Today is a special day… Today is my “Kidney Birthday”.
5 years ago today, I became cancer-free. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember everything: what I was thinking,
how I was feeling, what I was wearing, even what my doctor said to me right in
the OR. I remember how we wrote on the
right side of my stomach and my abdomen.
He signed it with a Sharpie… he marked where he was going to operate. I knew exactly how he was going to remove my
right kidney along with the 5 inch cancerous tumor growing on it.
The 3 weeks between my diagnosis and surgery, have been the
most intense time I have ever lived.
Nothing compares to it, not being in the Army, not even Basic Training. I don’t think anything will ever compare. Scans, tests… preparing physically and
mentally for the surgery and then the recovery process… Intense. Stressful.
But I did it. We did it.
I have the most wonderful team of doctors anyone could ever
ask for. I feel blessed for that. And I have the most supportive, loving family
in the world. They never let me loose
myself in my own mind, in my fears or in Google. I was never alone, for they were all carrying
me or more like we were all carrying each other through that time, and I think
we all became stronger as a family because of it.
The OR waiting room in Puerto Rico hospitals only allow 1
family member to accompany a patient. Other
family members can wait in the lobby of the hospital if they so desire. I had 10 people with me that day, right in that
packed waiting room. I had my support
system with me while we waited for my name to be called up to get prepared and
rolled out to surgery. It looked like a
party, although it didn’t feel like it… We were joking and laughing, trying not
to think of the time ahead. Trying to
make time stand still for a little while.
Or trying to turn back time. It doesn’t
matter. They were there, and I was
there, looking at all of them, trying to engrave their faces, and their love,
into my mind forever. And I did.
Today, I am cancer-free.
I’ve reached the 5 year mark! I AM CANCER FREE!! And I think their love has had something to
do with it.
Happy Kidney Birthday to me!
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