Where I’m Now

It has been a year now since I wrote my article for the Relay for Life. I’ve referred to the last 18 months as a marathon. Handling one hurdle at a time. On June 1st my PET scan showed no signs of cancer. Remission didn’t last long by August a third tumor had appeared again behind my eye. My doctor started me on 17 radiation treatments immediately. My cancer has been in remission for six months now but I am currently in a two year maintenance chemo which I will do twice a year for two years to help prevent the cancer from recurring. I just finished my second series of infusions which were once a week for four consecutive weeks. The healing process takes time and lots of hope. NHL is treatable but not curable. I remind myself every day I am strong and healthy.

In January I started back to work part time three half days a week. Never thought I’d say I’d be very anxious to return to work. Franklin Savings Bank has been extremely wonderful working with me. My goal is to be back to full time as soon as my eye and energy level allows me. All of the support everyone has shown is nothing short of overwhelming.

We are very fortunate a wonderful oncology facility at Rumford Hospital. The oncology team takes excellent care of you along the entire journey from your diagnosis through your treatments to recovery. Best of all, its local. Everyone from the doctor, nurses, secretary to the pharmacist make you feel as comfortable as possible with their compassionate, resourceful, and caring ways. The confidence I receive from them gave me the intention I needed to get well and not be a victim of the illness. They helped boost my mental outlook and that’s half the battle of this disease.

The next phase of my journey presents a different challenge – figuring out how to live a happy and productive life with constant fear that the cancer will come back. When or Where? Living with lymphoma doesn’t have to mean losing control and it’s not going to dictate how I live my life. If you believe you can get well, that is the power. And that power of belief might just heal you from cancer or other serious diseases. Live in the present, believe in tomorrow.

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