One year later and my head scarves feel like old friends when I pull them from the back of my closet. One year later and I love showing off my port scar. One year later and the infusion room still makes me nauseous any time I walk inside. One year later and I'm cancer free. One year later and I spend the majority of my time in an anatomy lab rather than a doctor's office. One whole year later and I cannot believe it has only been that short. That girl with cancer seems like another person entirely. One year later.
My family is not unaccustomed to situations very much out of our control flipping our world on its head. On this day, exactly one year ago, I was sitting in an infusion chair knocked out on intravenous Benadryl, getting my very last round of chemo. The next day, my family gathered around my dad's kitchen island to celebrate our version of Thanksgiving that year. I was drained, but content because I was surrounded by people that loved me and I had FINISHED WITH CHEMO! What more could a girl ask for?
Here's a throwback to that beautiful day...
Getting the amazing news that I'm still in remission just might have topped that day, though. Just about a month ago, I had a follow up PET scan to make sure that everything was as it should be, that the cancer was still gone. Since stopping chemo I have had 3 PET scans to keep track of my health, and each has come back clean, but this most recent one sat heavy on my heart because I felt like I had more to lose this time. I was months deep in my first semester of PT school and was so worried it would be taken away from me...again. I was rewarded with the wonderful news of another clean bill of health as I sat in my car outside my PT school's building. I will never get tired of hearing that kind of news. Thinking about it now, it seems so mundane to be sitting in my car in the middle of a lunch break waiting for news that had cost me too many precious hours of sleep in the weeks prior. How odd that cancer can be such an ordinary thought to me now?
For my family, we are one year out from a Thanksgiving that looked a lot different from the years that came before and here we are again adjusting to another nontraditional holiday. However, this year, it is the entire country that has been facing a new challenge and is making sacrifices to keep their loved ones and neighbors safe. Thanksgiving may look very different for all of us right now, but we still have so much to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.
All I'd really like to say to end this blog post is, thank you. Cancer has opened a world to me that has shown me so many inspiring examples of strength, perseverance, and courage. So many people I know have been effected by cancer in one way or another, most hit harder than me. When I hear others' cancer stories, whether they are in the past or ongoing, I am amazed at each person's individual strength, regardless of the severity of the cards they were dealt. I'm not sure how many people out there are going to read this, but I would love to hear your story if you're willing or ready to share. One easy way to get in touch is through this blog site on the "About" page where you can a send a message straight to me!
