I have successfully avoided having my first baseline colonoscopy for the last two years since we moved to Asheville.
In Miami my primary doctor never sent me for one. (Still don’t know why that was. He sent me for mammograms and pap smears, why not the colonosopy) As soon as we got to Asheville my primary sent me for one that I ignored and canceled the appointment. Then at my checkup in October my primary really put it to me that it’s time to bite the bullet and do it. Since I had met my deductible for the year it seemed like I should. But even the day before I almost canceled again, but nope, I went.

So the details were that they found two tiny polyps. So that is good, right? That was Dec 9th and my doctor said he would send it to pathology and all looked good and I should hear in a week or two on the pathology.

Two days later on Friday at 4pm the phone rang and my doctor was on the other end…Not Good! Pathology called him because they found that one of the tiny polyps was cancer and a particularly nasty kind of carcinoma. He gave me a referral to a surgeon to be seen asap on the following Tuesday morning. I go see the surgeon and he schedules me for surgery the following week on December 23rd. He actually was going on his holiday vacation that day, but instead he wanted to come in that morning and do my surgery before he left on vacation. He thought it was that important.

So now the questions you are all asking in your heads will be answered. The carcinoma they found was so early it actually was not even a “stage”. The surgery was called a Right Colectomy which is the complete removal of the right ascending colon and then the large colon is reattached. The colon lymph nodes in that area are also all removed to be tested by pathology. This does NOT involve a colostomy which is when an external bag is required for waste. What I had is a completely contained surgery and there was no external bag needed. The surgery was all done laproscopic and staples closed my belly up.

I was in the hospital from Dec 23 to Dec 29th. Without going in more details, to be brief…ouch, ugh and tired. Soooo glad when I got to go home and two days after getting home my appetite returned. I was released on a regular diet and anything I want to eat, go ahead. (YAY!!)

Right before I was released from the hospital we got the awesome news that the pathology report from surgery was back and it’s GONE! No more colon cancer. All gone and after full recovery, move on with my life. No chemo needed! ( MORE YAY!)

The only bad part is that I had to cancel any events that involved travel or being away from home for at least a minimum of four weeks home recovery to let my insides heal despite my feeling good on the outside. Saw my surgeon and had the staples out and am recovering quite nicely Had to cancel our trip to Nashville for PPA convention and my trip to London, England to speak at SWPP. There was no way I could make either of those trips. Not a problem. We did not have anything planned for February and by March I will be perfect!

So the good side is that I do NOT have colon cancer now and I did not cancel my colonoscopy appointment. I get to spend weeks now putting together new tutorials, catching up my old work I am behind on, doing new paintings, updating the forum and my websites and I look at this as a gift that I was given to stay home and enjoy the enforced relaxed time to be the best I can be for the future and to put together an amazing kick ass program for WPPI Master Class!

I kept this quiet because it was the holidays and above all, it is very important that there are no rumors about my health that are not accurate. Today I am fantastic and am strong and thankful that this was all caught so early. So you know….I had ZERO symptoms, am in great health otherwise. Low cholesterol, low blood pressure and take no medications other than for sinus and thyroid. Doctors always comment on my good health and I always credit good red wine with being the secret to my success!

So here is to your good health in the New Year! Go for your checkups. Listen to your doctors! They already told me that if I had waited six months longer to get my colonoscopy the results would have been drastically different. Think about that!

My good wishes for you all to have even more success in the coming year than ever before and I am glad I will be here to see it all happen for you and to share my future plans and the steps I am taking to get my art out there more and also selling online, We have a lot of good things to look forward to and I am grateful for my online family and all our friends both online and in Asheville who have been incredibly helpful and supportive to Michael and I. The love and support of my family goes without saying and to those who I asked to keep this quiet over the holidays, thank you for honoring my wishes.  My thanks to the fabulous nurses at Mission Hospital who really do listen and care about their patients and don’t cut corners on their care.

So that is the truth about where I have been! Let’s move on and enjoy the year! I am ready to ROCK it!!

Marilyn

I will be speaking Monday 16th in the Millers Professional Imaging booth and showing easy techniques for doing digital paintings and creating true digital art. Our new You Tube channel already has many videos uploaded so be sure to subscribe there to get the latest uploads. I am planning one or more short video lessons each week. Look for new pictures from this event both on my FACEBOOK page and on my Flickr site.  Hoping to have some new VEGAS paintings from this trip also! Stop by and say hello and introduce yourself!

Can you help be my friend on Facebook? I never send you APPS and only post on there so you won’t get tons of that additional “stuff” from me. I am a good friend!

Touch of Fall 08 Painting, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

Early Fall in Asheville painting here is a Touch of Fall as it starts spreading across the area. Tomorrow we will take a Blue Ridge Parkway drive to get better early fall foliage photos!

Finally Art Hung, originally uploaded by marilynsholin.

