The "good cancer" chronicles

After my last clean scan in the early fall last year, I felt like I was home-free. No more cancer worries. I'm just over 4 years out from my diagnosis and the more time that passes, the more confident I feel that I have defeated my cancer. I stopped identifying with the cancer patient part of my life. And I got cocky.

But in a recent visit to my endocrinologist, I got my reality check. I told her I didn't think I needed anymore scans. There are too pricey and time consuming. Besides, I'm sure that I'm cured. And then she reminded me of a few things....
*My cancer was/is Stage III which means it deserves more scrutiny.
*The lymph nodes in my neck have acted suspiciously in the past. (Apparently it's possible to have a good thyroglobulin blood test result, but still have cancer cells show up in a scan.)
*Thyroid cancer behaves differently than other cancers and can show up again after being dormant for a decade or two. From Thyca.org:
"While the prognosis for most thyroid cancer patients is very good, the rate of recurrence can be up to 30%, and recurrences can occur even decades after the initial diagnosis. Therefore, it is important that patients get regular follow-up examinations to detect whether the cancer has re-emerged. Monitoring should continue throughout the patient’s lifetime."

I am thankful for my reality check in ways. I need to stop on top of my check-ups. I need to keep up with testing, no matter how pricey or time consuming. Because if I do ever have a recurrence, I need to fight back. Knowledge is power.

And while I can be positive and say it's good that I have a more realistic picture of what to expect and be thankful for being cancer-free today, I am also going to be honest. The part of me that remembers all too well what treatment felt like and is battle-weary from years of dealing without a thyroid...that part of me is afraid and sad. I wish I could just be done dealing with this and skip merrily along into the future worry-free that my cancer would ever return.

But for today, I accept that this is my life. I embrace the cancer patient part of who I am, if only to keep in mind that I have to stay vigilant. And I give myself permission to be carefully optimistic and to feel sad or scared some days. Most of all, I remind myself that I'm a fighter.

But to those of you who say this is the "good cancer", I say "pffft!".

You know you're an anthropologist if....

In celebration of the fact that I'll soon have my BA in anthropology....

I found most of this here but I've also added a few of my own.

You Know You're an Anthropologist When...

...your parents still ask what you do for a living.
...you irritate those around you by how often you say, "That's very Navajo because..."
...you've had to explain what an anthropologist more times than you can count.
...when you tell people that your major is anthropology they give you a blank stare in return.
...you've lost count of how many times you've seen Last of the Dogmen.
...you feel the need to give a brief lesson on kinship terminology every time someone introduces a "second cousin."
...you experience withdrawal whenever you turn off the Discovery Channel.
...you not only know who Margaret Meade was, you can quote her.
...you get into arguments over how dogs were domesticated.
...you watch The X-Files for obscure references to the Anasazi.
...you can name every bone in the human body, but none of the muscles.
...you've read every one of Tony Hillerman's Navajo mysteries.
...you wonder how many goats to give a friend, and how many cows that girl you like is worth.
...you can name most of Jane Goodall's chimps.
...your car has an "Archaeologists Do It in the Dirt" bumper sticker.
...you've memorized the narration to The Hunters.
...you can say,"And what do you call the husband of the woman who gave birth to you?" in a language other than English.
...your sister joins a cult and your first thought is, "Fieldwork opportunity!"
...you know random information about cultures that most of your friends haven't even heard of.
...you have no dress code and in fact people expect you to dress "different".
...you chuckle when someone mentions Bonobos.
...your friends don't think it's weird you have a shrunken head on your desk.
...in college courses your reading list is so long you have a "what not to read" list because it's shorter.
...you've tried making your own stone tools.

Hair

I need to dye my hair and I am thinking of going with another color. I am thinking of doing this color.

For reference, here's me. Today. People keep telling me that they love my hair and asking what I did. Nothing, it's just faded from Wella Black Cherry.






This is the color I usually dye it and what it has faded from.


Thoughts?

"A" is for Adorable Baby!

Happy Friday! Just wanted to share some quick, but adorable photos of my niece. She just gets cuter & cuter. I have a bunch more photos to share and I'm sorry I've been lax about blogging. I'm working on catching up.







Laughing!

Today's happiness...

A taste of spring....









I apologize for not writing more often. I am sorting through some things.