Here We Go Again!

Here we go again! I recently came across my cancer blog which I started writing about three years into what has become a seven year (and counting) journey toward coming to terms with living with cancer. When I first started the blog, I had been diagnosed, had one round of chemo, lost my hair, gone into remission, gotten my hair back, had a recurrence, lost my hair, gone back into remission, and started to get my hair back. Since that time, I have had a stem cell transplant, two more recurrences, two rounds of radiation, more needle sticks, biopsies, tests, and therapies than I can list on one hand—and I have THE MOST AMAZING PONYTAIL you have ever seen. Over all these years and all these treatments, one thing has remained constant: the blessing far outweighs the curse once you learn how to look. For those of you who are following along with me through Andi’s Army, you know that I learned yesterday that my cancer has returned so this seems like a good time to resume writing about my experience as I take the next steps of my journey. My previous entries all ended with something “fun” I said I wished I didn’t know about cancer. Looking back, that seems like such an awful perspective. Reading what I wrote at those early stages shows me how far I have come toward accepting this path that I am on. Moving forward, I would like to share all of the amazing things I have learned about myself through living with the OC. I’ll do my best to update semi-frequently, but those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot of time to live the rock-star fabulous life that I now allow myself to live. I’ll do my best, but there are just going to be times when I am having justice for breakfast, or riding bareback on the best horse in the world, or hanging with the three coolest kids on the Planet. Barring that, I’ll try to give you a candid perspective on what it feels like to live life fully while also realizing that there are no guarantees. And so…to kick of these new entries: Learning how to live on my terms is something FUN I am so glad I have learned through my cancer.