Putting Thyroid Cancer Behind Me

It’s the news I’ve been waiting for! I can now put thyroid cancer behind me and I can say that not only am I cancer-free, but I am a cancer survivor! This still blows my mind, as I type it. I still find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that I had cancer. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind and I’m blessed that my thyroid cancer diagnosis and my total thyroidectomy surgery all happened within only 2 short months!

Here is my video sharing the news with friends and family,

But now what?

I know that I’m fortunate that I had a treatable cancer, that my thyroid cancer treatment journey was a fast one, that my journey only caused a minor upset in our house, with our family and that my prognosis is great. I’m thankful that my kids never had to fear that their mommy would die, or see me lose my hair and become a mom that they didn’t recognize. I’m blessed that my husband didn’t have to imagine his life without me and only had to endure a few months of a wife who was sad, worried, grumpy and still has a damaged voice (he likes that part!).

I also recognize that my experience caring for my son Zack and also his death at age 3, prepared me for any other obstacle that was going to come my way. For me, the diagnosis of a treatable cancer did not even come close to my journey grieving my son. While I was sad, frustrated and worried, it didn’t break me, it hasn’t changed me to the degree that being a bereaved mother has, but it has changed me. I know that my perspective is perhaps not the norm and I have tremendous empathy for those thyroid cancer patients and survivors who had a horrible and emotionally long journey through the disease. For some, the diagnosis was perhaps the first tragedy in their lives and I completely understand how that can rock your world. We all have different experiences and I appreciate that.

My journey isn’t over yet, as I now begin a new one without a thyroid and with medication I will have to take every day for the rest of my life to control all the things my thyroid did NORMALLY before my surgery. This is man-made hormone medication that doesn’t allow me to be me, just yet. I just increased my dose because I’ve gained some weight, get headaches often, lose more hair than normal, have trouble sleeping, have less energy, have more stomach issues, don’t really want to go out much and just don’t feel like myself, emotionally.

So what now?

I’ve joined some great thyroid support groups on Facebook and it’s really nice not to be alone in this. Maybe I will see a therapist or holistic healer? Perhaps I should try reiki or take some advice from a naturopath. I have no clue what I need to get through this next part but I’m eager to get back to me…the me that I had really started to love and the body that I finally felt comfortable in.

But then again, perhaps I’ll do what I’ve always done in times like this…giveback. I’ve been accepted to sit on the Thyroid Cancer Canada Board of Directors and I will walk in the Thryoid Cancer walk this September! Volunteering time to help others is the best way I know to move forward…and maybe that will help me find ME again.