There's a beginning; not sure about the middle and end!

Hey guys! My name is Rachel and I have adenoid cystic carcinoma. I was diagnosed in July of 2022 and it has been a wild ride ever since. I have learned so much about myself, about who I can count on, and about faith, life, and love. I had really wanted to start this months back, but life gets so crazy, and between appointments, work, and life, I found myself completely exhausted and unable to put the time into this that I needed to. So here I am, starting this the day after my PET Scan to be sure that the tumor removal surgery and radiation did its job and the cancer is gone, for now! You ever have that feeling of being super confident and yet super scared? I have to tell you, having cancer is no joke. It brings up so much more than just the physical. I try to explain how it is to my family and friends, but unless you have it, it's not the same experience at all. And I am SO HAPPY that most of my friends and family don't understand what I'm going through. I NEVER want them to. It's funny, because my mom had Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma for many years, it just kept coming back and she kept beating it down, over and over again. Leukemia finally got her in 2019, she was just ready to move on, and I can't blame her. She fought for so long to be with us, it was something to behold. She is my definition of warrior! And going through that with my mom, I thought I would understand this personal cancer journey some already. But nope, not at all. It is an entirely different experience!

I have so many things that I want to say, but I'm going to keep this one short and open this blog by saying that I'm so excited that you are coming on this journey with me. I have a long way to go, a lifetime, to be exact. My diagnosis brings the chance that it will come back at any time, a likelihood, even. So I would love it if we can be here for each other, to support and help each other. I will keep y'all updated on things currently, as well as tell my story from the beginning. My next post will be Monday or Tuesday, when I get my results from this first post-op, post-radiation PET Scan; we're praying for and expecting great results, but I know you guys know, the waiting is so hard!