Help Stacy Bell Overcome Oral Cancer and Rebuild Her Dreams

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Hi, world. I always felt I was supposed to do something important... I know all of us have stories. Yet, I didn't think mine was that important. Sure, I could hand it over for someone else to tell. But no one can tell your story like you. So, here I am.

My name is Stacy Bell. Life has been a journey for me for many years. From the time I was 19 when I wasn't able to pursue my dream of musical theater in New York due to an illness to the time I had an auto accident at 25 that would welcome me to the world of chronic pain. Then there was the time in my 30s when a friend was killed by a drunk driver that would leave a haunting hole in my heart and then in my 40s of being assaulted from a man off a trusted dating app that finally started to disconnect from people again.

There have been so many lessons. But nothing prepared me for what was about to happen. That good ole saying comes to mind, life happens when you are making other plans.

I was let go from my job of property management in March of 2022 when I had an emotional come apart of finding out my now ex, but significant other at the time, was a predator and possibly worse. I have not been able to find stable good paying consistent work since then. I have applied to hundreds of jobs to no avail. I became so tired of the rejection and no response from most employers. So I started selling things, UBER and Lyfted, tried temporary work just to barely make ends meet. I put off going to doctors and my dentist. I just accepted life was supposed to be a struggle. Always a fight, right? If I just kept going though, I knew something great was on the other side.

There have always been great times. I take joy in remembering I have an amazing family and have made such great memories throughout the years. So grateful for them. And joy in helping others, especially others with four legs. I found that special connection with animals early in life. Unconditional love was so comforting and wonderful.

For years I have volunteered and helped abandoned kitties and kittens find forever homes; transports to medical care; and attending events to raise money. Keeping them out of shelters and off the streets.

My home is always full of the sound of purring and paws. A lot of my money and time goes to fostering. I always am helping several fosters at a time, not to mention my own furry pals, Twyla, Ailey and Paris. All rescues.

I thought this year what can I do? How can I turn life around for myself and for them? I can't continue on like this, constant stress and chaos. Grabbing food from wherever. Especially with the cost. Working rideshare until I almost pass out on the road, get home, love on my cats and pass out in the bed. Do it all over again tomorrow. It is just me out there in the world.

Then it came to me! I want to help others as well. There have been so many times I have struggled and been alone with no one to reach out to. No one to talk to. What if I could prevent that for someone else?

I decided I would start a YouTube channel to discuss a prevalent array of topics and become a life coach. Who knows? Maybe I would become a public speaker. Maybe I would eventually act and sing again. Use my voice and share my talents. Publish my poetry and work on my books. Work on all my dreams. I have so much to share. The sky is never the limit.

I had a friend always encouraging me to tell my story so others could connect with me. But I kept putting it off because I wanted to lose more weight or working 14 hour days with UBER and Lyft. You know, waiting for the right time. Then I finally said this year I am ready.

After I got back from a trip before my 50th birthday this year in April, I had to deal with a severe kidney stone. I kept thinking don't worry. Just another blip in the big plan. This will be the year everything will change. Life is going to finally turn around. Then after the kidney stone passed, an aphthous ulcer/canker sore, or so I thought, formed on the right side of my tongue. This lasted for some time. I had had stubborn ones before. Then it began to grow.

I didn't have time to stop. So busy between family, doing my rideshare gig and adoption events. And about to start my new endeavor. Ready or not world, here I come!

Then a few weeks later I woke up to swollen lymph nodes on the right side of my neck. They were heavy and painful. I finally reached out to my Ear, Nose. and Throat practitioner. I couldn't ignore this anymore.

My doctor was sure it wasn't anything. This had to be a fluke. But we would do a biopsy anyway. He said it couldn't be cancer. You didn't smoke, drink or do drugs. You haven’t traveled to a foreign country. Not really laid out in the sun over the years. I checked all the boxes. I was eating healthier and fasting currently. I had been working out several times a week and had lost 35 lbs intentionally. My blood pressure and blood work was remarkable. He kept reassuring me all would be fine before the procedure.

Of course, my dependable family was there in the waiting room the day of the biopsy, my dad and my aunt. My mom would follow later that day. I was relieved that afternoon. I just knew everything would be fine. There was a perfectly good reason for what was going on.

Sitting there that Wednesday evening with my cats, Mom and Dad, we put on an old familiar movie and let it play in the background for comfort. It would be several days before the results. The ENT called my father that evening. Probably just to check on me. When my father hung up the phone he turned to me with tears streaming down his face to tell me you have oral cancer. I thought everyone must be mistaken. They have the wrong test.

Oral cancer? What is that? Is that even a real thing? I am not familiar with that. I hear of all kinds of other cancers. But it was confirmed to be Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue, Moderately Keratinizing. Possibly spread to the lymph nodes. Oral cancer and it may have progressed already to stage II.

You are telling me tongue cancer? I have skin cancer on my tongue? I will refrain from stating what I really shouted.

