Today I am celebrating my 59th birthday! I woke up with a really bad cold this morning, feeling miserable with typical bad cold symptoms. When the morning mind fog cleared and I realized that it was my birthday, I was energized to make the best of my day because I never thought I'd make it to 59 years. One week shy of five years ago today, December 14, 2012, was the day I learned that I have stage 4 cancer. At that time, the chance that a stage 4 lung cancer patient would ever become a 5-year Survivor was a measly 2%. TWO PERCENT! I found a more recent stat from 2016 indicating that the 5-year survival rate is now up to 14%. With new treatments and technologies, that's a whole lot better, but an 86% death rate is still pretty crappy. Along with my new iPad, (thank you, Wynn), my other big birthday gift was my most recent brain MRI result. The small tumor that was CyberKnifed back in March continues to look like it's dying away and there were no new tumors found. For now, that's a huge gift...given that I expect more in my future.
So today, I'm filled with gratitude that I'm beating the odds. I'm not sure why my luck's been holding out, but it is and I'm really hoping for more time and many more birthdays.
To my beloved family and friends, your ongoing love and support are making my journey do-able. From the bottom of my humble heart, THANK YOU!
