Amy's cancer treatment fund
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I almost feel like I need to apologize for what I’m about to tell you, or at the very least, waffle on a bit and lead into this news gently.
Maybe do a good news/bad news post? My life seems to be a series of good news/bad news lately.
This past weekend was the happiest I had been in a long time. It was an epic weekend. First I got my visa, then I booked my plane ticket to England and then I got an email that an essay I had written was being slated for publication! I was a giggling, overjoyed mess, which led me to stop and think,"Wait a minute. There’s still a shoe waiting to be dropped somewhere. I can feel it!"
And then I got my biopsy results on Monday.
I said I was confident that everything would be fine. I was lying. There was a rather large part of me that knew when the doctor called on Monday that it wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear.
And so I sat in my car in the driveway while my doctor confirmed that I do in fact have oral cancer.
*this is where we all take a break and have a manic laugh because seriously how is this my life?* My mom even said, “Amy, at this point people are going to think you’re making all this up. It’s too unreal.”
Apparently, I’m an anomaly as the odds for someone my age and lifestyle getting this type of cancer are 1 in 2 million or something ridiculous like that. In fact, when I met with my oncologist (I have an oncologist?! Wut?) his first words when he saw me were, “Wow, you’re young.” It’s funny because I argued, “I’m not *that* young.” And then I realized, he wasn’t talking about my age in relation to normal timelines, but my age in reference to having old lady cancer.
With humor in my voice, I said to the oncologist, “I hope you’re as good as I’ve heard because I’m leaving for England in a couple weeks.”
He looked me dead in the eye and shook his head no. Finally, he said, “You’re not going anywhere.”
I spent the next 5 minutes engaged in negotiations with him over treatment, which country I’d be living in, visa considerations, and remedies for my “absent” husband that I was supposed to get to see in a matter of weeks.
He stared at me in amusement and admitted this was the first time in his 18-year career that he’d been in this situation - a new cancer patient intent on leaving the country. In the end, he agreed if I promised to fly home every 4-6 months for a follow-up appointment then he would treat me.
When this post gets published, I’ll be getting a CT scan of my chest and neck (I’m writing this on Wednesday afternoon.) Then I’ll have surgery next Friday, the 10th to remove the cancer. As of now, I will NOT have to go through chemo or radiation. See? Just mini cancer. No big deal.
If you’re calculating the dates in your head, you’ll know that leaves me 3 days to recover and get on a plane for England, which means you’ve probably figured out that the Bad news of this post isn’t that I have cancer, but that I had to cancel my move to England. For now.
But, remember what I always say about silver linings? Mine comes in the form of a wonderful husband who will be on a plane this Sunday to spend the entire month of October with me while I go through this and recover.
We’re hoping things will be settled enough so I can go back with him at the end of October.
Maybe do a good news/bad news post? My life seems to be a series of good news/bad news lately.
This past weekend was the happiest I had been in a long time. It was an epic weekend. First I got my visa, then I booked my plane ticket to England and then I got an email that an essay I had written was being slated for publication! I was a giggling, overjoyed mess, which led me to stop and think,"Wait a minute. There’s still a shoe waiting to be dropped somewhere. I can feel it!"
And then I got my biopsy results on Monday.
I said I was confident that everything would be fine. I was lying. There was a rather large part of me that knew when the doctor called on Monday that it wouldn’t be what I wanted to hear.
And so I sat in my car in the driveway while my doctor confirmed that I do in fact have oral cancer.
*this is where we all take a break and have a manic laugh because seriously how is this my life?* My mom even said, “Amy, at this point people are going to think you’re making all this up. It’s too unreal.”
Apparently, I’m an anomaly as the odds for someone my age and lifestyle getting this type of cancer are 1 in 2 million or something ridiculous like that. In fact, when I met with my oncologist (I have an oncologist?! Wut?) his first words when he saw me were, “Wow, you’re young.” It’s funny because I argued, “I’m not *that* young.” And then I realized, he wasn’t talking about my age in relation to normal timelines, but my age in reference to having old lady cancer.
With humor in my voice, I said to the oncologist, “I hope you’re as good as I’ve heard because I’m leaving for England in a couple weeks.”
He looked me dead in the eye and shook his head no. Finally, he said, “You’re not going anywhere.”
I spent the next 5 minutes engaged in negotiations with him over treatment, which country I’d be living in, visa considerations, and remedies for my “absent” husband that I was supposed to get to see in a matter of weeks.
He stared at me in amusement and admitted this was the first time in his 18-year career that he’d been in this situation - a new cancer patient intent on leaving the country. In the end, he agreed if I promised to fly home every 4-6 months for a follow-up appointment then he would treat me.
When this post gets published, I’ll be getting a CT scan of my chest and neck (I’m writing this on Wednesday afternoon.) Then I’ll have surgery next Friday, the 10th to remove the cancer. As of now, I will NOT have to go through chemo or radiation. See? Just mini cancer. No big deal.
If you’re calculating the dates in your head, you’ll know that leaves me 3 days to recover and get on a plane for England, which means you’ve probably figured out that the Bad news of this post isn’t that I have cancer, but that I had to cancel my move to England. For now.
But, remember what I always say about silver linings? Mine comes in the form of a wonderful husband who will be on a plane this Sunday to spend the entire month of October with me while I go through this and recover.
We’re hoping things will be settled enough so I can go back with him at the end of October.
Organizer
Stephen Miller
Organizer
Sulphur, LA
