Kyrah Ayers

In late 2023, I went home from work due to stomach pains and nausea. In all honesty, I thought I had the flu. After a couple of days of watching me crawl back and forth to the bathroom, my wife took me to the emergency room to get looked at by a doctor. This decision probably saved my life.

That night Dr. Dixon assessed my condition and determined that it was quite possible that my appendix had burst. Tests later that night confirmed his diagnosis. The next morning I went into my first ever surgery where they removed my faulty appendix. A few days later I was released to go home to finish my recovery.

After a week or so, I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon, Dr. Dixon. I thought it was just a follow up, “Hey, how’s things going?”, type of appointment. Upon arrival, I found out that this was far from the truth. As my wife, son and I entered into the doctor’s office, the doctor immediately requested that the nurse remove my son from the room. This is when I got nervous. Not at the ER, not at the surgery prep, but right now as I braced for the impact of imminent bad news.

Once my son was escorted out, my wife and I were informed that they had found traces of cancer in my appendix. I was scheduled for another surgery to remove half of my colon followed by an introduction to the oncology department.

Through twelve rounds of chemotherapy, I had some amazing team of medical professionals help keep me upbeat and optimistic. Prior to this chapter in life, I was a poet and a marathon runner. While going through chemo, running really wasn’t possible, so I leaned in heavily on writing and wrote twelve humorous and lighthearted poems about the journey I was on.

Photo credit: Abdominal Cancers Alliance and Khop Shoots, LLC

In 2026 I was blessed to share some of these poems with an audience in Baltimore, MD at an event put on by the Abdominal Cancer Alliance called Living Proof. The Appendix Cancer PMP Research Foundation kindly sponsored my travel to and from the event. The audience at Living Proof was full of doctors, nurses, caregivers and survivors who, from their own perspective, related to my plight. It was amazing being in a room with so many miracles and to share my own story in front of them was a blessing.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my journey. I hope it makes someone else’s that much easier.

Video of Kyrah’s Performance: