Let's Talk Tough Decisions…with Taylor Dayne

is reaching out to the cancer community. It's become a part of my lifestyle talking about my own personal journey, and I'd like to share that with you today and hope that we will make more people more aware and more health conscious, and more women to make their checkups and their health priority. I'm honored to be a guest host here today on Shannon's show and podcast and to share my story with you today. And part of my story is very simple. In my fifties, in my early fifties,

everybody's like, have you had a colonoscopy? Have you had a colonoscopy? Have you gone for your mammograms, have you gone for your mammagas you know, we get these notifications and we get you know, told from our friends and you know, just in general. And by fifty four I had not gone for ancolonoscopy yet. I said, eh, I'm going to try a virtual one. So I did that, and unfortunately the results came back very oblique, and I mean that is just non committed to anything. So then

I had to go a step further. So then I said I might as well just going for the colonoscopy, which was what was suggested originally. This was twenty twenty two, so not that long ago. Two years ago. I had the surgery in August ninth, because by July twentieth I was told after my colonoscopy that he had to remove seven poulaps. I didn't know I was creating polyps. That turned me into a very deep search for DNA, doing testing seeing what was genetically in my family. My parents

never stupp with cancer. That's not in my genetics that I know of in my family line, and it was a real wake up call. He removed seven polyps and then he says, you need to come back in six months. Nothing here came out highly aggressive, but we need to keep a certain eye on you, and I was like, okay, I just figured that would be the end. He cut all the polyps out. I went back six months later now, July twenty twenty two, and he cut probably another seven

I had. And I got a call and I was used to this now and I was going every six months. That was part of what I knew I had to do. Now. He was very clear on that, and he goes, well, we got your test results day afternoon. Let me call you on Monday, but we need to talk about one of, you know, the biopsies I did. And he goes on a Monday, I spoke to him and he goes, yeah, one of your one of your poll ups tested highly aggressive, aggressively. We need to do, you know, surgery cut. But the

good news is that this is highly early detection. The bad news is, just tell me what you want to do. You want to cut the whole colon. Well, you want to do a partial, which is called the collector me and I was like wow, Now I'm sitting here at fifty seven going WHOA. Okay. So I spent one year going back and forth. This is what it tells you. Between six months where I had no cancer to now having an aggressive form of cancer to then saying you ten days to decide what you want me to cut,

not how, but what I felt. And I've done since then, done a very strategic every six months. I only decided to cut twelve inches of my colon, which was all around the infected area or the cancer area. I chose not to do a full removal of my colon. But again, early detection is the only thing that saved me. That's quite frank because within six months I had such an aggressive form of cancer. I went in on August nineth, twenty twenty two, and I had surgery, I had removal,

and from there it went to quite another level. Nick the blood vessel developed us in an infection a hematoma. Months later, twenty five pounds later. I did not because of the early detection. I was cancer free after he cut me. I still go every six months because there's no guarantee and because I didn't remove the colon and

we didn't see any signs of that. And I'm very, very committed now to health and wellness, and that means on a whole, very extreme level, because the healing that I needed to go through was so extreme, because I've developed an infection while in the hospital and while recovering from the surgery, so I take it very seriously. I did not experience one symptom. Like I said, within six months,

I had aggressive cancer. And only because I went in from my scheduled colonoscopy that I did and personally pushed the book because most of them will say come back every five years. But now when I'm reveling, I'm developing polyps. So I went. Now, since my surgery and my cancer recovery, I've gone had three other colonoscopies because do the math every six month, and they've cut seven polyps one time, four polyps another time, and I'm just fortunate none of

them have developed into cancer. At this point. It's an interesting thing to face. What goes through your mind is you know, I've always been a very strong, kind of independent thinker, So what went through my mind was, Okay, what do I do, What do I need to do, what do I have to do to get through this? And I'm very grateful to the doctors and the therapies I did do, but not until I got truly sick because doing the surgery and removal, I became very ill.

There's no guarantees when you cut yourself open, what's going to happen and how much more they're going to find. Prognosis is for me now daily that I go every six months and we see and we go from there. There's so many developments, you know, medically and as far as stem selling, as far as research, and I know they'll have a cure for it, and I know they will also find another way. So the surgery was my choice.

