Friday, June 1, 2012

Day 1 of 1825

When I was a kid growing up in the 70's, I used to babysit for a young couple that lived in our neighborhood. This couple had a poster hanging in their bedroom which read, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." The poster meant nothing to me as a teenager. Who cares about the rest of your life? I just wanted to get through high school and run away with my welder boyfriend go away to college.
Fast forward 35 years and that saying now means a whole lot more to me. It's still a cliche, and even a little sappy. But it is true.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. I really don't care for the term "cancerversary." A cancer diagnosis is nothing to celebrate, but surviving the diagnosis is.
Today I embark on the next phase of my cancer experience - survival. Like many breast cancer survivors, I will be taking tamoxifen for the next five years with the sole purpose of preventing a recurrance. Today is Day 1 of 1825.

I want to be right here, updating this blog in five years. I have thought about some potential future posts that I hope to write:
  • How I Lost All My Chemo Weight
  • Another Year of Clean Scans
  • Just Celebrated My 29th Wedding Anniversary!
  • Enjoyed Another Fabulous Vacation This Year
  • June 1, 2017 - Five Years and NO CANCER!
I have learned there are absolutely no guarantees in life. But for the next five years, tamoxifen (or an aromatase inhibitor) will be my best friend. I intend to make many other lifestyle changes over to increase my odds of survival and I will write about them here.

Thanks for reading.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Jen, I'm the first to sign up for your new blog and thought I should let you know we are on the same tamoxifen journey. Hope things are going okay in these early days for you. I started Tamoxifen in Feb this year and so far it has been okay. Hot flushes which have settled down and that's about it. I am currently recovering from a TRAM flap reconstruction last week - ugh, much worse than I had anticipated. I'm fine from a pain standpoint but uncomfortable from all the compression garments and also trying to get used to the muscle changes. A long road ahead still. I enjoy reading your blog having experienced some of the same things along this journey. Catherine

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  2. 29 years! Congratulations that is awesome. I love the new blog name. :)

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  3. I haven't been here as often as I should be, but you are in my thoughts and prayers and I want you to know I think you are a strong, beautiful and magnificient woman! Hugs!

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  4. Hi Jennifer. Just found your blog (via The Big C) and was struck by the fact that we were diagnosed two days apart with Stage 2 BC (the 4th of July was the big day for me!). Am off now to add you to my blog roll! Congratulations on getting through the past year, and here's hoping that the time between now and 1 June 2017 is packed with so many great things that it absolutely flies by.

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