Home from the battlefield

The view has been nice, especially after TC brought me this beautiful orchid, but we’re ready to say goodbye to The James, AKA the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the OSU Wexner Medical Center. 

The orchid is fake — no live plants are allowed inside the cancer hospital — but everything else has been overwhelmingly real this weekend. 

The surgery that had been anticipated for more than a month has left its calling card of residual pain but it also brought great relief that cancer has once again been routed from my body. We await final biopsies to get an official “all clear” but that won’t come until we see the surgeon for a follow up visit in a couple of weeks. 

Just as real is the appreciation that TC and I feel for all the expressions of prayer, hope, love, support and positive vibes from family and friends. However they were communicated, they gave us strength and comfort for this battle.

As I sit in the chair waiting to get the last few tubes unhooked so I can be discharged, I look down on Ohio Stadium and feel a little like one of the many warriors who has left that fabled field in victory.

First, all glory to God. I know why so many give that testimony above all else. When you are forced to face the reality of a cancer diagnosis and so many people tell you that they are praying for you, how can you not feel the power of heavenly intervention from whatever God you choose to follow? So thank you, Lord, and thank you to all of our loved ones and friends. 

Then we have to thank the team that provided skillful and compassionate medical care, especially the surgeon who used robotic arms to peel the egg-sized tumor off a nerve and squeeze it and part of my lung out a two-inch incision. We were gently cared for and even entertained by many nurses, patient care assistants and technicians who paraded in and out of my room, some of whom earned nicknames along the way. 

I’ll stay on my training regimen of an anti-cancer diet and healthy exercise, with a celebratory glass of wine every now and then. And I will continue to journal here through the checkups and cancer-free milestones to come. 

For now, I’m feeling the bruises of battle and will try not to run TC too ragged before I’m back up to speed. That may take a few weeks; he threatens to duct-tape me to a chair if I try to move too fast too soon.

We can almost hear the chimes ring as we get ready to head home.