Happy Roller Coaster Day!

May 5 is a significant date in my life, which I now refer to as roller coaster day. Cinco de Mayo is a day to celebrate victory. For me, it is a day of very high highs and a very low lows. 

Today, I celebrate my last chemo treatment from my childhood cancer, the issuance of my doctoral degree, and the fact my mom has three months left until retirement. 

On the flip side, two years ago today I received a phone call that would change my life significantly. I was sitting in my car getting ready to go into a meeting, where we had to deliver deliver bad news to someone.  I was just stepping out of my car when the phone rang. It was my pulmonologist. Her voice was crackling and I could hear a quiver. She called to give me my biopsy results...mesothelioma. I knew nothing about this cancer except lawyers talked about it on TV all the time handing out money to people who had worked in shipyards or construction sites. While I worked several jobs over the years, those were not included in the list. I went to my meeting (of course) and then went home. I did what all good patients do, I consulted Dr. Google to get my ducks a row. This led me to my best advice to everyone else in my life, which was "do not read about my disease, just trust I will tell you what you need to know." I called a family meeting to share the news that we would be on the cancer adventure, again. We met my new oncologist on May 5, 2020 for the confirmation of the diagnosis and planning session for how I would beat my new cancer on the exact day we celebrate my last chemo treatment. 

My oncologist says every day you live with cancer, you are beating cancer. I completely agree. 

In addition to my amazing family and friends, these guys make sure that I am well taken care of:

Nighttime at the house...everyone stays close!

Watch Flapjack Playing Fetch

I live my life as a short term realistic with long term optimism. I am a doctor kicking cancer's a*$ for 41 years. I am thankful for each day I have and look forward to another 41.

For tonight . . . I'm just sayin' XOXO