How Do I Feel?

That is the big question; "How do you feel?"

This is the funny thing about all of this; I feel normal...it seems to be part of what makes a Cancer diagnosis so difficult to comprehend - you simply do not feel or look sick, if caught early enough. Remember, I only went because of an abnormal lump on my neck that Kristina noticed...painless and without any accompanying symptoms.

I continue to try and look at the glass-half-full side of this scenario, and try to have fun despite the news - if we go to Boston for diagnostics we'll try to have a nice dinner, catch a Sox game or go to a museum...do anything to try and compliment these trips with some fun and something unrelated to doctors and hospitals.

Cancer is a scary word and a scary disease, but I look at the reality for me, for my cancer, as an issue of having to seek treatment (likely 8-14 visits) and dealing with some side-effects throughout the course of 2007. I am incredibly confident and upbeat about this and looking forward to putting it behind me.

I am trying to get back to the gym, after essentially abandoning it for quite some time due to stress and time committments from work and school. I went today for a while (it's Patriot's Day in MA, bonus holiday) and felt great. An hour on the bike with no problems.

My neck remains somewhat stiff and sore, all from the biopsy, which was done just below and behind my right ear. Other than that I do not notice any differences in how I feel physically. Emotionally I feel really good too; this situation could be much worse and I am fortunate it looks to have been detected early.

So, I feel normal and am in a good place to embark on the treatment regime in the next few weeks, it will be a long process and I am confident in my ability to go on with my life with some degree of normalcy throughout the process.

Thanks again for your thoughts and keep an eye on one another, many cancers are not preventable, but we can save ourselves a lot of pain and heartache with early detection and diagnosis.