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...

I saw this again today and was inspired to write about it. I’ve seen it before, and it has always disturbed me. I would even venture to say that imagery like this is dangerous. Some of us can fall into a trap of thinking “I will be happy when….” Social media seems to perpetuate imagery and quotes that romanticize the past, the future, and pretty much everything. I just have so many questions when I read this ridiculous statement. You think you will have made it when you have a car and a house? You can’t wait to just acquire this specific set of things? What are you going to do to get there? You really want to just fast forward to some later time in your life because you think having a house, car and family will mean you have “made it?” Haven’t you seen Click? It’s bad to fast forward! Could you really enjoy things you haven’t earned? Does the universe not prepare us for what we are to receive/experience? These types of wishes for material things or for skipping to the ...

So I've been calling this my gypsy summer. In June I had to move again (early 20s b.s.) and I didn't have a lot of funds to get another place. My family and friends rose up around me and said, "You can stay with me." Can't believe it. So I sold or gave away a LOT of my possessions (I love possessions) and put the rest in storage. And I stayed with my boyfriend's family for about six weeks, and I stayed with my grandma after that, and then a long-since planned 10 day trip to North Carolina to visit my brother and his beautiful family. Then a week in the SF bay area with my cousin's family, and now I'm in South Lake Tahoe at my dear friend's house for three weeks. It's been a whirlwind! I work from home, so I've been saving a lot of money, and having a pretty cool adventure. I still taught yoga in the Sacramento area up until this month. I return to teaching in October and can't wait. I'm getting an apartment with a girlfriend at that...

I've been eating vegan for nearly 18 months now and am still really enjoying it. I thought it was time to post some more food. No this isn't a vegan food blog, but I did introduce the idea that I eat vegan and I want to keep showing you what a great thing it is. My love for cooking has evolved wonderfully and I really like trying new things. Where I live, there are some options for eating out. I'll show those too. Delicious vegan pizza made with Trader Joe's pizza dough and sauce, daiya cheese, Tofurkey Italian sausage, and Yves vegan pepperoni, plus spinach, cilantro, and peppers. Tofu black bean tacos with salsa and cilantro. Tofu, carrot, quinoa, and hummus wrap. Broccoli, fingerling potatoes, bell pepper, blackberries, dill chickpeas, quinoa. Tofurkey Italian sausage, quinoa, bell pepper, dill chickpeas, broccoli. Chili with quinoa and cilantro on top.The chili has three different kinds of beans and is seasoned with g...

Being 21 has been such a beginning for me. I've been through a lot, but I'm still just starting out. I have really felt that this last year. I've done things that are really really "21" like spending Sunday mornings watching the TV I like while eating pancakes and browsing Pinterest. I have taken countless funny videos of my roommate/best friend and posted them online. As someone who intends to have a family later in life, I really relish in this period of selfishness and indulgence. I kinda answer to no one. Even though I've been with the same man five and a half years, I'm rather unencumbered and able to move through life how I choose. There was a period where I felt stifled and held back by thyroid cancer, never able to make decisions, always waiting for the next piece of news, but I think that has passed. My most recent tests and ultrasound show no change, so I go back in another three months. I guess my new normal fits okay. I completed a ...

It's been nearly three months since I last wrote! Wow. Every time I have a little free time, it crosses my mind to come update the blog and then I think, "No, not today." And for some reason, tonight the answer was, "Yes." The traffic on this blog is starting to pick up, as I near the two year anniversary of my diagnosis. I guess the older the blog is, the higher priority it gets. A lot of people come to my blog through google searches related to the low iodine diet. I've had a few people email me over the last few months too. People with thyroid cancer, or people whose close loved one has it. I really love exchanging the emails. Please write me and let's talk. The reason I've been so busy is that I'm in a yoga teacher training program. I work full time, so it's a tight squeeze. I love being busy, I really do. I put things on the calendar and make my life busy, but I also schedule trips and getaways. But I do need a lot of activity h...