Once you’ve had cancer, it’s like living in the shadow of an unseen threat—always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is it really gone? Will it return? (Or in my case, when will it strike again?) How much more can my body endure?
What many don’t realize is that the battle doesn’t end when treatment does. After aggressive chemo and radiation, recovery isn’t just a matter of weeks or months—it can take years, and sometimes, you never truly get back to where you started. Cancer treatment doesn’t just target the disease; it leaves behind a trail of collateral damage.
For me, that meant losing my small intestine, four sections of my colon, and my gallbladder, all casualties of pelvic radiation. And when the cancer returned—this time in my neck, at the base of my tongue, and in my throat—I endured chemo and 67 grueling radiation sessions. The cost? My salivary glands, many of my teeth, and nerve damage that left the left side of my face forever changed.
But here’s the thing about cancer: I survived it. And that, above all else, is worth everything.
