Five Years Out

Wow, I never thought I would write that. Next Monday will be my fifth 'cancerversary'. Take a minute and think about it. How much has your life changed in five years? You've probably changed jobs, moved, expanded your family, traveled. Now think about that as someone who has been through cancer. Tack on annual scans, doctor's visits, mitigating long term side effects, managing medication....conquering fear. Going back five years.... March 30th was a Tuesday, and I had (what I thought) was a routine follow up after an excisional biopsy on March 22nd. When I was in recovery, I remember my surgeon saying "The surgery went well". I felt good a week later and thought my surgeon was going to tell me the surgical site was healing nicely and I could go home. I remember sitting in the waiting room for almost a hour, not the norm for this doctor. I also remember looking around and seeing no one else there. It was almost 5:00 pm. When I was finally walked back to an exam room, I sat up on the examination table and was told to put on a paper smock, again routine for this type of surgery. I don't remember much else about those first few minutes with my doctor. The next few minutes changed my life. "Your pathology report is troubling. The tumor we removed shows that it is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma." Carcinoma means cancer. Good lord, I have breast cancer. I don't remember much else, except that he circled an important number on my pathology report. It said "ER+ 89%". Basically, being female was killing me. After about 10 minutes, he left so that I could compose myself and call Jim. It was probably the worst phone call I ever had to make because both of us had been lulled into the 'you're too young for cancer' mantra that we heard previously. Fast forward 5 years - most of you know my history (and if you don't, go back to my first post from 2010 and read forward). Anyway, all those normal life changes listed above have been part of my life AND I've recovered from cancer treatment. I've pushed myself physically to recover and take my life back after the worst 10 months of my life. How is life different today than March 2010? Well, I have some more aches and pains than I used to. I'm in menopause. I have osteoporosis. I have joint pain and some lasting affects of neuropathy. But, I also have a beautiful post-cancer boy and a better outlook on life. I've met some incredibly strong women who also survived the disease and some who ended up losing their battles with the disease. I've slowed down the pace considerably. I've learned that I can say 'no' to things and that putting my family before everything else is the best way to live. I've de-stressed my life as much I can and have made exercise and health eating a major priority for me and my family. So what is in store for the next five years? I will continue taking tamoxifen (a drug that stops estrogen from attaching to receptors on cells in the breasts). I will continue with annual scans and with a focus on Vitamin D and Calcium supplements. Exercise will also be an integral part of my life...forever. Health heart and bones will keep me going for a long, long time!