Friday, September 23, 2016

Five

I have woken to a fresh, bright morning, bursting with energy and optimism.

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.

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.

Five. Alive.  It's fucking awesome.













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