I have been so busy since I got back, catching up from being gone all weekend and also preparing to go back to work tomorrow! I also have had a hard time formulating a blog entry in my head that gives a good synopsis of the weekend.
The conference (which I will now call a conference and not a retreat) was exhausting, overwhelming, emotional, fun and interesting. There was a ton of information that was non stop and it was a lot to take in and digest. I texted my mom at the airport on the way home and told her how tired I was and her response was, oh I thought you would feel rested, hence we are not calling this a retreat!
There was a lot of information about diet and how to prevent cancer from coming back. There were patient panelists that had refused chemo and shrunk tumors with diet change I think that is so empowering and inspiring. It is a whole life change to follow the protocol they are calling out and I think I could do it. The problem is that I have no active disease, so I would never know if my cancer was just not coming back on it's own or if it were the diet. My tumor markers on my blood work never elevate so it can't be shown there either.
I think the diet I'm on is a great direction to be going in and I need to be better about a few things. It was definitely worth attending and it was a great way to network. I met several women around my age with cancer and I hope we can stay in touch. One of them actually had colon cancer so that was really cool. We ended up with a little group of younger people and that was really special for me as I really don't know many younger people with cancer.
I start work tomorrow, it is only for 4 hours so it will be good to ease into things. I feel like I have been home with my kids for so long (A year today actually that I got diagnosed). I will miss them and I need to concentrate hard not to say "I need to use the potty" at work and to remember I can't give people time outs when I don't like how they're acting :) Seriously though, I am excited to get back to work and feel a little more normalcy in my life and hopefully get back into the swing of things smoothly.
I did decide that I want my port out. I have a scan Oct 7 and a Dr's Apt Oct 11th to go over the scan. I hope to be able to schedule the port removal after that. It feels like it will be one last step to put this all behind me to get that thing out of me!
Cheers to you Leah! I am happy that you will be back to work and I am happy that you found a level of peace. See you tomorrow where we will try not to stress you out. Although just logging on to your computer should do that LOL.
ReplyDeleteLeah you did it! A year after being diagnosed with the big 'C' you beat it and I'm so happy for you!! Best of luck tomorrow back at work. I bet you'll get a pretty amazing warm welcome back from your office! Lots of love, Jackie
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see you back at work!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad your conference was jam packed with information and good people, but too bad it wasn't a relaxing retreat.
That's awesome that you got so much good info and you got to meet some younger people that have walked in your shoes. Try as we might to understand all you've been through, only those that have been through it themselves will really GET it. I hope you are able to stay in touch with them too and have another great support network! Good luck back at work. I totally understand using grown up speak when outside the house and fortunately, most adults don't require time out, nor do they scream at you when things aren't going their way...haha!
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