My Experience With Thyroid Cancer

I am encountering some more shifts and changes in life that feel relevant to this blog so blog again I shall. I have enrolled in college again, and I start next week. It happened quickly in that I decided to enroll yesterday, and yet I've been working on this decision for a few years. Throughout being treated for thyroid cancer I became increasingly frustrated with how it interfered with school, and I eventually talked myself out of college altogether. I became disillusioned with the whole system, the incredible debt I would amass, and I also got scared as most 21 year olds do. I've been out of college the last two years and looking back, I've just been rebuilding my life and getting a foothold again after this metastatic disease knocked me down. I've shared openly on here the trauma and sadness I faced after the surgeries and treatment I had. The blues mostly came after it was all over. 2013, a year where I had no treatment at all, was a very hard time. Then my yoga ...

It feels like it's been forever since I've written. A new job has kept me busy. Working in a medical office has been fun and challenging. Talking to people who have cancer or fear they have cancer is emotional for me. I enjoy being a kind ear for them, though. In a dermatology office, cancer is on the minds of most people calling and coming in for appointments. Today I had the unique experience of talking with an acquaintance/mutual friend who has recently been diagnosed with thyroid disease. She reached out online to ask if anyone had experience with it and we connected within a few hours. It is always rewarding to be able to compare stories and share my experience with people. I have done it a lot actually, through email with readers of this blog. I've had some very meaningful exchanges with some of you all. It means the world to me. I am just a vessel. I am not virtuous, but serve an amazing God who uses me to carry a message. Today I was shown again how I didn't g...

Would you believe that in this 2012 pic I'm in between cancer surgeries, with an infected hypertrophic scar, off thyroid meds and up 10+ lbs, unable to get through the day without an afternoon nap, facing down a radioactive treatment that required isolation and entailed extreme nausea and fatigue for days?! And I was so happy! Johnny and I went camping and had such an amazing time in the midst of all the chaos. i was in such survival mode here, clinging hard to all the gifts I had in front of me, and to any joy I came upon. I think I was desperate to feel good and enjoy anything I could. What an interesting time for me. I can honestly say I was so grateful and so with god during this time. It's two and a half years later and I get angry and entitled in traffic and I've pulled back in relationships and gotten isolated, and I think I trust god and walk in faith but truly it hasn't felt awesome to be in my skin lately. Somehow I've gotten away from the idea that sin...