Jen

It is with a sad heart that I welcome you to the "I couldn't even make it a year" club. It is a terrible feeling for those of us who were on the cusp of the magic one year mark when most recurrences happen to get so close, then find the cancer is back.
Radiation is not as bad as surgery in my opinion, having had both (radiation twice and surgery all at once)and some posters sailed right through it. As for your cooking and culinary concerns, just remember that the super celebrity chef, Grant Achatz is back as good as ever after radiation; Here is a blurb from his new book coming out:[quote]
But this book is not a book solely about cancer, mortality, or how I have changed my life because I survived stage IVb cancer. It won�t tell you the best way to eat, sleep, exercise, or find doctors to beat cancer � though I do have serious thoughts about the process. Instead, this book is about how that knowledge informed me that I didn�t have to change my life much at all. I spend more time with my kids, I make more time for myself. But on the whole, I am doing what I did before I nearly died: cooking at Alinea, creating new cuisine, and pushing the boundaries of fine dining. Life On The Line is the story of the journey to that moment on stage in New York. From a diner in Michigan, through the Culinary institute of America, to some of the finest kitchens in America, this is my story of a passionate desire to be the best. It is a love affair with cooking, creativity, and the rigors and routines of a professional kitchen.

It is at times a business book, at times an inside portrait of the culinary world, and at times a cancer survival story. [/quote]