Friday, March 12, 2010

So far, so good...

I haven't updated this blog in ages since I'm on Facebook and all my friends know what's going on with me, but for the sake of anyone searching the internet for sarcoma survivor stories, I thought I'd just give you a quick update.

What my surgeon told me when I was diagnosed in 2008 and frightened by all the scary blogs I found is TRUE: People like me who survive and go on with their lives are less likely to continue blogging about it as time passes by and they go on with their regular lives. Amazingly enough, less than 2 years later, cancer is simply not something I think about every day, much less want to dwell on! I have so much to be grateful for, and "I've got a lot of livin' to do!"

So please keep that in mind when you come across all the heart-wrenching stories of people who aren't as fortunate as I have been... there ARE a lot of success stories out there, but most people who are staying cancer-free are too focused on their daily lives to continue updates about their good fortune. This blog was a necessity when I was going through my ordeal so that I didn't have to re-tell what was happening to me to every person who asked. It's mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting (and virtually impossible) to keep track of what everyone knows and to recount your story by phone or email when you're actively going through this. Blogging was the most efficient way to keep everyone informed about what was happening to me, and it was cathartic for me at the same time.

I had my most recent 3-month checkup last Friday, and am still cancer-free as of that day... 1 year, 7 months and 1 day.

I'm feeling great and have been exercising regularly--more than I ever have since college. I lost 10 pounds in January just by walking, and am trying to do 10,000, 11,000 and 12,000 steps at least three days every week. My leg still retains fluid from time to time due to damage to my lymph system from radiation, but I'm relieved that it's never as bad or long-lived as it was all last year. At worst my leg just feels "full" or "tight" and maybe a 2-3 discomfort level rather than 9-11 on a 10-point pain scale. :-)

Thank you to all my friends and family for your continued prayers over these past couple of years. August 4, 2010 will be my 2-year cancer-free anniversary, and at that point I'll have passed the most common time frame for recurrence or metasasis. (And I get a T-shirt from my surgeon; woo-hoo!) Instead of having CT scans of my lungs and a checkup with the surgeon every 3 months (and MRIs of my leg every 6 months,) I'll go every 6 months for the next 3 years for the CTs and checkups (and not sure how often the MRIs will be.) I'm looking forward to that, because it's usually a half-day affair at Emory every time I have to go.

This weekend, the 4th Sunday of Lent, Catholics celebrate Laetare Sunday, the "rose" colored Sunday in Lent. Laetare is Latin for "Rejoice!" as we anticipate the joy of the Resurrection at Easter, and I certainly have reason to do just that. I am truly blessed!