Last week I had my one-year post cancer check-up. Almost exactly a year ago I completed my radiation following surgery and chemo. And I have to tell you, for the past two weeks I've been a nervous wreck.
I drove six hours to visit my oncologist in Fort Worth for review of my blood work and CT scan. Although I was looking forward to visiting my family and friends, I couldn't shake the "what if's."
Fortunately, everything turned out really well and I don't have to visit her again for six months or have another CT scan for a year. And thank goodness for technology because I'm going to stay with her versus trying to find an oncologist along the coast. "I have patients who live in Europe and one who lives in Bahrain, so it's not a problem for you to continue your relationship with me," she said.
So, once I got the all clear report from her, I think I must have lost about 20 pounds of anxiety. All of the sudden, the world got brighter and I slept like a baby that night.
All of my friends and family did a great job keeping me busy and comfortable. So pampered in fact that it was tough to come back to the reality of dirty laundry, homework, psycho dog, and taxi service for the kids.
As the dutiful wife, I left my husband the family schedule. Pick-up our son from choir, then take him to tennis. Then feed the kids before darting off to our daughter's first choir concert. Don't forget to make lunches for the next day. Don't forget to feed the dogs. Drop our son off at school by 7:30 a.m. entering from the south end of the parking lot. Then drop our daughter off at school. Put the trash out on Friday.
It was like the movie Mr. Mom.
What is really funny is that I hadn't been in Fort Worth three hours before I got the first call from hubby. "How do you work a curling iron?" he asked. But I didn't have much time to elaborate because I was dashing out to meet girlfriends. It was GNO (Girls Night Out) and I needed to get my mind off of things. My Dad and Stepmother were going out that night too. She told me, "you'll probably be back before us, so here's the garage code." She doesn't know my girlfriends that well. I returned home to find my bed turned down with a sweet note on the pillow. "We beat you home. Hope you had fun. XOXOXO." I crawled into bed and thought that it doesn't matter how old you get, it's nice to be occasionally pampered.
But, all good things must end. So Sunday I drove back home to my lovable, chaotic life. When I entered the house my husband gave me a big hug and said, "See the house doesn't look that bad does it?"
Sticky floors and dirty laundry can always be washed later. But time with family and friends can never be replaced.
Wondering how I get past the anxiety of post cancer?
The Wondering Texan
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| Friends worth a million. |
Fortunately, everything turned out really well and I don't have to visit her again for six months or have another CT scan for a year. And thank goodness for technology because I'm going to stay with her versus trying to find an oncologist along the coast. "I have patients who live in Europe and one who lives in Bahrain, so it's not a problem for you to continue your relationship with me," she said.
So, once I got the all clear report from her, I think I must have lost about 20 pounds of anxiety. All of the sudden, the world got brighter and I slept like a baby that night.
All of my friends and family did a great job keeping me busy and comfortable. So pampered in fact that it was tough to come back to the reality of dirty laundry, homework, psycho dog, and taxi service for the kids.
As the dutiful wife, I left my husband the family schedule. Pick-up our son from choir, then take him to tennis. Then feed the kids before darting off to our daughter's first choir concert. Don't forget to make lunches for the next day. Don't forget to feed the dogs. Drop our son off at school by 7:30 a.m. entering from the south end of the parking lot. Then drop our daughter off at school. Put the trash out on Friday.
It was like the movie Mr. Mom.
What is really funny is that I hadn't been in Fort Worth three hours before I got the first call from hubby. "How do you work a curling iron?" he asked. But I didn't have much time to elaborate because I was dashing out to meet girlfriends. It was GNO (Girls Night Out) and I needed to get my mind off of things. My Dad and Stepmother were going out that night too. She told me, "you'll probably be back before us, so here's the garage code." She doesn't know my girlfriends that well. I returned home to find my bed turned down with a sweet note on the pillow. "We beat you home. Hope you had fun. XOXOXO." I crawled into bed and thought that it doesn't matter how old you get, it's nice to be occasionally pampered.
But, all good things must end. So Sunday I drove back home to my lovable, chaotic life. When I entered the house my husband gave me a big hug and said, "See the house doesn't look that bad does it?"
Sticky floors and dirty laundry can always be washed later. But time with family and friends can never be replaced.
Wondering how I get past the anxiety of post cancer?
The Wondering Texan
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