Life Post C...hemo

Well, I'm officially 1 month finished with chemo. I'm getting better at finally saying the word now that it's over. It seems less scary and more like an accomplishment. I have to say, my friends and co-workers from work sometimes think I had cancer. It's hard to explain how a tumor that grows and invades muscle, tissue and bone isn't cancer. Simply, it doesn't spread to other areas of your body. That almost minimizes it and makes it sound like it was easy. It wasn't but each day I feel better and better and am pleased that I finished a year of chemo and survived.

So what's life like after 6+ months off work and 39 chemo later? Life seems to have restored balance. I was afraid I wouldn't like my job when I returned. After 3 days back, I remembered that I LOVE my job. There are not too many people out there who can say that they truly love their job. Things have changed and I feel over-whelmed getting back up to speed. However, I also remembered that I'm an expert at eAdoption and email marketing. People come to me for the answers. I feel useful and like I have a purpose aside from getting healthy. In my job, I can save the company millions of dollars a year. I can generate revenue and make the company successful.

There are things that are different. I would be lying if I said it was like life before. I feel a sense of confidence that I've never had before. I feel like I can conquer the world. (Did you think I was going to be negative there?). I value people more than ever before. It's important to me to get to know the people I work with not just knowing their names and what they can do. Being alone was something that changed me and I hope I'll never forget how it felt when I thought no one asked about how I was feeling or how I was doing. There are little things now too, like the importance of leaving and enjoying the summer breeze. While I hated being home, I relished my walks with the dog and sitting on the porch. In fact. today in the 90-something heat, I'm sitting on the deck sweating and loving every minute of it.

I feel like me again. It's a new me but that's ok too.