction (which is less favorable as it would require surgery to remove the obstruction). Either way, it wasn’t going to be a fun visit to the ER, but at least I could figure out what was going on with my body and get things moving again, so to speak. Whelp, it turned out to be a bowel obstruction, but that obstruction was a gigantic tumor and I have stage 3 colon cancer.
Wait. Whaaaaaaat? I have stage 3 colon cancer?? What in the actual fuck?!?? I was expecting an unsavory and embarrassing first visit to the ER, not to be diagnosed with colon cancer. Seriously?? This is some bullshit!!
SURGERIES AND HOSPITAL STAY
I was then admitted for emergency surgery and spent the next 10 days in the hospital. Needless to say, it wasn’t awesome, but I was finally discharged on Friday October 18th and am now happily home and recovering.
Initially, they tried to put in a stent to push the tumor to the side and allow all the backed-up phantom poos to move through and out of me before operating. Unfortunately, due to the placement of the tumor (at the left descending curve of my colon where transverse colon becomes descending colon) the risk of perforation was too high and that procedure was unsuccessful.
They then tried a far more aggressive, but life-saving procedure, which couldn’t have gone better!! They split your girl all the way down the middle, took out the tumor and a foot and a half of my colon (surgeon said “you won’t miss it”, hahaha and he meant it – now I have a semi-colon) and finally, he rerouted my small intestine to the surface of my stomach (called an ileostomy – same as a colostomy just with the small intestine versus the large) so now I shit into a bag hanging off of my belly for the next two months. Um….yeah, that’s my new normal. I can’t even. Thank goodness it is only for a couple of months. Again, what in the actual fuck??? Wow. Count your blessings for being able to use your butthole my friends, I can’t wait to have this ileostomy reversed!!
For what it is worth, the placement of this tumor probably saved my life. Instead of growing with the intestine, continuing to advance undetected, it presented at the corner and created a blockage that required a hospital visit. The only other way it would’ve been found is with a colonoscopy, which I would’ve ended up doing soon enough as I just turned 47 in May, but that probably wouldn’t have been for another year, if not more. Who knows how far it could have spread during that time if left undetected? This is all so crazy!!? I feel like I’m repeatedly being showered with good karma during an otherwise overwhelming time. It is not lost on me just how fortunate I am – I legitimately have a new lease on life and take nothing for granted. Not everyone gets as much good news surrounding their cancer diagnosis as I have and I am blessed.
Nonetheless, this sucks and I am too young for this shit.
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Overall, my prognoses continue to be the best case scenarios for a really shitty situation. I know this is all big and scary, it’s really cramping my social life, but I’m gonna kick colon cancer’s ass every step of the way and a year from now this will all be a memory.
They estimate that the tumor has been growing inside of me for 10-15 years. Wait. What?? 10-15 years? No. Fucking. Way. Apparently, colon cancer is notoriously slow growing, beginning as a polyp and becoming cancerous over a long period of time (average 10-15 years) and typically asymptomatic until it reaches stage 3 or 4. I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that I’ve been unknowingly carrying this thing around with me for that long – so crazy.
Well, I can’t wait to see what my new baseline is now that the evil is gone. This is like a Marvel origin story, mwahahaha, you thought I was powerful before – now watch as I ascend to my highest form and attain my full capabilities!!!
Details of My Colon Cancer Diagnosis:
• Stage 3A Colon Cancer (T3,N1,M0)
• Entire tumor successfully removed during surgery (measured 2 ½” inches in diameter, which is fucking huge – think a bit bigger than putting your thumb and index finger together!?!?!)
• Of the 21 lymph nodes extracted during surgery, only 1 tested positive for cancer
• Cancer HAS NOT spread to any other organs (my lungs, stomach, spleen, gall bladder, liver, everything else inside of me looks great!?!)
• Prescribed chemotherapy for 3 to 6 months
• Continue to kick even more ass at life than before – BAM!!
Treatment and Procedural Timeline Moving Forward:
• In 6-8 weeks I will have an operation to reverse the ileostomy and I will get to poo out of my butt again, yaaaay!! Once I heal from that operation, which is far less invasive than the previous surgery, I’ll be ready to eat any and all foodstuffs and will begin chemotherapy.
• I also have a port placement procedure scheduled for mid-November, it’s a very minor surgery, to do all my chemo stuff through as this type of chemo is particularly harsh on your veins. Thank you to my surgeon for getting ahead of this one and putting in the port now, rather than waiting until I literally have no more useable veins. For what it’s worth, I absolutely LOVE my medical team, they are fucking incredible and I’m in exceptionally good hands. So grateful for so many things.
• Once healed from all of the above, probably late December or early January, I will begin 3 to 6 months of chemotherapy and then I’m done!!
Bye Felicia, ain’t nobody got time for this colon cancer nonsense.
I LOVE YOU ALL AND I’M GONNA NEED HELP
Like I said earlier, colon cancer sucks and I’m gonna kick its ass!! Seriously though, I got this! That being said, this is gonna be really difficult and I’m not excited about it. I’m gonna have good days and bad. I’m gonna need to call upon my beautiful tribe to help me get to the other side of all this cancer bullshit. Not to trivialize the magnitude of my diagnosis, but people get cancer every day and if you’re gonna get diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer this is how it it’s done. This isn’t a situation where I die. This is gonna be rough, but I’m going to come out bigger, better, fitter, happier, healthier, more productive. They took the big ball of evil out, it hadn’t spread to any other organs, I’m young and the pinnacle of health otherwise. Pretty much, I’m the actual poster girl for who kicks colon cancer’s ass.