My dad continued to say he thought depending on what happens and depending on treatment, I may have to give up life as I know it and lose everything. Certainly this could be taken care of easily. Once they referred me to UAB this could all be taken care of easily. Certainly we have more advancements now and I can get back to life quickly. After all, I was finally going to turn life on its head with my new plan!

I sat before the surgeon at UAB with my loving parents in tow. He showed me with the CT scan the mass in my tongue as well as where it had spread to the lymph nodes on the right side. So, I proceeded to ask where we go from here. He told me we would remove one quarter of my tongue and reconstruct my tongue from my forearm as well as remove 30 lymph nodes from the right side of my neck. I would be given a feeding tube and they would put a trachea to breathe through in my neck for a period of time. I would have hospital stay for a couple of weeks and then return home to continue to heal. This would take additional weeks. Then the radiation, speech and physical therapy would begin and go on for another two months or longer depending on what is needed. This could take more months to a year if all went well. And we would need to start in a little over a month.

I just sat there staring at him like he was speaking a foreign language. He said there is nothing glamorous about oral cancer. Not to mention the scars left behind from surgery and possible disfigurement. The damage the radiation can do in such a sensitive area. Having to relearn to speak, eat and swallow. Having to relearn to articulate. Could continue to have trouble eating, drinking and more. The possibility with radiation affecting your teeth and bones in your jaw, your salivary glands and more. Not to mention we had been chasing a possible auto immune disease that could be made worse by all this treatment and holding onto hope before the PET scan is scheduled it hasn't spread anywhere else.

I don't know how I would get everything together in a little over a month. It seems these types of scenarios always happen. I fight situational depression and just becoming numb. I am barely getting by. I don't have any savings to rely on. Scenarios where I need real answers, solutions and now apparently a miracle.

I finally fell apart. I cried and then went off in my spirited way. It's just me out here. If I don't do something there is no one else there to do it. I don't have a husband. I have maybe a handful of friends left. If I had to declare bankruptcy this year, it would be for the third time in my life. I couldn't get a job the regular me, how would I obtain a job when I look like Frankenstein's bride? How do you date after this? How could this happen? Did it not matter what changes I made the past year? What would I do financially? What about my home? My car? What about all my kitties?

After coming apart all I could do afterwards is gather my things and leave with my parents. I am sure no one prepared my parents that they would have to deal with their daughter having cancer. My beloved brother was speechless when we called him. And all I could think of was my precious, just turned 16, niece's reaction when my brother would have to reveal her favorite aunt has cancer.

Sometimes when I say things out loud about my life, I think it is a movie I watched. Nothing can seem this ridiculous. But it's my life.

I will be one of those people that will just be strong. I can get through this. Then the first time I tried to tell someone what was going on and tried to utter I have oral cancer, I cried so hard I couldn't get the words out. The most inarticulate I have ever been, just the sound of me blubbering.

Then you're alone with your thoughts. I just want things to go back to my own version of normal. On the drive home, I still tried to come up with all these possibilities of how and why this happened. It's so telling that we live in a day and time where so many are struggling and we don't even have time to take care of ourselves. But we have to take the time. Cancer certainly makes you stop and demands your attention.

I think about the mental aspect of what I am about to embark on. Life asks that we deal with a lot. I think of all the scars this will leave behind. Doesn’t seem like a cancer you can be inconspicuous about. The scars will be very visible. What about quality of life?

There wasn't a lot of information on oral cancer out there online. It just regurgitated the same few sentences over and over again and your treatment was just surgery, reconstruction if possible, and radiation. There weren't hardly any YouTube videos out there to help. Nothing to really ease my mind.

There were the videos on all kinds of other cancers. Some could continue to talk, work and function during treatment depending on the location of the cancer. All kinds of possibilities what caused it. It was resonating when I came across this video that stated loneliness was the new smoking. Remembering one of my friends saying you don't need anyone. This video said loneliness was like smoking two cigarettes a day. This lowered your immunity severely. My surgeon had said this cancer was becoming more prevalent in women in my age bracket and they appeared low risk for the disease. That translated to me that no matter what you did, if I could grow cancer anyone could, even oral cancer. It knows no boundaries.

I tell my story in that I hope I help all that find this to become more aware of your health and the possibilities out there. Most of all reach out to loved ones. Stay connected. That mental health and that mind body connection are so important.

Well, I'm starting my channel. My channel is I'm Just Peachy. Didn't think this is how I would start. I had this dream I would finally have a home again with a big, huge catio. I could help so many more animals.

Maybe this is just a detour. And as I go on this new venture there will be the medical bills, the traveling expenses for treatment and years of checkups. There will be more frequent dental visits and all the unforeseens. I hope to have the gift of time to be able to take care of myself and heal. I hope I can continue to come home to my things; to still have my car to receive the help I need; and to continue to foster and help my cats and kittens find homes. I don't want to lose that lifework.

This pictures you see is Ophelia giving me a kiss. She was a kitty with special needs that got adopted last year to a loving family. There is nothing more rewarding.