Finally hung Gabriel Shaffers painting and Cynthias triple sculpture ceramic. Have another of Cynthias in another room. This spot for them is temporary until we finish the house renovation. Right now they are hanging in our studio. Visit Gabriels flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielshaffer/

You can view more of Cynthias ceramic art at http://www.cynthialeeceramics.com/index.html

This week Red River Paper sent me an email to do an interview for the Digital Imaging Cafe. I thought it was so much fun to write and to think about their questions that it seemed like I should share it on the blog. So here’s the interview and when it’s actually posted on the site I’ll add the link to it also.

Marilyn Sholin

PPA: Master Craftsman Photographer, CPP

Corel Painter Master

Author, Artist & Educator

www.marilynsholin.com

1. What is the most valuable advice that you had received and found most useful in your career?

Advice comes cheap doesn’t it? But valuable advice comes rarely! I was extremely lucky to have a mentor early in my career who gave me advice I have tried to follow for over twenty five years. He said to always follow my own creative style and not to let education change my style. He emphasized to me that education in photography should be about learning the techniques but not to let that infringe on my own style. Don’t try to copy what others are doing instead use the technology to create your own visions.

He also taught me that the more we give back to teach others, the more we learn ourselves. That is why I enjoy teaching and speaking so much. I get to meet others at different places in their careers and to join them on their journeys and become a part of it. There is nothing more exciting than to see the light bulbs starting going on in people’s heads while teaching!

2. What is the most important thing you could teach another photographer about succeeding in photography, whether technical, business or artistically?

I absolutely try to leave everyone I meet with this one piece from my own life. BE FEARLESS!

Learn that everyone is afraid! Fear is what holds back success. Get over the fear and just do it, try it, shoot it and show it. Nothing bad will come from it. The most successful people have learned from their failures. Failures are a learning experience. Never stop creating no matter what it is. Whether it’s a day spent in the kitchen cooking or out shooting flowers or working on an image in digital image programs….it’s all about creativity in your entire life. Go visit other studios, galleries and museums to keep the creativity alive! Take notes, draw sketches even if you can’t draw. Make yourself unafraid to try things you never did before.

Fear=Absolute Failure from lack of exploration.

3. Which is more important to you…composition or content? Why?

Without composition there is no content. Composition is what leads the eye through the image and creates the content and transfers it to the brain. Content could be a glass of water but when it is put off center and maybe a leading line to it with background interest it becomes composition that creates the art. Without all that, it’s just a glass of water.

4. Are there certain mistakes made in your career that have taught you important lessons? If so, what?

Oh wow, which one of my gadzillion mistakes should I talk about here? Mistakes are what make a career! I always tell new artists and photographers that the number one mistake I made starting out was not charging enough for my work. It took too long to raise those prices and get into a new clientele in the right price market. Start out at the beginning to charge what is right, not what you think you are worth! Compare your prices with the best in your market and set your own prices reasonably similar. What matters is not how good you think you are, but how you present yourself to the market and where you put yourself in the marketplace. Wherever you start makes it harder to change later.

5. Was there a particular photo that inspired you to become a photographer? Is it your own or someone else’s? Can you show or describe it to us and explain how it moved you?

My inspiration for visual arts and photography was my family. As a child my mother took me to all the museums in New York City and had art books all over our house. She had art on the walls and also had 16×20 black and white portraits on the wall in the living room of my brothers and myself. My mother had a great joy and love of photography and all visual arts and passed that on to me. As a child I thought I could never be an “artist” because I couldn’t draw. Instead I opted for photography which was very much a part of our lives. My brothers had a darkroom in the house and my uncle had one of the first Polaroid cameras. My mother always hired the local town photographer for family events and cameras were always a part of our lives. So I started out as a photographer and for my sixteenth birthday I got my first camera that was all mine. I became the family photographer and gradually moved up to classes in 35mm and developing and printing my own work.

When I discovered Corel Painter software my life became complete because I could finally do with it what my mind had been seeing whenever I photographed. I always looked through the camera and saw much more than was there but had no idea how to make it more “my own” and not just a photo. With the current digital painting world I am now able to fully realize the art I always wanted to create. My influences now are more in the painting world than the photography world.

6. If it was your last day on earth, what would you want to photograph?

Color COLOR and more COLOR. Color is life to me. If it was my last day on earth I would want it to be the height of fall colors in the mountains and that is what I would want to photograph and paint. I live for color now and the ways to bend it and make it my own.

For more information about Marilyn and digital painting visit one of her web sites.

http://www.marilynsholin.com/blog

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marilynsholin/

Marilyn’s Events, Workshops, Webinairs and Online Classes

http://www.marilynsholin.com/archive/2008/updated-marilyn-sholin-event-schedule/

BOOKS:

The Art of Digital Photo Painting: Using Popular Software to Create Masterpieces (A Lark Photography Book) (Paperback)

by Marilyn Sholin (Author)

Studio Portrait Photography of Children and Babies (Paperback)

by Marilyn Sholin (Author)

Tutorials and Free Downloads

http://www.digitalpaintingforum.com/shop

Join the Digital Painting Forum

http://www.digitalpaintingforum.com