Six

Yesterday was six years since my last day of radiation, which signaled the change from “active” treatment and the beginning of survivorship. A few events have happened since then.

• Surgery for port removal.
• Started Tamoxifen, which started all sorts of fun side effects.
• Started therapy (still in therapy).
• Adopted Minerva (yay!)
• Online dating adventures during Covid
• Met a keeper & his horde. Broke up with the keeper.
• Burned my eyeballs so I didn’t need glasses.
• Failed at breaking up with the keeper.
• Road tripped to Maine.
• Took Grandma to Hawaii and officiated a wedding.
• Snorkeled with sea turtles!
• Did not get eaten by sharks (woo!)
• Got engaged to the keeper.
• Sold my witch cottage that saw me through cancer.
• Moved in with the horde.
• Planned a wedding.
• Got married, across the road from the house. It was a long limo ride back and forth.
• Disney honeymoon
• Quit my job to write a book
• Started taking cello lessons
• Published articles and a short story
• Got 3/4 through a novel
• Wrote a non-fiction book
• Sold a book!!
• Got a job again
• Family horde trip to Disney
• Got pre-uterine-cancer (likely a side effect of cancer recurrence prevention drug)
• Hysterectomy (FAR worse than lumpectomy). Stopped tamoxifen, because it’s useless with no ovaries.
• Re-learning to use abs and starting over with fatigue yet again.
• Starting letrozole – bone scan for baseline included.
• Saw Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo multiple times, including once with Pink and once with Bryan Adams (yes, Pat and Neil were the headliners in my mind).
• Saw Wardruna in Seattle, went to Oregon and Tacoma.
• Started Zometa infusions, because side effects of cancer recurrence prevention drugs are shitty, including bone density loss. Zometa is terrible. 0/10, do not recommend.
• Book published & marketing is a weird learning curve.
• Started a cancer/chronic illness support group in the city.
  • Ending that after 6 months of no-shows, and re-working the concept.
• Helped teach 3 teens to drive
• Annual trips to the cabin.
• Annual birthday musicals for one twin, + more.
• One twins trip to NYC.
• 6 years of marching band (including one College!)
• SO MANY Band, orchestra, and choir concerts
• 3 years (to date) of show choir
• 2 Track & Cross Country seasons
• 1 graduation & off to college
• 2 actively college shopping
• 1 about to take drivers ed
• 1 house renovation
• Got a contract for a second book: woo!

Survivorship is a rollercoaster. Sometimes it’s nice to review the busy-ness, and know that even though I’m a homebody I’m not actually always in my office.

Also, I just realized I haven’t practiced cello for over a week and my lesson is tomorrow. Oh dear.