So, here I am, days away from my five-year cancerversary and I’ve just started unpacking my feelings related to my cancer experience. That it was gruelling but not in the traditional sense (according to others). That I didn’t really get kicked in the teeth the way many do but it was horrific all the same. That I avoided infections and my heart didn’t stop but I will never be discharged from care because I will always be considered at risk…not to mention my immune system is permanently damaged which will always put me at risk. What I went through was hell. Utter hell, and it deserved to be acknowledged as such, processed as such, fully in my intellectual and emotional being.
Yet, while I find myself working through the reality of my experience. I also feel a significant amount of gratitude. It’s nearly overwhelming at times. My life has changed in ways I could never have imagined. Celebrate my five-year cancerversary and a look back at what the last five years has been like!