For fun I thought I’d add pictures this time. I will continue more about my kids and their response to my diagnosis later, but for now I’m going to show you some pictures of myself and my life after cancer.
I recently backpacked with a friend at the Charles Deam Wilderness, we had a lot of fun and carried about 40
lbs. each about 10 miles a day (we are working on packing lighter!). We’d backpacked together several times before, but with a wilderness club. This was our first time backpacking without the leadership and experience of seasoned backpackers. We did great and didn’t get lost!
I’ve always appreciated nature and the out of doors, but I do more so post cancer. I especially love backpacking as it is about truly living one day at a time. We didn’t really plan where exactly we would hike or where we would camp, we just enjoyed every moment of every day. Nature (and life) at it’s best.
The perfect campsite……….
Backpacking is a new hobby I’ve taken up since my cancer diagnosis. Since my surgery I’ve been on 4 backpacking trips, two to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, once to the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania and this latest trip at the Charles Deam Wilderness. Planning to do many more!
Hi, I’m a survivor of adenocarcinoma of the appendix. I was diagnosed and operated on in May 2002. I have been cancerfree for five years already, and am doing well. I just wanted to tell you that I am very happy to have stumbled upon your blog, and to know that you are doing well too. Though appendiceal cancer is rare, there seems to be more than a few of us out here with this rare cancer. Your blog is very informative and encouraging. I will vist often.
Michelle in Taipei, Taiwan
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your comment, and it’s great to hear from another long-term survivor! I know of two others who are 6 and 7 year survivors. I’m sure there are others, we just haven’t heard from them. For the most part I hear from those newly diagnosed.
I do hear from many who have met others in their own communities with appendiceal cancer, and sometimes it seems it is not quite so rare as we believed at first. One of the specialists is calling the disease “uncommon” vs. rare, he may be right. I also wonder how many cases in the past were misdiagnosed as colon or ovarian cancer, I’m guessing many.
Thank you for your kind words, great to hear from you!
Take very good care,
Carolyn