Sitting in a coffee shop this morning - I'm watching the rain pouring outside. It was a little over 4 months ago that I got my 3rd Cancer Diagnosis (read here) - I remember it was sunny, and I was sitting at my best friends condo when my doctor called. Everything after that - seems a little hazy. I said once, after doing chemo last summer - that I couldn't ever do that again. I couldn't fight or go through treatment again. It was too much! What's amazing about the human spirit, is that you CAN do it. You do what you have to do. Yes, I fell into a slump on her couch and balled my eyes out for an hour...but then I went into survival mode. That day in May - thinking about my summer full of doctors appointments, surgery, chemo, blood transfusions, shots, and poking etc etc...September seemed like an eternity. This would be the longest 4 months of my life!
Well, here we are. Tomorrow is my last chemo appointment - and yes, I am (as always) cautiously optimistic. There are a lot of hoops to jump through before me or my doctor will consider me cancer-free or NED (no evidence of disease). For that matter - it takes 5 years post treatment with clean scans and blood work before they will consider you to be in "remission". So my road - although it seems like it's coming to end, once again. I realize my road is a long one. Cancer will be something that will haunt me - it will keep me awake at night...probably for awhile. But I will say that it may actually take me on some exciting journeys...without this experience - and some of the people I have met...I am certain I would never have been the person I am today. It is crucial for me to look at this moment as a jumping off point!
So once again, I must say thank you to "Team Tracy" (that's all of you). It was a collective effort to get me through cancer for a 3rd time. From helping pay bills, to making me meals, holding my hand and wiping away tears...I couldn't do it without your support! But as always, surviving this disease won't be enough in my book...we need to make sure we don't lose anymore of our friends or family to this disease. I will continue to keep fighting for a cure - for all of us!
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