“Go,” he said enthusiastically. “There are no contraindications that you shouldn’t go to the Amangiri to celebrate your friends’ 50th birthdays. “He” is my oncologist. The birthday weekend is one I’ve been looking forward to for months. So into le Bus I went, with 28 more Percy birthday…
Chapter II
In September of 2013, doctors diagnosed me with a malignant 5cm mass, discovered during a regularly-scheduled MRI (which I have as part of my follow-up from a 2001-2002 breast cancer battle). After surgery and tests, I learned that I had thymic carcinoma -- a rare and fast-growing cancer of the Thymus gland. Usually, it’s not diagnosed until it’s already spread to the lungs, heart, or other places, because it can be fairly symptomless. I was blessed, as my oncologist said, that my regular MRIs helped catch it early. My outlook would have been much worse if this had been discovered months later.
I am documenting my journey through Cancer Part II in the hopes that it will educate and inspire others who are facing a difficult diagnosis. In the days after I left the hospital, I sat down with my colleagues at Growing Bolder to share my thoughts on this new challenge. As we say -- I am Surviving & Thriving.
We’re All Going to Die
Those are not my words. The title is an actual quote from more than one friend to Donna upon her diagnoses of metastatic breast cancer. Donna, who is better in polite company than I am, didn’t get banned from wherever she because of shouted expletives after that. Most of you know my reflexive go-to word…
Mitigating Suffering
Sometimes, my life is like a roller coaster. Other times, its trajectory would look more like an EKG read out. That’s the underpinning of last week. But only the part that nose dives toward the bottom of the page. That underpinning was laid over by a lot of really good stuff in Park City: I…
Let There Be Light
I just reread my last post, as I always do before I write a new one. That girl was a downer. As it (almost) always does, life brightened back up significantly in the last FIVE WEEKS since I’ve posted. It’s not that I haven’t had updates or fun adventures to document here, it’s just that…
Always Look at the Bright Side of Life (Even if You Have to Claw Your Bloody Fingers up to Windowsill to see the Sun)
Because that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing for a couple of months. Until now, it’s been pretty easy to maintain a Cup is Half-Full, Silver Lining kind of mindset. Lately, some days, sometimes some days in a row, sometimes a good number of days in a row, it is a struggle. It’s not…
Out With the Old. Goodbye, 2018!
Maybe I just like the perfection of timing of it, but I am ending 2018 in the most perfect way. December 31 was my last Proton Therapy session. That’s 20 down, 0 to go, if you’ve been counting along with me. I got my discharge papers, my graduation certificate and photos of ringing the Bell…