Come on now, I’m Molly Mutha Fuckin’ McVeigh and this is not how my story ends – instead this is a strange, challenging and beautiful new beginning. Outside of the whole cancer and chemotherapy business, this brings nothing but positives to my world and I am profoundly aware of how blessed, loved and supported I am in this life. I really am one of the luckiest ladies I know and it is such a powerful relief to know that I’m surrounded by amazing and beautiful humans who have my back – I sincerely thank you all in advance for the love and support. It really does take a village and I’m glad that y’all are mine!
For the immediate and foreseeable future, I’m laying very low and just trying to focus on healing and gaining some weight before I begin chemotherapy. Generally speaking, I will not be accepting any visitors. There is a lot going on with my body and until I’m healed and not carrying my shit around in a knapsack off my belly hole, I’m having private times. Because of the ileostomy, I have to be VERY careful with what I eat as I’m only working with my small intestine and eating the wrong foods could literally kill me. That isn’t for you to worry about, I got it covered, but PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO BRING ME FOOD. Once the ileostomy is reversed and I get to poo normally again, praise little tiny 6lb 6oz baby jesus smiling down upon me from up in heaven, I’ll start chemo and I will definitely need help with food, but that time is not until 2025, so thank you and please no food until next year.
WHAT WILL THE MONIES I RAISE BE USED FOR??
While I am ferociously independent and hate having to ask anyone for anything, I’m now in a position where I must put all of that aside and ask for whatever help I can from friends, family and my extended community. Although I am one of the wealthiest people I know when it comes to the quality of my relationships and my consequent heart-space (which is literally priceless and more important than any sum of money), I am not financially well off by any means - nor is my family. I simply don’t have the money or resources to do everything I need to do over the course of the next 8 months to a year, especially since I can’t do any physical work and will not be able to return to the bar until this is all behind me. Turns out cancer is really fucking expensive, but we knew that already. It would be awesome if the financial component of all this was a non-issue, but alas that is not the case and I’m looking to crowdsource whatever funds I can. I also plan to organize a few benefits (possibly shows or craft fairs, TBD), sell a bunch of epic merchandise once I pull that together, continue to do my remote computer work and possibly take on some new side hustles in an effort to offset the financial burden I’m about to face.
The money raised will be used to offset my rent/utility bills, food costs, transportation to and from the many appointments I have ahead of me, procedures and medications not covered by MediCal and to aid in the pursuit of alternative/holistic therapies to be used in conjunction with chemotherapy.
At the end of the day, sending positive loving energy out into the universe on my behalf is disproportionately the most important thing you can do. Should you have a little money to spare and want to donate to my cause, that is super awesome too. Help comes in many forms and donating to my GoFundMe is only one of many ways you can show your support over time – every small effort is appreciated and y’all are helping make this journey easier for me every day. Thank you.
THINGS CAN YOU DO TO HELP ME RIGHT NOW
• First and foremost, just send all of the love, light, magic and positive sparkly energy you can in my direction. We are all far more powerful than we give ourselves credit for, so send me your sweet lovin’!!!
• If you want to reach out, please feel free to do so, I need your love and support more than I ever have and I welcome it with open arms. However, please don’t be upset if you do not get a response. To say that life is a lot right now is the greatest of understatements and I hope you know that I love and appreciate you even if I’m unable to respond. As time progresses, I promise not to be a stranger and will be far better equipped to be more communicative and visible as my circumstances change. This is fucking wild and I’m still trying to grok all of it. I appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time.
• Please feel free to leave a card with one of your bartenders at The Rush Inn and it will get to me, I love cards!
• Please continue to patronize the The Rush Inn in my absence, we need you!! Stay tuned for details on a variety of different benefit events for my once evil stinky colon in the future. We’re gonna make the best of a shitty situation and drink lots of metaphorical lemonade about it.
• Help by contributing to my costly cancer journey through this GoFundMe page or with a direct donation through Venmo @MollyMarieMcVeigh
• Help by passing this information along to the community, both verbally and through your own extended online communities. Although loyal, we are a bunch of gossip queens so let’s make sure that our information is accurate, but also widespread. Thanks bitches!!
• While I will no longer be smoking anything, that means no tobacco or marijuana, I will still be eating all of the marijuana products and would love to put your THC or CBD edibles in my mouth! I have no food allergies, I like all of the edible things and you can leave these items with your bartender at The Rush Inn and they’ll be delivered to my smiling face.
• Do you have a cancer specific skill set/knowledge surrounding alternative therapies? I am committed to gaining as much knowledge as possible about holistic/alternative therapies that I can pursue in conjunction with chemotherapy and welcome your expertise. Call me ;)
• PLEAE DO NOT BRING ME FOOD!! I have a very specific diet with the ileostomy and I’m gonna navigate food on my own until it’s reversed in a couple months. After that I’m gonna need everyone to help me eat all of the things, I can’t wait to put them in my mouth, but not yet. Thank you for understanding.
• Go get a colonoscopy so this doesn’t happen to you too. Sorry, too soon? Nope. Do it.
• Hug your loved ones (human or otherwise). Tell the beings you love that you love them.
Thank you, I love you. I’ll keep y’all abreast of how things are going and make sure to get the word out on relevant updates and the like. Also, please stay tuned for the absolutely legendary merchandise that is going to accompany all of this, ahahahaha. Nobody ever should’ve given me this much fodder for potty humor and associated clothing, but here we are amidst yet another silver lining. My goal is to focus on what I can control (which is actually quite a bit), laugh as much as possible and continue to cover everything and everyone in glitter every step of the way. I expect y’all will have no problem helping me be silly and stay positive amidst the chaos, we’re all a bunch of adolescents masquerading as adults anyway.
Fear not my friends - Trumpet Butt Rides Again.
XOXO Molly
Organizer
Molly McVeigh
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA