Hi Friends --
We can just jump right into it -- today is my birthday, and I've never had so many millions of reasons to give thanks and savor another year of living.
I've had a little time to think about this. You know that little dread thing around birthdays that sometimes starts to creep in as the numbers aren't quite as, well, youthful? I'm done with all of that. Birthdays are just glorious now. If you don't marvel at all those past 365 days and give unbridled thanks, may I just gently note you're squandering a chance to celebrate the forever miraculous gift of time? Consider this a little PSA from the mountain -- adore your birthday. Just adore it.
Ok back to our regular station -- a dispatch from the upward trek. Last week included big chats with Dr C, V, and K and all agreed I've made extraordinarily good progress. Conversations from last fall that were full of careful calibration and even some hedging now are marked by big grins and optimism.
Faithful readers will remember that when I first met Dr V he walked me through the optimal playbook for my kind of cancer -- aggressive chemo, surgery, and then more chemo to bolt the door shut. And as it turns out, the playbook has worked brilliantly so far, which means it's nearly time for Foxy's mighty fighter jets to return for her last hurrah.
I'll have three more rounds of chemo starting in about two weeks, so February will be a bit brutal. But it's the very best path to the summit of the mountain, so I'll be ready.
And barring any new surprises, this means that beginning in March I'll step into a new season of aggressive monitoring, waiting, and living in faith from one scan to the next. And of course, giving thanks for each day -- the mundane and the marvelous -- in all the in between.
A last birthday gift for all those who have been cheering me on as I climb higher and higher. Remember the CEA score we all have come to watch with a careful eye? Days ago I received my new number: .9
As in less than 1. As in NORMAL.
I'm not sure I'll ever, truly, feel normal again. But on this birthday, I'll savor that fabulous little .9 by giving thanks for all of you. You've surrounded me in love each step of the way, and this is a number now we all get to celebrate for as long as we can.
In fact, we can adore it.
xoxo
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