Final Radiation!

On July 14, 2011 I completed my radiation tx and recieved the good news that my cancer is in remission.  Following my examination with my Radiation Oncologist Dr. Leslye Engersol, I asked her if this meant I was cancer free. Her reply was that no, my cancer was in remission.  Being the persistent person I am, I then questioned at which point would I be considered 'cancer free' to which she replied.."when you are dead."  So, I will hold with gratitude the fact that after a long winter, my cancer is in remission.

I have thought so much about the valuable life lessons that I have learned as I have taken this unexpected and certainly uninvited journey.  As I reflect on the changes that have occurred in my heart, I can only express gratitude and humility for this experience.  In my upcoming posts (which I will be more faithful at making) I hope to share the many reflections of gratitude and hope that have been my companions this long, difficult winter season.

For now, I share that truly, summer has once again arrived and at its arrival has replaced vibrant colors of life and living with those once darkened days of winter.  No longer do I greet the day with trepidation and uncertainity.  No longer do I force time to fly within my mind to escape the darkness.  Instead, I wake with a heart full of gratitude and an increased awareness of the good in my life and the love that has sustained me through the many seasons of my life.  So I share with each of you my love for life, for love, for time, and for every day that I am given to make something more of my life and hopefully, bless the lives of others as I have been so richly bless.  And I share a heartful of gratitude for each of you my friends and family who have walked beside me each step of the way, giving me courage and strength when I lacked the ability to reach deep inside myself enough to find my own.