A Little Update…

September (almost October) already!

This month I had my 3 month follow up appointment, returned to work, and turned 22! It’s hard to believe that three and a half months have passed since I finished my Interferon treatment for melanoma.

I’m feeling well, my hair is growing back (and growing in thick), and I would say that my energy is about 85% back. I stay up past 9 o’clock at night people!! It’s a miracle haha.

This month was my first follow up appointment and leading up to my follow up visit, the anxiety was real. What if something is off? What if my lymph nodes are swollen? What if she feels a tumour? What if I’m dying? Your mind goes to the worst places after a cancer diagnosis.

I didn’t know what my oncologist was going to tell me or what was going to happen at this appointment and sitting there with no idea what to expect took me right back to the first time I ever sat in that cancer centre doctor’s office, thinking everything was fine and that I was just there as a precaution, and then finding out I needed a year long treatment. A year long chemotherapy treatment that would make me feel like I had the flu 24/7 and that I would have to come to the cancer centre everyday for 4 weeks and that I would have to stop work and school and eventually do the injections myself.

So I sat there, at my follow up appointment, completely unsure of what my doctor was going to tell me, paralyzed with anxiety and fear and it brought me back to that very first day. I was reading that it is very common to feel anxious before your first follow up appointment. It was suggested to take someone with you and plan something special for afterwards. I am so thankful that my mom was there because she helps to calm me so much. Have any other survivors faced this kind of PTSD after cancer? How have you coped with it?

BUT my follow up actually went so well! Everything seems to be looking good which is amazing. I have my follow up appointments every three months with my oncologist and dermatologist. Praise God for this healthcare!

This week I celebrated my 22nd birthday! Life is a gift and I’m thankful to celebrate being a year older. Here’s to hoping that 22 will be one of the best years yet.

You can bet that I blasted ’22’ by Taylor Swift all day long.

Thank you for reading and I hope this finds you all well!

Love,