Hello friends!
It’s been awhile. 🙂
I have so much to catch you up on that I don’t even know where to start.
First of all, I hope you’ve all been well, and I’m wishing everyone all the best in 2023.
I’ve decided that my mantra for this year will be:
NO MORE FOMO, ONLY JOMO.
I live for the Joy of Missing Out! 😂
2022 was quite a year for me, and my most amazing accomplishment was graduating from the University of North Texas with my Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences.
I was nervous about going back to school and had a lot of doubts…
But I DID IT!
My sorority sisters from UCSC came to watch me walk across the stage, and afterward we went to Austin for a girls’ trip.
What a fun city!
Thank you to all my sweet friends who cheered me on and encouraged me. I honestly couldn’t have done it without your support.
I also got to meet one of my classmates in person. She waited more than two hours for me because there was a crazy line at the rental car place! We finally met up and had a really lovely lunch.
And it was so heartwarming to see my Gammas in person because I hadn’t seen them since before the pandemic.
But it was like no time had passed.
We just picked up right where we left off!
They surprised me with an iPad and Magic Keyboard, and I was so touched by their generosity.
THANK YOU!
And thank you so much to everyone who has reached out, sent cards, gifts, well wishes, or just let me know you’re thinking of me. I appreciate all of you. 🙂
I’m truly so blessed to have you all in my life. 💜
My life is still all about cancer.I treat it like my full-time job.It’s so time-consuming that I have very little bandwidth for anything else.And I still live with a lot of fear.
That part doesn’t seem to get any easier.
Last July, I had a crazy scare when I felt a lump and had to go through everything all over again:
Mammogram.
Ultrasound.
Biopsy.
And then…
Waiting.
That’s actually where I left off the last time I wrote.
So here’s the update:
THE BIOPSY CAME BACK NORMAL!!!
Thank God.
It was scar tissue.
But even though the result was good, the emotional impact of going through that experience again was overwhelming.
The first time I went through all of this, I was so blasé and oblivious about what might happen.
This time I knew exactly what I was afraid of.
Going through the scans and biopsy again brought so much of that original fear right back.
I think it did some serious damage to my psyche.
December was kind of a crazy month too.
I had a Christmas trip planned to visit my girlfriends in LA and was so excited because I hadn’t seen some of them since 2017.
I had cancer treatment scheduled for December 19th.
But when I arrived for treatment…
THE WHOLE MEDICAL BUILDING WAS CLOSED.
There had been a flood over the weekend.
They told me to go home and call to reschedule.
And thus began…
THE PHONE CALLS.
I spent almost the entire week calling.
Being put on hold.
Getting transferred.
Leaving messages.
Not being able to leave messages.
Calling again.
And meanwhile, my anxiety was getting worse because all I could think about was:
What if my cancer starts growing because my treatment is delayed?
Eventually I reached someone who explained that the damage was extensive and the building was still closed.
They normally saw hundreds of patients every day, so there were a huge number of appointments that suddenly had to be moved and rescheduled at other locations.
There wasn’t much I could do except wait for them to call me.
I finally got my treatment the following week.
Unfortunately, I had to cancel my LA trip. 😦
And I kept thinking about all the other cancer patients whose treatments had been disrupted too.
I’m still dealing with the fallout because apparently the damage was so extensive that the building might not reopen until February. 🤞
But…
I want to end on a positive note.
I had a PET scan on December 23rd anddddddddddd…
IT CAME BACK CLEAR!!!
NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER.
And for that I am so thankful.
So relieved.
And so incredibly grateful.
I can rest easy…
Until the next scan or scare.
I’m going to try to blog more regularly.
Maybe I’ll write every time I go in for treatment.
At least it’ll give me something to do and take my mind off things!
Okay, that’s all for now.
Take care, and sending you all lots of LOVE and positive energy. 💞
