What a week!

It has been quite a week ... well, actually quite a past 2 weeks! My dear 100 year old grandma died on July 4 (while I was on vacation in South Carolina) and the funeral was July 8. I shared the eulogy at the funeral, so my energy was consumed in that. I was happy and honored to do that, but by July 9, I was exhausted. I had a regular appointment with my family doctor. I told her, on the side, that I had a cough that wouldn't go away -- I had it for 7 weeks. She decided to order a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray showed a spot on my lung which led to a CT scan the next day. The lung proved fine, but 2 spots on my liver were found! How bizarre. So, that same afternoon, I had an MRI. The liver spots were NOT what we had hoped ... in fact, the doctor's report of the MRI suggested malignancy. It was incredibly scary. While I wanted to believe that everything would be fine, I can not describe what it felt like to think I had cancer in my liver. I had a PET scan scheduled for Tuesday morning. The PET scan results came back on Tuesday afternoon and showed NO signs of malignancy! My first response was not one of HUGE joy, but rather of exhaustion. The energy that all of this had zapped from my body had taken its toll. In fact, I even waited 5-10 minutes to let it all sink in and to regain my strength so that I could call my parents and let them know the good news. Surprisingly enough, after a few phone calls and emails, I was very ready to just be alone and rest. Between returning from vacation, my grandma's funeral, and this emotional roller of health concerns, I was ready for just something to be calm and "normal." I have also found a new perspective on life. When the possibility of me having cancer was very real, I was annoyed that I wasn't in the best shape of my life to beat the cancer, should I have it. I promised myself that if I found out I was cancer free, I would lose weight and get healthy again. Here I am -- cancer free ... let's see if I can hold up to my promise!