Today I woke up, not in pain, without cancer, in a warm bed in a warm house full of my family.
Last year we had a small, almost-no-cooking Thanksgiving as I couldn't travel due to fatigue from treatment (it was day 4). This year we are all healthy and we opted for a stay-thanksgiving anyway, because it was so relaxing.
Last year I had to invest in a super-thick, super-warm pair of mittens so my fingers wouldn't get all weird during my walk to the office (evil drug side effect). This year there is no cold sensitivity and the peripheral neuropathy I experienced in the aftermath of treatment has left my fingers entirely. It's still in my toes but I can tell that's going away too.
Last year I didn't really know how I would get through it. This year, I'm through it.
Today I woke up, not in pain, without cancer, in a warm bed in a warm house full of my family. The end.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Planning for Normal
At the risk of jinxing myself, I made an appointment with my original surgeon for mid-December. My next scan is the week prior; I'll have reviewed results with my oncologist and will know if anything has come back or if there are any other concerns that would require additional treatment, and thus delay surgery. If all is well I hope I'll be able to schedule surgery. My scan mid-June was fine; blood work in mid-September was fine; additional blood work last week was also totally normal. All signs point to... normal.
It has been bliss not having any treatment this fall. I cannot forget the dread of chemo, or the pain of radiation, and every day I don't have to do either one is marvelous. It was the right decision to wait a bit for surgery. I have all my energy back. I even catch myself walking fast and getting annoyed with the slow sidewalk people again. If I'm lucky, I'll be perfectly healthy going into this next and hopefully (second to) last procedure before we can pretend this never happened.
I manage projects for a living and managing this hasn't been all that different - managing both at once has proven to be quite ordinary. I've already planned work around an ideal date for surgery and another short medical leave. And I planned that assuming a successful surgical outcome, which would mean one (really) last procedure 2-3 months later, which would mean I'm fully recovered before a great big summer road trip to visit lots of family in the south. Priorities are in order; all systems go.
It has been bliss not having any treatment this fall. I cannot forget the dread of chemo, or the pain of radiation, and every day I don't have to do either one is marvelous. It was the right decision to wait a bit for surgery. I have all my energy back. I even catch myself walking fast and getting annoyed with the slow sidewalk people again. If I'm lucky, I'll be perfectly healthy going into this next and hopefully (second to) last procedure before we can pretend this never happened.
I manage projects for a living and managing this hasn't been all that different - managing both at once has proven to be quite ordinary. I've already planned work around an ideal date for surgery and another short medical leave. And I planned that assuming a successful surgical outcome, which would mean one (really) last procedure 2-3 months later, which would mean I'm fully recovered before a great big summer road trip to visit lots of family in the south. Priorities are in order; all systems go.
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