I said I wasn’t going to come back to this site, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this past year. I mean one can’t just end this! There is still more to the story.

I don’t want people to get the impression that once treatment is over that’s it. Since I’ve shared so much of myself through here, I should share all of it. The biggest thing is, what happens next? I mean you stop treatment and everything is back to normal. Far from it.

I try very hard to not let all of this define me. I don’t attend support group meetings anymore. I don’t talk about it much at all. Every now and again I may make a comment when someone doesn’t want to be bothered getting a mammogram. But its like I just want to pretend it never happened. It seems some people become all consumed and being a “survivor” consumes them. Others would rather no one knew. I would like to find a balance. I don’t want to be THAT person who makes everything about cancer. But I realize I can’t disregard it because its a part of who I am whether I like it or not. I still am being affected. As much as I’d like to say I’m 100% over it and everything is just like it was, I’d be lying.

2016 the year of cancer

2017 the year of recovery

2018 the year to rebuild

2019 the comeback

They say it takes a while to get back some sort of normal. I can honestly say that now coming up on year 3 I’m just feeling like the fog is being lifted a little more and things are becoming clearer. So my biggest piece of advice AC (after cancer) is to be kind and patient with yourself. Some things will eventually go back to normal, but a lot of things won’t, at least they haven’t for me yet!

Ultimately, I’d like people to find this so they find some comfort in the unknown. Yes, everyone’s journey is very different. No two people react the same. I just remember how scary and devastating everything is.

So here’s to the next section of the journey….