Today and the Future

My scar on my throat is still healing. I think in a year, it will be unnoticeable as it fades. I will still go to the endocrinologist every 6 weeks or so to get blood work done to level out my thyroid medicine. I am now done with scans/treatments for nine months. In nine months, I go in for another I-131 scan to make sure the cancer is all gone and there are no traces left in my body. I know I will beat this and look forward to closing this chapter of my life. What a challenge this was. I am so lucky to have a loving family - my husband and parents had really big shoulders during all of this. I want thank all my friends and family for listening to me as I went through this and helped me to remain strong. I also want to thank everyone who prayed for me during this time. I know there are two churches, one in Illinois and one in Florida, who had entire congregations praying for me. During all of my treatments, I had countless flowers and uplifting cards delivered to the hospital and my home, food delivered to me by my sister and friend when I was at my worst during my diet, and my coworker (who is also a really great friend) who helped me write all my lesson plans and do my grading while I was out of school for the last week and half. I do have to say, there are upsides to all of this…. my husband and I have strengthened our already strong bond together, I now know how to cook everything including organic spaghetti sauce from scratch and homemade breads, I wrote my first blog, I read nine books while sitting in countless waiting rooms and separating myself from society while I was radioactive, and this experience has left me very courageous and overall, a better person. I think if this story can help anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, then this story is worth telling.