My Story: Colorectal Cancer

Ric Watkins talks about whom he leaned on for support and what motivated him to keep a positive outlook during treatment for stage 3 colorectal cancer.

Transcript

00:00

From the very beginning, my wife and I just kept saying, cancer, you're going to lose. That's been our-- our motto.

00:07

You're going to lose, cancer. You're not going to win here. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:16

I was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer. I got my diagnosis in February 2015.

00:23

My reaction was my ears got to ringing. And I couldn't hear anything else you said after that. Just the shock of someone-- a doctor telling you that you

00:32

have cancer, it-- it brings your life to a crashing heap. I told all my brothers and sisters.

00:38

I have one sister and two older brothers. I told them individually. And the very first word out of their mouth was that, I love you, and we're going to get through this.

00:47

Have an advocate with you, someone who is going to have your back no matter what, someone who's going to go with you to doctor visits,

00:53

someone who's going to check in on you, someone who's going to think of questions that you may miss or you may not think to ask a doctor.

01:00

They're going to ask for you. My advocate was my wife. And she had my back throughout my entire treatment. And I can honestly say I owe my life to her.

01:08

Find the thing in your life that motivates you to get up every day. So while I went through treatment, I still rode my motorcycle.

01:15

I rode my motorcycle through treatment. I didn't want it to stop me from spending time with my family.

01:22

You know, there were days where I was tired exhausted, and I didn't want to get out of bed. But my family is important to me.

01:28

They were my support system. And that helped me get out of bed. It helped me to be positive when I'm around them because I wanted them to know that I feel good.

01:35

I'm going to beat this. I may be tired I may be exhausted. But we're going to beat this. We're going to get through this.

01:41

I kept thinking about the things that made me feel like my life is-- is special. It's my life is being fulfilled.

01:50

My life is, you know, unique to me. And I didn't let cancer take that away from me. I didn't let cancer stop me from enjoying life.