I had a blissful four months of zero cancer-fearing thoughts after hearing that I transitioned into remission! However as I recently flipped through my calendar to September, I was reminded that my six-month checkup is right around the corner. The only reason I’m anxious for this appointment is because we are getting labs done for …
Tag: cancer diagnosis
Scanxiety
Scanxiety is defined as “the stress and anxiety that cancer patients feel when waiting for scans and the results of those scans.” I joke about the slang with my cancer community but at the end of the day, when I’m laying in bed and counting down the days until I have to go in for …
Triggered Trauma
Is it too much to ask for a normal doctors appointment where ZERO red flags come up? 😅 I had my well-women’s exam at the gynecologist about two months after finishing RAI. I was coming to terms with the bodily changes I was going through, and was trying to stay positive about healing from this …
Work & Illness
Managing an illness and managing a career simultaneously is, to put it simply, exhausting. The constant pressure to perform, deliver excellent customer service, and simply show up can seem impossible when dealing with your own private nightmare. I was working for Hyatt as a hotel manager when I was being tested, scanned and biopsied for …
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 …
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 …
The "Good" Cancer 