One year.

February 16, 2021

One year.

It's been a while since last post! I suppose that's a good thing. A lot has happened in that year, including celebrating a year post-chemo and post-mastectomy. I've celebrated a lot of new beginnings, including job promotion and subject area change, leadership change to co-chair our diversity committee, and I joined a nonprofit board of directors. My kids are thriving, despite continuing to live largely locked down in the pandemic.

The real test of the year, though, came with my first post-cancer MRI last week. I was really kicking myself for scheduling it on the Friday before a long weekend, because that meant a longer wait. I'm used to getting my results on the patient portal, and I hold my breath as I log in to read the report. I was refreshing frequently all day.

This time, my phone rang. "Hi, Miss Hunter? This is Dr. [x] from the GW breast imaging center. I'm calling to discuss your MRI results. Can you tell me your date of birth?"

All of the air left the room as I moved in slow motion to grab my pen and paper to take notes of what she was about to say. She heard the question marks in my voice...and assured me everything was okay. She said phone calls are a formality before uploading the results.

"Everything looks perfect. I can see you had a left mastectomy, the implants are perfectly placed. We noted nothing suspicious on that side or the non-cancer side." I asked her if she would believe this was the first time I have received results over phone before they were uploaded to the portal, so she would know why I hit panic mode immediately. My heart was racing for a long while.

But. Exhale.

So. I will never know why I got cancer with no risk factors. But I have made it my mission to live as healthily as reasonably possible, to pass my time in between these scans.

I'm expanding my garden. I currently have lettuces, herbs, tomatoes, jalapenos, and kale producing. I have garlic, onions, oranges slowly growing through the sleepy season. My peach tree is showing life for the first time since I got it last summer. My banana tree is thriving. My lemon and cherry trees and strawberries and blueberries are dormant. And I bought more raised beds to expand my vegetables this summer.

I stopped eating cheese about a month ago, when I came down with a respiratory illness after an orthodontist consult and I wanted to minimize congestion. It...was a lot easier than I expected. I'm undecided if I will go full vegan, but I am enjoying this stretch of experimenting. In fact, I have prided myself in making creative vegan meals lately ESPECIALLY if it is a dish I craved from a restaurant. I'm undertaking sort of a "homemade take-out" challenge and am finding that while I can never authentically replicate many of the dishes I crave, I can do a decent job with internet recipes and adjustments. I've been doing intermittent fasting for almost a year now after a friend shared the research on intermittent fasting preventing cancer recurrence. I have a glass of wine only sporadically.

Now, people love to make comments about how I only eat healthy foods, so while I don't want to admit all my vices, I will say I have still eaten an unhealthy number of Girl Scout Cookies and rich baked goods this pandemic. I made not one, but two loaves of bread the other day. I consume a not insignificant amount of chocolate (though I have moved to dark chocolate exclusively, if that helps?). I still like dry Kix as one of my favorite quick snacks. I share this because I think - to my own ears - a life without cheese and alcohol and take-out and breakfast doesn't sound like a life I'd want to live, but I am actually content. Happy, even. I feel great aside from the lingering joint and muscle pains from quitting the chiropractor in the pandemic, and Tamoxifen effects (I suspect). My chronic inflammation and bloating are significantly better. I am attempting more workouts as my energy improves. And I'm making time for my sporadic crafting hobbies that I pick up every winter.

My "chemo curls" that have replaced the areas where I experienced hair loss during chemo are adorable. My general hair loss (post-cancer alopecia) has slowed with the help of spironolactone, which I will be on for the long term.

Life goes on, perhaps better than before. One year cancer-free down, hopefully a lifetime to go. Thanks for being along on this ride with me.

I'm sharing some pics of my most recent favorite homemade vegan meals.