What Have You Done Today That Made You Happy?

I think that I am at a stage in this cancer journey that I am happy with. When I was diagnosed, I started treatment and getting bloodwork and scans. It has not stopped but it has slowed down.

Lessons from lung cancer

As a cancer patient now, I didn’t quite understand some of the things that I would encounter and have to go through. My first treatment failed me very quickly and so I was put onto a chemotherapy regimen while in-patient at the hospital. It kind of worked but not really and so I thought that this was the “new normal” everyone spoke of and that I would just be jumping from treatment to treatment. At this point, I had not even thought about the idea of getting CT scans, brain MRIs, bloodwork, and all of the follow-up appointments for monitoring.

I learned quite a while later that the goal is to be on treatment for longer periods of time. One of our contributors on LungCancer.net is a super responder and has only been on one treatment. That, of course, is not me as I have had somewhere around 6 treatment lines.

Don't forget about the little joys

I think we get caught up in the day-to-day busyness of life and forget to do the little things sometimes. We forget to do things that make us happy. I have found myself working full-time (again thankfully) and having to think about what is for dinner every night (#adulting).

I have set some goals for myself, which change almost daily but that is also the fun part is that I get to dream. When I am not working, I fill my days with spending A LOT of time with family, my sisters, nieces, nephews, my parents, and every day I get to fall asleep next to my hubby.

I do not typically set up a new year resolution for myself so I will call it another goal. I am trying to read more this year. So far, I have read 3 books! One book I had started over ten years ago and just finished.

What does "typical" look like?

When we think of a typical cancer patient, we think of someone who is thin and frail. I have had the opposite happen. I gained a lot of weight and, for a while, it was a goal to gain weight because I was so sick and I had gotten down to 101lbs. The last time I switched treatments though my appetite came back and I did not change my “eat everything” attitude and so I gained a bit too much weight. Along with my primary care doctor, we have worked to get me to a healthy weight where I am now comfortable with my body and the way I look.

Today is a good day to do something new

My sister and I have always loved traveling and in 2017 we traveled a lot simply because we thought that I was not going to be around too much longer. We haven’t been able to travel due to the pandemic but have made it to visit my sister and now have plans to go to Las Vegas in October for a music festival.

After I was diagnosed, I stumbled upon the job that I have now. For any other person, they would find my job to be very boring at least my sister tells me that! But I love it. I have decided to work on getting more education that can help in my everyday activities. I work a lot with Microsoft Office Suites so maybe I will start learning more about Excel!

We have found ourselves stuck in the house for a few days due to a snowstorm and it has been a great time to figure out all the things that I still need to complete (i.e. I read that book!) or start new.

What sort of goals, or new year resolutions if you make them, have you thought up for yourself this year? Let me know in the comments.