Life is good! You know, despite the whole cancer thing and all!

Alrighty … it has been a good while since my last blog post. My apologies. I have had multiple friends ask me to update more frequently. But my not having posted in a while means that things are going great! It is so crazy to think that I am approaching the 16-month mark since my diagnosis, yet at the same time, I still fell so new at this whole cancer thing. February has been quite the month.

First, February 4th was World Cancer Day. A day that by far does not get enough attention. There is so much damn cancer in this world. There are times where it really does feel like so many people have cancer. And there are so many forms of cancer. World Cancer Day … check it out, https://www.worldcancerday.org/

Second, at the end of January, it hit the media that some scientists in Israel announced that a cure for cancer is possible within the year. How fantastic would that be … think about it, a CURE for cancer! Of course, the logical side of me thinks “but there are so many different cancers, how can this really be true?” Then at my very next Oncologist appointment, I asked Dr. B (my oncologist) what she thought of it. She is so blunt, she tells me as much as she would “love to be unemployed, a cure for cancer in a year? uh … no.” While I am not going to bank on this prediction to be true, there will be a little part of me that clings to that moving forward. Let’s do it! Let’s cure this fucking awful disease! There is not a whole lot of information to the article, but feel free to check it out. It was posted in multiple news sites, here is just one of them. http://www.foxla.com/news/scientists-expect-cure-for-cancer-in-1-year

3rd, what a ride it has been! Recently I was thinking about what Jennifer (my NP) said to me back in the beginning, shortly after my diagnosis. She told me that there would be days where I would forget I have cancer. At the time, I was like “ya, right!” But she was right. Things really are that good. I won’t say I go all day without thinking about my cancer, it is kind of hard given I start every day with taking my targeted therapy pill, but most of the day these days, I really don’t think about my cancer. It is very cool! When I do think about it, I think about why & how I am so lucky. How is it I am with Stage 4 Lung Cancer and I am able to keep it from 95% of the people at my work. I have been able to keep it from the Facebook world. To look at me, there really no visual signs that I have cancer. So how have I been able to do this / how have I been so lucky? Is it the Afatinib (my targeted therapy)? Is it the Cannabis drops (THC & CBD) I put under my tongue every night? Is it the changing my diet to Keto (no sugar and very low processed carbs)? Is it the other little things I am doing; alkaline water, less time in the office, listening to my body more, resting more, etc.? Or is it some culmination of all of the above? What ever it is, I am going to keep on doing it!

Last, I am pretty darn proud of this. With the clinical trial I am on, I get blood draws every 4 weeks. I learned that if I was not on the clinical trial, my blood draws would only be every 8 weeks. But the last couple of blood draws, the results have been THE BEST I have had in many years. So I ask my NP about my blood test results and she told me it means I am healthy. Of course, that seemed odd to hear. I am healthy? But I have cancer! She told me that with my being healthy / with my great blood test results, it means I am healthy; lesser chance of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc. She told me that if I was a cancer patient with not long to live, then the blood results would not matter so much. But I am doing great! So these blood test results are great news! Having changed my diet in August and trying to be healthier … looks to be paying off!

Well, I think that does it! There is my most recent blog post. I will do my best to post more frequently. Thank you everyone for your love, your support, your concern, your everything. It really does mean the world to me the support and love so many people have for me, I truly am blessed! Until the next blog post, thank you and of course, as always, F’Cancer!