It is with great pleasure and delight that I officially repeat what my oncologist said at my appointment earlier this week. Without going into the nitty gritty, after initial pleasantries, she said, "It's been five years and your cancer hasn't returned. You're cured." I was like, "What?" (Did I hear her right?) She then explained that with my type of cancer, HER2 positive, if it hasn't returned within the first five years, that there's a 99.9% chance that it will never come back. She then pointed out that it has been five years (as if I didn't remember - ha!), and that for all intents and purposes, even though they can never say 100%, she repeated that 99.9% is pretty good odds, and therefore, "You're cured!"
Amen! Halleluiah!
As the oncologist was leaving the exam room, I shouted, "I'm alive!", to which she quickly replied as she turned around at the doorway, with a smile on her face, "and thriving!" Then she came back into the room, gave me a big hug, and said, "You're a different person than you were five years ago. I've seen you grow a lot. I'm really proud of you. Congratulations."
Me: 🙂
(Shout out to my therapist for helping me learn how to deal with the trauma associated with a breast cancer diagnosis.)
After my appointment, I told everyone at the grocery store -- "I'm cured!" All week long, coming and going, out and about, I tell people, "I'm cured! I'm cured!" There are smiles, congratulations, and high fives galore -- all over the city.
It has been a long five years, full of hardship and pain. Just this week, saying "I'm cured" out loud, everywhere, all the time, even at home to the dog, ("I'm cured, Daisy!") is further helping to change my psyche back from a place of uncertainty, to one of peace. Words are so powerful!
As we enter this season of Thanksgiving and holiday (and my 59th birthday) celebrations, may I be so bold as to ask y'all to offer a prayer of thanksgiving on my behalf, as I celebrate being cured and "recalled to life".
Thanks be to God. Amen.
