In October 2019, Teresa Janik found herself in excruciating pain. She could barely focus, took her work home, and told her husband “take me to the ER right now.” What she didn’t know what that by entering the ER, she’d be entering a whole new part of her life. A severe bout of diverticulitis led to sepsis which led to a literal live-saving surgery. But that wasn’t the end   She came out of surgery with a stoma and ostomy bag, which was kept in place for more the seven months. She also left the ordeal with a rather new outlook on life, and the people in hers.  What happens when people don’t go to the doctor “until they are dying?” Does the bar change once that scenario is actually experienced? Why do we wait so long to go to the doctor? And what happens when we do go on death’s actual door?  All these questions are answered by Teresa herself. She takes us through why she went to the ER, what her in-hospital stay was like, and what insight she’s gained since she thanked her stoma in the mirror.  We don’t expect to face our own mortality until we are “old”. What do we do when that timeline is pushed up? Teresa Janik is brave and proud, not because she faced death, but because  she’s willing to expose her vulnerability, share her fear, show her scars and find joy in her recovery.