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Natalie Asay Scott

@nitnatmamacancerthriver

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Single mom thriving through stage 4 colon cancer. 💪

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I’m seriously starting to get my ER visits mixed up. Sorry there was no cancer tip Tuesday this week. I was busy being in excruciating abdominal pain and going back to the ER for the second time this week!

Last weekend on Saturday I woke up not feeling great. The whole thing with aching and nausea and all that. I text my parents and sisters and Meg rushes over and drives me down to Utah Valley (that’s where my GI doc is) and gets me admitted to the ER. Such a fun, enjoyable and quick process. Not. They get me on IV antibiotics and my doctor moves up the replacement of my biliary stent procedure to Sunday morning. All goes well with that and I feel much better. I’m discharged Monday and my dad rushes me over to the oncology clinic to get my HAI pump flushed. Home by 5:30, hooray! I’m tired but comfortable at home with my boys and watching the USWNT play Spain.

Next day I take Timmy to school and go about my day like normal, but I feel like garbage and my stomach is hurting, increasing in pain. By the late afternoon I’m doubled over and vomiting…literally cannot keep even a sip of water down. After talking to my doctor, it’s back to the ER! Several hours later blessed pain meds…holy relief.

They do a CT scan and find a pool of fluid beneath the catheter of my HAI pump. They transfer me up to IMC in Murray where my surgeon/pump doctor is but who is out of town 🥴 The team here is awesome, though and they contacted him and discussed what to do. Next morning they took me down to interventional radiology and put in a drain to drain off the pooled fluid (pictured here)…which turned out to be blood. Soooo much relief when I woke up from that. It did get clogged overnight and had to be flushed after I was panicking in my hospital bed from the pain coming back. Anyway, I’m OK, just very tired and hoping the procedure they’re doing tomorrow fixes it all. They’re going to embolize the artery that they think is leaking…which would be the end of my pump. We will see.

Going to bed now. Love y’all, and thanks to my incredible family for all your help! I love you so, so much. ❤️ by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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15 hours ago

Today is Ryan’s 52nd birthday. When our kids were little we used to take long walks at night and talk about the 50s phase of life and all the fun/travel we would do together when we got there! Ryan was traveling the world for work and I couldn’t wait to join him when we didn’t have so many young dependents at home. Life has obviously taken a different direction and though I feel deep sadness for what might have been, I also feel peace and acceptance for what is.

We had a beautiful day celebrating Ryan in the canyon where he loved to cold plunge and buried his ashes next to the beloved grandparents he was so close to. We shared beautiful memories with eachother and laughed over Ryan’s exuberant, colorful and one-of-kind personality. Everyone misses him so much.

His sister and I marveled at how we could feel his happiness today. Feeling Ryan happy and peaceful is the best feeling for me right now. It gives me relief I can’t quite describe…I have always wanted nothing more than that for him, and I will always, always be SO proud of the family we created together.

Love my Scott family more than I can say ❤️ by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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10 days ago

It’s still Tuesday! These cancer tip Tuesdays have become more like health updates because, y’know, it’s been kinda wild since that first week of August. I have had to focus more on calories and protein IN than my sprouts and warm teas…although I do still drink my green tea most days 💚

After finishing radiation a deep discomfort settled into my stomach, back and sides. Achy, bouts of nausea and general sleepiness. I really wasn’t entirely sure if it was a symptom of the radiation, the high dose antibiotics, something wrong with the biliary stent, cancer…WHAT is going on?! All I knew was I didn’t want to go back to the ER so I took it very easy, drank lots of broth, walked, and didn’t allow myself to overdo it. I am feeling much recovered now and happily got back into my gym class this morning. I’ve lost what Sam would call my “gains…” again. But I’ve got to just keep getting after it and regaining strength.

Lately I’ve been focusing on an attitude of abundance and finding it wherever I can. I am loving the fall, the tomatoes, herbs and pumpkins I’ve grown in my yard, my hilarious teenage boys keeping me on my toes, Marco Polo, Ted Lasso, my cancer chair (the recliner I’ve spent a lot of time in!), kneaders sandwiches, soccer games, treatment options, wonderful doctors and people who love me. I could go on, truly. My life is full and abundant and hard and amazing.

I’m assuming that’s what most would say about their own lives. We’re really not all that different, are we?

Love y’all!

#coloncancerawareness #cancerfreeby50
#hepaticarteryinfusionpump #cancertiptuesday by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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17 days ago

Last day of radiation! I did 5 high dose rounds and other than feeling like napping and struggling to eat enough, all good for now. Glad to have it done. Real fatigue apparently kicks in the next couple of weeks, so I’ll be watching for that.

In the words of an incredible fellow cancer fighter…

Just keep swimming!

#cancertiptuesday #coloncancerawareness #cancerfreeby50 #hepaticarteryinfusionpump by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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24 days ago

It’s called “patient fatigue,” Natalie. A dear friend communicated this to me and she hit the nail on the head. I had a bit of a mental breakdown a couple of days ago (the young people call it a crash out) on the heels of the breakdown I had the two days following our return from Tennessee. Deeeep breath. I KNOW everything will be OK, but I am experiencing a weird exhaustion that overrides like, everything. Patient fatigue. If you’re one of the fortunate cancer patients who gets to live longer than the prognosis given to you…it is inevitable at some point. We’ve all heard of caregiver fatigue of course! But it hadn’t occurred to me that at some point I’d become extremely tired of being a patient. Seems obvious as I write it out, but when you’re mostly consumed with the fight of living, you often aren’t prepared for the silly things that creep up like I AM SO FREAKING TIRED OF THIS.

The recent sepsis scares and hospital stays kinda kickstarted this for me. It just becomes very, very tiring, for lack of a better description. Suffering Ryan’s death mere weeks before that ill-fated ablation and subsequent medical crises has compounded it ten-fold for my whole family…not just me. My kids are fatigued, my support system has GOT to be fatigued, and frankly, I don’t want to have to lean on them anymore! To say I love and appreciate them is an unforgivable understatement, but I also love my well-earned independence!

For #cancertiptuesday just remember it’s a gift to experience patient fatigue because it means you’ve gotten to be alive for a really long time and you GET to keep right on going. That’s what I’m telling myself! I’d truly rather sort through all of this and get to keep nagging Sam about his homework, watch Timmy play basketball, Marco my sisters and have hard, wonderful conversations with my adult kids. 💗

Love you and THANK YOU,
Nat

#coloncancerawareness #hepaticarteryinfusionpump #cancerfreeby50 by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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a month ago

I’m home. 🙏🏻

What was supposed to be a much needed trip for me and my boys to visit Evie, ride the zipline and celebrate Timmy’s birthday in Gatlinburg translated to me going to the ER in an ambulance the first day and spending the next 3 in an unfamiliar hospital on IV antibiotics until yesterday afternoon when they de-accessed me and sent me home on oral antibiotics and no good answers to what the hell is going on with me! Upon discharge we went to get some lunch then straight to the airport. My rental car basically sat in the hospital parking lot the whole weekend 🥴

Shout OUT to my dad who got on the first flight to Knoxville to be with me. I can’t describe the first 12 hours I spent in the ER of a very lonely, apocalyptic hospital basement made of concrete…some of which was painted weird orange TN colors, haha. I insisted Evie take the boys and do the fun things we planned and get them checked into our hotel, so I was alone, and all I will say is it was a very hard time. I felt very, very sad. I was beyond grateful when my dad got there.

I suppose for #cancertiptuesday I will say there is always hope, but sometimes it’s OK to not feel it. I’m in a fairly vulnerable state of mind right now but my body and mind are tired and I need rest. I did have a liver MRI AND met with my new GI doctor today who is actually a dear family friend and new hope was sprung. He made me feel so loved, safe and cared for. I know together we will figure this out and I’ll be alright. I am so thankful! Things will work out.

Everyone has been so kind and gracious and generous! I will get around to thanking each one of you. Love you 🫶 by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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a month ago

Happy happy 14th birthday to the baby of our family, who stands taller than all 5 of his siblings and is definitely the most accommodating. A very rambunctious toddler, he has turned into the nicest kid who does just about everything I ask of him! This birthday we came to TN to do the zipline and visit Evie and unfortunately I ended up in a Knoxville hospital with sepsis the day after we got here. While I was in our hotel waiting for the ambulance Timmy was helping to pack everything up and get things organized. I love him so much. I’m so sad I didn’t get to do all the fun things with them but many thanks to Evie and Katie for making it happen.

Happy birthday to the best kid in the world!
Timmy ❤️❤️❤️ by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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a month ago

Hey ya’ll! I’m ALIVE. I’ve never been so grateful for modern medicine, specifically high dose antibiotics that are curing the infection that almost killed me. I made it to the gym this morning and although abbreviated, I worked out and may or may not have been emotional through the whole thing. @alysaludavis I love you and thank you for today’s class ❤️ I’m SO thankful for my body and how it is rebounding from the last month of HELL.

Remember the tumor on my liver that started this whole mess on Aug 7th that my surgeon tried to ablate? The ablation was not completely successful, so the day after I got out of the hospital last week I met with the radiation oncologist about radiating it. He was ready to start asap and I was like, HEY I NEED A MINUTE. It is amazing how many people I’ve met for the first time this week, including the radiation oncologist and his nurse, who’ve exclaimed “you don’t look like you were septic just a few days ago?!”