It was a success, but being that sick and being a month and a half in and out of the hospital, I also woke up to a scar that was because they had developed a problem in there. Obviously there was a flooding of fluid. So it changed my life, but it also opened me up to a different reality of the value of life, the gratitude and also purpose and

knowing I have a purpose. Obviously I've been very successful in my career, but it opened me up to people and companies that were looking for people with voices that have gone through something like this, but in a very grateful way, because I learned a lot. I've learned a lot through this process of healing and helping heal others.

I really see them and I see you, and I understand what it means to have a platform now like this, and why WA Cole reached out to me and then and asked me to be their brand ambassador for WA Cole and for their fifth to the Cure campaign, and why October is a month of breast awareness early detection for any of these Breast cancer has become a big, you know, speaking point for me obviously making sure we get in and do our appointments, because the only way

you can knock this out is by getting it early. And then you're really talking about less wear and tear from radiation, everything, and it really makes all the difference in the world. I'm changed because I wanted to I wanted to live. You make a choice. I was laying there and I being so sick. It wasn't necessarily the cancer. It wasn't chemo, it wasn't radiation. It was such a bad infection and around my pancreas and my lungs and my spleen from the removal. Once you go in and

you cut, things change for me personally. When I was given the diagnosis, it was by a doctor that now I had spent a year to two years doing colonoscpties with and monitoring. Because I was a polyp developer, there was no doubt in my mind. Every time I went in, He's like, I cut one to seven, eight just didn't even matter. Six months in between there was always pollups,

There was always an issue. So when I went in that time two years ago, this August, and when I got his results back and when we talked about it, and he was like, he went from like, yes, we'll just keep monitoring, you too, make a decision. You have two weeks highly aggressive and let's cut your whole colon out. I was like, whoa, And he goes, well, you could cut a portion, but he goes, we're not talking like an inch, We're talking about twelve inches. Has to be

completely around it. This is a really rooted type of pollop and this whole area needs to go. So I mean, I had to trust his diagnosis, but also I did, do you know second? You know first and second opinions. Once you look at that biopsy, you know it is what it is. The big scare was do I remove my entire call in for this? And I just felt, now it's not the time to do that. I just felt for me personally, and at that choice, I didn't. You know, I'm not young enough that I would say, you, oh,

if it was a hysterectomy, would I have opted for that. No. But this was a call in situation, and I also felt, you know, I'm in my fifties, I feel strong enough. I don't want to remove my colon. I want to see what we can do, and I'm willing to go through the process of monitoring this and keeping on my early detection. He kind of was didn't really at that point. He kind of checked out. He was like, surgically, I

have to get in there now. It doesn't matter. You decide, and he kind of was like, Okay, you want to do a collect to me, fine, but I'm going to cut out like a hunker stuff. And believe me, when I woke up and I was cut from here to here, he cut out a hunk of stuff. So I think at this point it's safe for me to say that at my age and being through my fifties and sixties, now we've all been touched by cancer, a friend, a

family member. You know for sure. I've had girlfriends that have really fought the hard, the hard fight, and quite frankly radiation and really getting into things. That's why I'm getting into tough scenarios and removal and surgeries. And my mom even is going through something now, whether it's cervically, and my mom's much older, and yet she's still thinking of going in and cutting. And I actually, because of all the research and now everything I went through, you know,

my first inclination. For some it's all about age and what you can tolerate and what you can handle, what your body can handle. Again, back to early detection. That's what saved my life because there is no cancer in my family history that we're aware of. Yet. My mother now but she's eighty nine, is having very you know, her paths were coming back very abnormal. I'm just like, I don't want you going into radiation, and I also

don't want you to cut. You're at that very pre pre pre and if your doctor's willing to scan you and really keep you under close watch every six months, then this is something you monitor and you really just monitor it and if it's not growing then and you're not glowing, then don't be cutting. So if it's just staying as is, you know, I understand that there's different levels, and I understand what people are very nervous about lymphatic

where breast tissue moves. But I am also a fan of not cutting if you don't have to, because once you go in, things get moved around. My body's not the same, it does not react the same. I do not go to the bathroom the same. I mean, I am definitely was put back together after they took everything out. Asked ninety percent of people who have been in the hospital, a lot of them get sick and get sepsist and a lot of things just from opening up the said wound.

