Just a quick note to say thanks for all the positive juju. CT scan is clean for tumors. There is some scarring left from the radiation, and that may explain me not being able to breathe fully. Now it’s off to the pulmonary specialist. I have every kind of specialist that exists… but when I need a Z-pack, I have no one to call. 🙁 Blood also tested clean, no tumor markers for breast cancer or any other kind of weirdness. I celebrated by going to get my annual GYN check-up. I truly live on the edge. Sigh. (But first, I sped up to Park City Mountain to snag what I hoped would be first tracks in the reported 8 inches of new snow. (Mountain opens at 9, my appointment wasn’t til 9:45) I was the first one down Crescent, but the powder run was mostly a bust. I didn’t have time to go high enough, because I hear it was really good at the top. Oh well. At least I went for it.)
My Huntsman Cancer Institute team was great, as usual. I got to tell them all about the Survivor Summit climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. One of the residents actually climbed it a few years ago, so we traded stories. I convinced Dr. Akerley that there really is such a thing as “High Altitude Hack” (explaining that I found articles on the internet, so it must be true). He’s sending me to a lung specialist anyway. He was going to reschedule me for a follow-up in six months… Then remembered that my cancer was a “mic” not a “moma,” and decided four months would make us all feel better about things. (ThyMIC Carcinoma: aggressive, exceedingly rare. ThyMOMA, slow-growing, usually benign.)
So now, life rolls forward uninterrupted. It’s what I expected, but like I said a couple of days ago, you can get thrown for a loop with no warning or provocation. I was prepared if a loop was in my future. Now, I’m standing down for a few months. I think I’ll go to California for the weekend to ride bikes outside. Living Strong.
As a long time viewer of WESH-TV News and fan of yours, I just want to say I enjoyed watching “Surviving and Thriving” tonight. I am glad you are doing well and that you, Marc Middleton and others broadcast such positive and constructive shows about dealing with life’s challenges. I have had what some refer to as severe Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis since I was 30 months old. I just retired from over 30 years of employment as a speech-language pathologist. I continue to advocate for various accessibility issues with my husband who is totally blind and also recently retired. Shows like yours not only educate the general public, but provide further inspiration and validation to people like me that deal with challenges on a daily basis. My husband and I always tell people that “disability” is relative and is a continuum. Attitude is really what makes or breaks us.
Wishing you well,