Hi Everyone,
I haven't had as much time as usual to visit the boards and I miss the contact, so wanted to say a quick hello. Finally some down time after the Holidays!
I had my two and a half year after treatment check up on Friday the 13th, of all days, and I was told all is well. My doctors are very pleased with how my mouth looks and my overall general health. I have a chest Xray on Monday and that will complete my exam and my yearly Xray.
The biggest issues I deal with at this time after treatment are the the condition of my teeth. We have tried everything to no avail and they keep deteriorating. So, implants are scheduled for the last week of January and I'm scared and excited at the same time. I was told to expect close to a year before I begin to eat pretty close to normal. I will have full implants on the bottom but we have decided to restore my upper teeth rather then lose them at my young age. I consider it an emotional benefit as the thought of them pulling all my teeth was REALLY keeping me up at night!
What I have recognized the past 6 months is that my life has now moved beyond my cancer. It was a long process but it happened and I'm a better and stronger person for it. My marriage, my family, all of my relationships are stronger and deeper then before and I feel I have something "up" on everyone else around me. The blessings that have fallen on my family since my diagnosis are remarkable and kind of bitter sweet, as I used to spend alot of time wondering why all this couldn't have happened while I was my "old self" to appreciate it all?? The business my husband and I started in 2004 has tripled in size as has our income, allowing us for the first time to financially help our children more and to help others around us that are struggling. I only thought I was a good mother until I was faced with the reality and fear of leaving my children motherless. Now I'm a mother on a level that my friends envy, as the relationship I have with my girls is on a level that and event like cancer helps us get to. We took our whole family (7 daughters, three grandaughters and a few friends) skiing for a week during the Christmas Holidays and to be that physical again and not have everyone hovering over me (well, other then my husband, who just can't seem to help himself. He took my skis hostage after I fell for probably the 10th time.) was AWESOME!! I went skiing for the first time, was horrible, but I loved the snow tubing and the horseback riding. I even put on a bathing suit for the first time in a few years. I have the same physical stamina that I had before my cancer and it felt like a new breath of life had been breathed into me. I have some issues with the leg that they took the bone from but I have learned to accommodate for that, as I have learned to adjust to my neck being very stiff on my disection side and with the dry mouth issues. We have my thyroid pretty well straight now which has enabled me to get close to my normal weight, although I still have a few extra pounds that I have decided to keep as I look healthier.
The week I returned from Massanutten I went to Florida with the high school team I coach for a competition and spent five days there, one of them an all day trip to Island of Adventure, and had a blast. My lips took a beating from the change in weather and climate but they're healing up now.
For anyone just embarking on this long road of cancer, do yourself a favor and turn the tables on it, use it and take from it. Don't let it become who you are, don't let it define you. We all have a spell of doing that but don't get caught up in it. I wish I had never had to deal with cancer and I will forever miss the security of my old life. But, now that I'm forced to deal with it it has given me a freedom that I didn't have before. Something like this has a way of loosening up the inhibitions, which can be a good thing!!
Hope all is well with everyone on this board, all the ones that helped me get to the point I am today and all the others that are behind me in their recovery..........Bless all of you.
Minnie