On Saturday, March 18th, 2023, I’ll be at my 3 year mark. I had surgery on March 18th, 2020, right before the world shut down for COVID. That was the day they cut the cancer out and cut the potential cancer sites out as much as possible. Still have a pancreas - pancreatic cancer is another BRCA1 thing - but no more reproductive bits. No more tatas. But I’m still me. I’m still here.
Why is 3 years significant? The recurrence and survival rate after three years for triple negative breast cancers is great. Many other cancers have a recurrence years later, but this one… this one is considered a good prognosis if you don’t have a recurrence within 3 years.
3 years. I made it.
A lot has happened in the last 3 years. Surgery recovery - always a good time. I started training to walk 52-ish miles in two days. I did it. I met a fabulous group of women. Lucy was one of them. Lucy had triple negative breast cancer too… but it wasn’t caught until it had spread and metastasized.
She taught me so much about living in such a short amount of time. I got to see her in Tampa when we all got back together and did a Mud Run. Then again in North Carolina on a mountain getaway. Her and her family became swamp people after an ATV ride. It was pretty awesome. Then again in Tampa in June. We made a special trip up to see her and her husband.
That was the last time I saw her. She left us in October. The rest of the group is still here, but we all miss her. She was the glue that held so many things together. I will not grieve for the past, but remember with joy the experiences and fun we had.
And keep living. Oh, yes. Keep living.
That living included a move to New Mexico. This winter was the first winter I can remember where I didn’t get depressed. The days were shorter, but the sun was there almost every day. It’s been amazing.
We started fostering dogs. Chloe found her forever home, and now we are fostering Jasper. He’s a BBSD - big black scary dog - who is actually just a silly butt. He had surgery for odontoma. An odontoma is a benign tumor that is basically teeth growing into your head. People can have them too! Great. His had been left a really long time without treatment before he was brought to the shelter, so he has a deformed face. He really doesn’t care.
The vet donated her time for it, and is donating more time for follow-ups and to fix a fistula in his mouth that formed after the surgery. I’m sure she’ll get a paper out of this - he’s an unusual case - but I’m very thankful she was willing to help this doofy guy. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made it out. He’ll be with us until he finds his forever home, and he’s only eaten part of one shoe. It’s been a challenge finding toys a dog who had mouth surgery can have! But he’s in love with his Kong toys. Yay!
Right now we’re working on getting our house perfect. Or as perfect as we can. We have an upstairs deck we can’t really use because it needs replaced - hopefully that’ll be done by summer - and setting up an upstairs bedroom suite.
Every day I look at the mountains and realize how much beauty there is in the world. How glad I am that I’ve had these 3 years. How I hope to have many more because there are so many adventures to be had.
Three years. It goes by in a flash, so enjoy it. Be kind. Love one another. Live your best life. Cheers!