Alive to Thrive at 55!
Young At Heart & with a Bright Shiny New Semicolon!
Today I am 55! 55 and still alive to thrive! I actually don’t feel very old. I don’t feel 20, but I don’t know that I feel this middle-aged, either. 55 is the new something, right?
I’ve always said that the beauty of not having kids is that you never really have to know how old you are because you don’t have anything to compare yourself to. 😂 No grandkids to watch graduate from high school, no kids to walk down the aisle! Here’s an age-old question for you: How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?
Even after battling cancer, I still consider myself young. I have a lot of life to live, and a lot of shit left to do! Speaking of the C-word, I got the final all-clear yesterday in the form of another NEGATIVE Guardant Reveal (my third) — Happy Birthday to Me, I AM Cancer Free!
What a fan-freaking-tastic b-day gift! Get this, last year, same day, I found out my scans right before surgery showed no evidence of the tumor that tried to cut this amazing life short, the bastard. So I put it on my calendar to repeat every year on the same day and time, and do you know that the oncologist's office called today right before the reminder went off!?! The calendar appointment reads, “Scans Show No Cancer!” How’s that for manifesting, huh?
You might be wondering why the clear scans from a week ago and a low CEA blood test weren’t enough for me? Have you met me? 😂 Seriously though, the Guardant Reveal detects even the tiniest minute amount of microscopic “circulating tumor DNA” (cancer) in the blood. It catches things before they can be seen on scans or detected with traditional blood work. So a negative result means there is nothing going on anywhere in my body to cause any amount of concern. This is the kind of reassurance I need to be able to breathe easily again and go back to living my new life (there is no such thing as normal or even a new normal after cancer). Too bad insurance doesn’t cover it!
Anyway, I got great news today. It’s a great month! I am healthy and happy and so damn grateful to be here. I realize that every single birthday from here on out is a gift!
I was never someone to be that big into my birthday before — except for the part where I get to share it with my sister who is not my twin but four years older than me — Happy Birthday, Sis! ❤️🎂 But now, I’m gonna revel in everyone! Hell, I’m going to celebrate just about everything I can so that I can remind myself what a gift it is to be here!
Doc, my fantastic partner in joy, put together this video for me today. Thanks for watching and hey, feel free to celebrate with me. No one needs to know it’s not your birthday, too!
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