I did a thing this last week — posting on my Facebook page about my diagnosis and what comes next with treatment. Though I’m not the biggest Facebook user these days, it seemed the best way to let my really wide circle of friends and colleagues know about what was going on in my life. I wanted to be able to tell my story first hand. It was also starting to feel weird that Facebook was the one place where I wasn’t talking about my diagnosis, and I didn’t want to be self-censoring my choice of platforms anymore.
Read moreTag: Endometrial cancer
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Everything changes
This post started last weekend, celebrating my first run on the mountain — a glorious way to spend Easter Sunday. After testing my legs on the treadmill at the gym, I was ready — though nervous — to see what it might feel like to run on the trails for the first time since surgery. And it was lovely, in all the ways you imagine.
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You can’t always get what you want (or more waiting …)
This past Tuesday was supposed to start with an appointment with my surgeon to review pathology results. It didn’t go exactly as planned. Even though it’s been five weeks since my surgery, the pathology report wasn’t ready yet.
The why? of that is a good question.
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Souvenirs and self-image
Today marks four weeks since my surgery. I don’t know why that seems like an important date, but that is how it feels. More so because I’m still in that liminal space between diagnosis, surgery, and discovering what comes next based on a still unknown pathology report.
Slowly, my incisions are fading into what will be stories to tell to future training partners. It never occurred to me that these external marks would be a talisman of sorts — a reminder that my body can do hard things and heal from trauma that wasn’t invited in.
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Milestones and mild weather
Two Fridays ago, I unlocked a post-surgery milestone — I walked a 5k loop I’ve run many times before. I was surprised that I didn’t feel left out because I couldn’t join the evening runners who were out on the same route. Rather, I was enjoying the movement and that I wasn’t thinking about the effort. For a moment I could pretend that I’m not still waiting on my pathology results and my first post-op follow up appointment with my surgeon.
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R words — Rest and recovery
It was chilly when my alarm roused me at 7:00am. I hit the snooze button at least three times before I threw off the covers and parked myself in the shower. A latenight work call (hello timezone shifting) meant I was working on just four hours sleep, but I had a date to meet a friend in town before she and her family headed back home. The plan was to have breakfast together and then I’d answer a few emails before indulging in an nap of undetermined length.
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Ramblings after a Sunday long run
Today is World Cancer Day. It’s also my long run day. As much as it was sunny outside, it was also cold, so I took my run to the gym instead of heading for the mountain as I had intended. Sixty minutes later, I’m comfortably tired, stretching like a cat as I let my heart rate come back down.
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Tapering? For surgery?
I was a little surprised when my phone showed that it was the hospital calling on Tuesday afternoon. My pre-surgery screening was already scheduled for Thursday, so maybe it was to move my appointment time? No, it was to confirm that my surgery will happen on Thursday, 8 February. Short taper.
Running from hysteria 