The Summit Is In Sight

Well, this is it....I am rapidly approaching the very last section of my mountain. The summit is in sight: At 9am tomorrow morning I will be in the hospital having my port-a-cath removed and I think that it will be one of the happiest days of my entire life. If you remember, I used to call the port-a-cath my "carabiner." I remember being so freaked out to learn that I needed to have it implanted and the only way I could get my head around the idea was to envision the port-a-cath as a critical piece of equipment that I needed in order to successfully climb. And so, when I go into surgery tomorrow, I now get to envision handing it back over to the surgeon; my climb will be done and so I can start stripping off my climbing gear, and my carabiner is the first thing to go!

It is so hard for me to believe that I am truly almost done. A whole year has passed since I was originally diagnosed (February 8, 2007) and I am thrilled to say that it went by incredibly fast. It feels like only yesterday that I was being sent from one test to another to figure out whether I had cancer and, if so, what stage it was. When I think back on the months that I was left wondering whether the spot on my liver was cancer or just a freckle and the sheer panic that I felt at times, it seems almost surreal. I have a hard time reconciling in my own mind that that was my life less than a year ago. I feel so good now and have such a sense of well-being and peace in my heart that it's hard at times to remember how terrified I felt. Life is crazy in that way, I guess.

Speaking of feeling well, I had an appointment with Dr Gullion today. He said that I look fabulous and that no one will ever be able to tell what I just went through. All my blood counts are great and the only lingering symptom that I have from everything is numbness in my toes (oh, and a digestive tract that is still a bit wacky, but getting better every day!) He told me that it could take a year for the numbness to go away but he prescribed some medication that will hopefully help speed things along. He also told me that there are some doctors who don't use FOLFOX because of this side effect, but that he still prefers to prescribe it because it has been proven so successful at treating colon cancer. I told him that I'd choose tingly toes over colon cancer any day, hands down!!

Anyway, if you think of me tomorrow morning know that about 10am (PST) I will have reached the top of my crazy, crazy mountain. Picture me standing at the summit with my arms outstretched, yelling thanks and praise to God for giving me the strength to reach the top, and singing with pure joy a the top of my lungs. I think that tomorrow will be one of the best days of my entire life. In fact, I am sure of this!