😑

Thank you? I mean, people intend to be complimentary but I’m not sure what I am supposed to look like. I know what I FEEL like and I definitely see a different version of myself in the mirror but man, it’s weird to interact with people who have some kind of expectation that I look like garbage.

My tip today…if you encounter a cancer patient, or someone with a chronic illness; may I suggest that instead of commenting on their appearance (which I understand is meant to be kind!) try being curious and simply asking them about what they’ve been through, how their recovery is going, and TBH just a genuine hug is so comforting. We all want to be truly seen for what is happening on the inside of our lives. Without curiosity and questions, those things can’t be known and we won’t SEE one another. That is where the comfort happens.

Radiation will be 5 days and starts after Labor Day. Love you all so, so much. With your continued love, help and support I will prevail!

#cancertiptuesday #coloncancerawareness
#cancerfreeby50 by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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a month ago

Ok Ok so it’s Tuesday still and for #cancertiptuesday we’re going to remember that amidst all the nonsense of the last few weeks there are two darling teenage boys at my house who started school after not really getting to go school shopping or any special end of summer activities.🥴 We did manage to find Timmy the perfect e-bike (more like a motorcycle in my eyes) to drive himself to and from school. He loves it so that was a much needed August WIN.

Sam is a junior. He is next level on his drums and the gym and his gorgeous squinty eyes.

Timmy is in 8th grade and continues to play basketball, cook magazine-worthy meals (I had salmon and roasted veggies waiting for me after surgery) and is all around an easy kid.

I absolutely, unequivocally adore these boys. They have been through more bad news than any kid should, but they just keep going at life. I get “love you, mom” every time we’re on the phone or parting ways, we chat about everything and laugh at ourselves…nothing makes me want to live more than them and my other four incredible kids. That and the very abundant garden I’ve had this summer🍅🌿

It’s gonna be a great year! 💪 by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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2 months ago

Sooooo much better but a ways to go. They discovered streptoccoccus infection that was coursing through my blood and whole body. No idea where it came from, but based on the fact that I never got feeling super well after the stent placement and how immunocompromised I have been, it may be something that happened when I was incubated from that procedure. Who knows, but I haven’t had sepsis before so I suppose that needed to be the thing that finished out my summer-of-2026-can-suck-it experience.

I’m grateful for the lifesaving antibiotics but also very worried about my gut health which happens to be essential to the health of my…colon (which I’ve managed to keep very healthy with no recurrence since its resection in the summer of 2023)!

Will keep working at it. Moving forward. You guys are so incredible, thank you mucho for encouraging me on. So much love for you.

Going home today! 🙏🏻

#coloncancerawareness by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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2 months ago

Update:

Early yesterday morning I woke up fevering and feeling very, very sick. My sister rushed over and took me to the ER AGAIN (while I shivered and barfed in her car 🥴) once they got me admitted they drew my blood and turns out I was septic…super fun. They’re culturing my blood while I’m here in the hospital with IV antibiotics to find the exact bacterial strain to treat. I appreciate your love and prayers. I am feeling better today but SO OVER THIS. by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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2 months ago

Well well well, what’d ya know it’s #cancertiptuesday and I’m gettin my steps in!
Today’s tip: try not to die, but more importantly, try not to WANT to die. When I landed back in the ER last week with a compressed biliary duct leading to yet another procedure (feeling so, so ill) the despair started to creep up my throat and take hold…after the stent was placed, I woke up feeling like it was choking me.

Despair is a terrifying feeling. It is what led Ryan to his death over a month ago and with all the power I have within me I have fought against it. Refused to let it catch a breath within my heart. Even after my transplant failed I didn’t let it overwhelm me…but something was different this time. I just felt bone tired, to my very core. I am tired of this. That’s just the honest truth of it all.

As I’m recovering, however, I’m finding a second wind. It seems there’s always more deep down than we realize. I’ve continually surprised myself and I am again. Make no mistake, I’m sobbing in my shower and letting the grief of everything wash over me. I’m allowing all the complicated, unfair feelings and emotions just be there. This has been the world’s shittiest summer, without question. But truly, we can only go up from here! Right?!

I truly do believe our happiness and contentment is not dictated by the events of our lives. If so, we would all just be miserable because does anyone have a perfectly curated life (if you do just please scroll away. You’re in the wrong place 😆). My illness and Ryan’s recent death have reminded me how much love is in my life. I love my people so deeply and feel their love as well, and I know we can’t appreciate the highs without the lows, so I’ll keep paying attention to all the silver linings. They’re there. I can see them, I can feel them.

There is always hope. Life is hard, but we have eachother❤️

#coloncancerawareness #cancerfreeby50
#hepaticartwryunfusionpump

(Sunset and rainbow pics sent to me by my kids while I was in the hospital) by @nitnatmamacancerthriver

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2 months ago