Indian Meat + Peas

This past year came and went with it’s own set of challenges. It was not an easy year. Along with a shift in my career (and the husband’s), a move, my eldest graduating from high school, I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. And unfortunately, I have the type of Thryroid Cancer(differentiated thyroid cancer) that should it spread, it’s the aggressive kind. In the 24 days that it took for me to find the lump in my neck(July 4th) to the day of my surgery(July 28th), I walked around in a state of unorganized clarity.

I was fortunate, I did not need chemo. But I did have to do a round of radiation(Radioiodine). Which meant that I had to be on a very strict, iodine free diet 14 days prior to my treatment. I could basically eat nothing and because salt is in everything, eating out was not allowed. I tried hard, giving my dietary limitations, to be creative, but it was so hard! After day 10, I became so disinterested in food that, I basically lost my appetite. I did, however, find a few dishes that I enjoyed and this meat and peas saved me on more days than I can count.

Right now, I continue to be monitored. MRI’s and full body scans have become part of my new venacular. Spending time in the “Nuclear Medicine Unit” at Cedars has become all too familiar and taking a daily dose of a thyroid replacement hormone is my new normal. “Cancer” makes you re-evaluate, makes you think about the inevitable, and made me think about how I want to “live”.

So, as I head into a new year, I take each day. I am trying to find the positive in often times too much negative, and I no longer spend time doing what doesn’t bring me joy nor spend time with those that don’t embrace me for exactly who I am. I am hopeful for a better 2017 and grateful that I get to have a new perspective.

Happy New Year! Cheers to new beginnings!!