And I suppose, it is all makes for a perfect day to mark an important milestones.
Today is the day! It was exactly five years ago that I sat opposite my doctor and first heard the dreaded words: 'You will never be Miranda Kerr'.... and something about lalalala.
Five years and 99 Instalments in my online memoir later...
So much has transpired (albeit in approximations):
- Two mastectomies
- Six shots of chemo
- 20+ shots of radiation
- 3 MRIs
- 1 Bone Scan
- 2 CT Scans
- 30 blood tests
- 1 stint in ICU
- 1 Sister's Breast Cancer
- 1 Sister's spinal tumour
- 1 death in the family
- 6 funerals attended (George, Louise's Mum, Louise's Dad, Lyndal's Dad, James's Aunt ... and Spunky)
- 20 + Specialist follow-ups
- 4 new sports attempted (hockey, outrigging, fencing and rowing)
- 1 book launch
- Roughly 20+ speaking engagements
- 1 book prize
- 5 trips abroad (India/Bhutan/Nepal; a Mediterranean cruise with the family; Thailand; the Philippines; Czech Republic/Austria/Poland)
- 1 phD commenced
- 1 marriage break up
- 2 wedding invitations
- 1 engagement party
- 4 Prime Ministers
- 2 Local Government Elections
And so the list goes on - an eclectic '365 Days of Cancer' that changes every year without the Partridge or the Pear Tree ever appearing. (However, I do have a Brush Turkey on the Back Deck - that is something!)
Life it seems, is not to be stalled by the spectre of a cancer battle. It is not to be denied.
In my daily advance, I have stayed firmly focused on the horizon making 'moving forward' my only option.
After all, change is the nature of life, and I have opted to seize it. It has often been uncomfortable - even distressing but you know, if you're not changing you are not growing.
I mean. Come on! Even rocks change.
After all, change is the nature of life, and I have opted to seize it. It has often been uncomfortable - even distressing but you know, if you're not changing you are not growing.
I mean. Come on! Even rocks change.
In the process, I am truly grateful to all my family and friends who have aided me, supported me, counselled me, held me, hugged me and some who have never let me go.
I would not have survived thus far without you.
A special mention to my Oncologist, Poh See, my surgeon Jason, the Chicks in Pink and the Cancer Council, all people who have made a meaningful contribution to my continued survival thus far.
Thank you each and everyone of you.
Thank you each and everyone of you.
Five. Alive. It's fucking awesome.
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