I am happy to report that another routine CT scan has come and gone and it continues to show that there is no cancer in my body. This puts me into my 4th year of being cancer free. 12 months from now it will be 5 years cancer free and according to the medical community I will be cured from esophageal cancer. Can I get a WOOT!!! For me this scan was a little different in that I know that I have not been sick but knowing that the test was clean was a validation that feels really good. In the last 9 months since my last scan I have begun to adjust to this “New Normal”. It is very different then my life was before but I am beginning to accept where I am. Yes, I am happy to be alive but I am also happy that I am living a semi-normal life.
New Normal Vs. Old Normal – What’s the Difference?
Energy. Yes, it is that simple. A secondary issue to that is pain but it is very much related. The pain is from the trauma that my body went through while going through treatment and is controlled via pain meds. These pain meds and the side effects of chemo/radiation/surgery all keep my energy level at about 50-60% of what it was pre-cancer (pre-cancer being 6-12 months before I was diagnosed). It’s pretty much like having the energy level of someone twice my age. Despite this I think I am more accepting of the limitations of my energy now then ever before. I am learning to work around it by not committing to too much and resting several times during the day. Every once in a while I will push it too hard and my body makes me pay for it by making me rest for several days. I can’t really fool or bargain with my body any longer. My body has its limitations and it holds pretty hard to those limits.
Now What/Where/How?!?!?
That is a very good question. I’m not a stay at home dad. I’m not a go-to-work husband. I am a husband/dad who uses his limited energy to spend with his family. I am still trying to figure everything else out. One thing that I am looking into is how I can share my experiences in order to give hope to others that may be facing similar challenges. There have been several people along the way that helped me when I could not help myself. People like this are instrumental to winning any type of battle like this. I don not believe that we were meant to fight alone. I am very thankful for those people in my life. Something else that I really believe enabled me to make it this far is my faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ. I was a Christian before getting sick and could not image going through this without God. There is no one on this earth that can always be there for you 24/7, that is just impossible. It was in those times that I felt that God was with me and that He was going to use people to get me through this. This gave me peace in the mist of the battle which I believe was key in overcoming. It is when everyone works together that things turn out the best. Here’s to another 12 months of great health and being cancer-free!
