2-Year Scans

I travelled to the Mayo Clinic on April 10-11 to see all of my Doctors and have my two-year post-treatment neck and chest CT scans. My first appointment was with Speech Pathology where we used X-rays to measure my swallowing abilities (I eat different substances with barium which shows up on X-rays that they shoot live to show the food passing along). My score returned to normal this year 😊 Then off to my scans and to see my surgeon who reminded me to complete my yearly thyroid testing and to ultrasound my carotid arteries at five years to check for fibrosis, reminding me radiation is the “gift that keeps on giving” and I’ll be at risk for years to come of damage over the areas it touched. Radiology Oncology went well – they did a scope using a small camera that snakes down my nose to the back of my throat to check for any new lesions and that was clear. Then, the best news of the day, was that my scans were unremarkable.

Two-years cancer free 🙂 a big hurdle in my cancer world as now the rates for recurrence go way down. I also reduce my visits to my surgical oncologist to every four months – a sign that they’re a little less worried about me 🙂 These days, I take all I can get. You reach a point post-cancer where you feel like you’ve really plateaued. Like, is this the best I’ll ever get? Then, slowly, you start to notice small changes over time, and you’re more grateful for them than you thought you could be. Like, just the other day, when I ate an apple, and the feeling of it in my mouth didn’t disgust me, or when Nick turned to me a few evenings ago and said, “are you eating popcorn?” and I just said yes…I guess I am (a food that would have simply been too painful and difficult to chew before). If I think about it too much, I’m so very heartbroken for myself – that those are the sorts of things I was missing – and on the other hand, so elated with the simple joys of life and the unique opportunity to really rediscover yourself.

Maybe I’ll finish with a moment of gratitude for just that, for my body, for myself. Thank you for proving me to that impermanence is the only constant, that your ability to grow and change and make new is the exact reason I had cancer and it’s also the exact reason I’ve healed, and will continue to heal, from anything I’ll ever go though.