And it's really shocking numbers. These are big decisions, they really are, and any doctor will tell you get the hell out. And they tried to get me out within four days. But I mean I had a catheter. I had I couldn't and within four days they were trying to get me out of the hospital, and I knew something was wrong. My action was just swelling and swelling

and swelling, and I didn't feel good. And then I did get you know, but they don't want you in the hospital either, because of course you're you're completely you're immused, you're completely open to whatever infection and by and large. There was something going on inside me I had I

was filling up with blood. And again my situation personally was a nick blood vessel around the colon, around where they cut around all that, and it turned into a disastrous and a horrible, horrible infection and which took months months and pick a line and then me just dragging through things for three four months, meaning took me that long to just get back to say I could take a breath off my lungs like my lungs had been you know, aspirated and everything, just the fluid, it just

wouldn't stop. So that's my journey. So I look at my mother, who I can help, who's not a cancer, not at a point where it's cancerous, it's just level. And I'm like, just let's watch you. Let's just watch you. That's all we got to do. Don't cut if you don't have to, but when you have to cut away, get it out. Just take care of yourself afterwards, get in that hyperbarrack, watch your effect, Be very very careful because infection is really the killer. That's where people go.

If they get pneumonia, they get sepsis. That's really what happens I've met some real warriors out there, and it's an honor too in some levels to be part of the club. But I also understand the journey is long and arduous and it's complicated, but some people are up for the task, and then some of the people need a lot of support, and that's nothing wrong with that,

you know. Being a voice for wack Hole has helped me knowing what they're doing for the women, for the community of cancer survivors, and putting their money where where their mouth is, you know, the Susan B. G Comann Foundation and what and what what cool has been doing for twenty five years, They've raised over six million dollars for the fight against breast cancer and helping Susan G.

Comann Foundation and helping women. I've done enough and a number of these these appearances now for Dillard's and Belk, they're number one Rea Tailors stores. When women get a chance to meet me and also will come in and get what's called the free brofitting. Now, I don't know about you, but a free brofiting is probably life changing for most women, because God knows, when I had a proper, real correct profiting that alone and knowing five dollars of

your money is donated directly to this foundation. And what you know, again, walk Hole has done with some of their bigger stories like Dillards and their retailers and Belk's. It's quite amazing. And I love the stories and I understand the stories, and I love when the women tell me I'm double misseectomies, I'm free cancer free right now, and you know, meeting you and understanding, and I said, but your broad don't fit, so let's get in there. Let's buy a new bra and let's get a free fitting.

Because it's all it's everything's a win win here when you win at your health and you slow it down. And that's really what I felt. This experience as being the spokespersons has given me this platform, but it also was a platform I never asked for. But it also turned into such a blessing. I meet people on their path where they are at the moment, and people need

to be surrounded by people that understand that moment. And oftentimes women I speak as experienced put ourselves last, and so this was a this has been an incredible journey. Now and as being a spokesperson for walkholl you guys, can all get involved with Fit for the Cure. You can donate to the for the Cure campaign for wak hole, and you can go in and get your free brofitings, and you can do that online virtually as well, because

they the numbers are extraordinary. And think about it, six million dollars over the course of these years walkhole has donated for breast cancer awareness and of course the fight against it. And I'm ever grateful to be and that's what's been shifted in my mindset. I'm ever grateful and I'm ever proud, and I always say, be a warrior for yourself, be your general. And it's hard when you're sick, and that's when you rely on the people around you.

But be a warrior. You still have to advocate for yourself. And that means taking your tests. That means going in annually and doing your mamograms, and that means going in and doing your colonoscopy and getting checked early detection. On a happier note and on a more practical note, what I do during the week is I do a lot of things that keep me physically. What I learned to do between doing the hyberbaric oxygen that helped my infection go down to ivy, you know, drips. I do maybe

twice a month. It just helps me. It's just another self loving part of my medical and holistic care and love for myself, and I feel good when I do that. Obviously, working out and I did pilates after I had surgery. The biggest difficulty was just to sit up because I lost all my strength, and so pilates ended up becoming such a big part of my and has become such a big part of my daily practice of wellness and again being a warrior for myself and feeling strong because

that's way you want to feel. As far as music, music has never been more forefront in my career. We're working on our new show. I'm very excited people see me out on the road right now because I'm bigger and more badass than ever. I feel it. I just feel the love that warms my heart. So I want to thank you all for joining me here on Shannon's podcast. We have lost a beautiful soul, but she continues to resonate through this podcast. So amen, I want to thank

you for having me on today. So let's be clear, guys, thank you for listening and of you missus Taylor Dane h