Cancerveraries

Curls, curls, curls!

One year later, I am healthy.  I am strong and fit, with a head full of hair that still definitely qualifies as curly and is long enough to have already warranted a haircut.   I don't have any more foreign objects in my veins, and I've been told that my big scar kind of makes it look like I have well-defined abs.  Last month I had my 3-month (that's right: it had been 3 months) oncology checkup.  Going to the familiar office was a little like a reunion, and my nurse Shirley took time to have the sort of visit that leaves me feeling full, encouraged, connected, and loved.  My AFP tumor marker was a perfect 3.8, and there are no other signs of return, AND I don't go back until October.

For the past month I've been playing the "One year ago today . . ." game.  Sometimes emotional, sometimes hilarious, sometimes mind-blowing.  This summer has been rather busy, so when yesterday I finally sat down to write this entry, I found a need to read the blog from start to finish.  It's quite a read, and yet there is so much that I didn't post: lots of pathetic/dramatic stories from before diagnosis about the experience of being profoundly sick, some hilarious stories that are inappropriate for the public forum, and there were so many other people who did so much and were never mentioned. 

Looking back, in the beginning I know I was so overwhelmed with gratitude, helpless gratitude, that I couldn't even write about all the people who were so kind and thoughtful and giving.  During those first few weeks, my parents and my sister and my roommate Jodi were right there all the time, and I was surrounded by love from near and far with visits and cards and emails and phone calls, which all brightened my spirits, even when I didn't return them. I wish I'd have written more about other people.

What am I doing to commemorate these cancerversaries?  Mostly, talking about it, turning over memories with my family and friends and re-reading emails and posts.  I have impressive plans for Nov. 4, one year since the last chemotherapy treatment [Hint: I'm not getting HANK (my oncologist/surgeon/encourager) tattooed on my bicep with a big heart].  That should also be my last post.

Thanks to all who noticed the 1 year mark and wrote or called or thought about me.   You were wonderful a year ago, and you are wonderful still.