But today I had some. Yes, it’s personal, but it is good news – hopefully – for me.
It’s hard sometimes when you see so much negativity going on in the world to find some happiness. But ultimately, staying as hopeful, optimistic and, yes, happy (or at least content) is the only way I know how to navigate through it all.
The past few months have been very stressful coming after a couple of stressful years. This bit of good news doesn’t mean that things won’t continue to be stressful. Just that with this bit of good news the stress going on outside of my control will be a wee bit easier to bear.
This month marks the 10th year after my brother’s death – and my diagnosis – essentially saving my life. Since then my health has gone up and down (sometimes more down than up, it seems like), but I have just been approved for one of the new targeted medications specifically for the cancer I have. I have also found out that while there is a genetic component to this cancer, it is not an inherited genetic defect but a true mutation. So I can stop blaming my dirty gene pool for this cancer. It just is. Something, somewhere, sometime caused my immune system to develop rogue cells. I am fortunate in that I did well with chemo the first time round – well enough that in the interim these new targeted drugs have been developed and are now available for round two.
And I am approved to receive them. No chemo. No shutting down my life for 8 months while my immune system gets trashed. No being ill from the chemo cocktail.
The oncologist told me today that the drug will take effect almost immediately and I should start to feel better within just a few days. That the crushing fatigue I have been pushing myself through should ease. Yes, it may take some time for my body to adapt and adjust to it but that the drug is well tolerated and if there are adverse effects, they have treatments.
So I can look forward to my very busy teaching schedule. I can look forward to getting back to writing The Intentional Weaver. I can look forward to the craft fair season. I can look forward to weaving my stash down. I can look forward to the conference here next year.
I can look forward to living longer.
Thank you science. Thank you big pharma.