The biggest blessings I received during this time all revolve around the theme of feeling cared for and thought of. Here are some big ones that stuck out as beautiful bright spots during the dark times. Check-In Texts This wins, hands down, and is the simplest of things. All it took was seeing “hey bud, …
Author: Laura Tovey
Choosing to Share My Story
This part of my cancer experience, the "coming out", was kind of a touchy one. Who do I tell? How do I tell? Do I even tell? I felt like a fraud to hold it in. How could I carry on posting like normal and withhold such a life-altering event? So I wrote out my …
Post-Op: Thyroidectomy
New Years Day, 2021 began with a bang. Although I left my cancerous thyroid in 2020, the real recovery and cancer journey had just begun. The awful blood bag that was pinned to my chest was removed the next morning after my thyroidectomy. I was instructed on which medicine and vitamins to take and what …
Surgery Day
I can still vividly recall the nausea and anxiety that I felt that night before my surgery. There were a few tears as I watched the time slowly creep closer and closer to my early morning wake-up call. When I woke up a few hours later, the nerves were still there. I put on my …
Loneliness in Illness
You can have the best, most supportive friends and family and still feel lonely while going through cancer. It's the realization that no one can do this for you, and that no one is as affected as you are. I think it hit me most that even after I had a really good, deep conversation …
Biopsy Results: “Suspicious”
Instead of the 1-2 week timeline I was told it may take to receive my results, the very next day after my biopsy I received a notification that a new lab result was available in my health portal. Here was my answer! Is it nothing? Or is it a big something? I frantically scrambled to …
The Biopsy
The day of my biopsy, I went alone. I was ushered around the hospital, feeling like a lost child until I was finally directed to the intervention radiology department; deep in the hospital basement. I sat there sullenly in the waiting room, fiddling with my sweater and looking down at my feet, occasionally locking eyes …
Ultrasound Report
It took a couple months to get an appointment with the endocrinologist my general practitioner recommended I see. All I knew at this point was that the radiologist saw some concerning characteristics in my tumor. When I first met my endo, I could tell she was a good one. I instantly trusted her opinion and …
Cancer Scares Leading to Diagnosis
I've decided that before I jump into my experience with thyroid cancer, I should give a little bit of context on my medical history. I have faced several cancer scares before. The first one was the summer before my junior year of college when I discovered a lump in my breast. I rushed to a …
“Young and Healthy”
The first time I had to check “yes” to having a history of cancer, it felt like a punch in the gut. You’re immediately put in this high risk box. You can visibly see your doctors eyes light up when you mention that six letter word as they think, "Well this case just got more …
The "Good" Cancer 