New Year, New Medical Problem
One second, I’m thinking about the last semester of college and excited for the future.
The next, I’m not sure if I’ll even live until then.
I got the one call no one ever wants to answer, especially at 22 years old.
I picked up the phone to hear my biopsy test results. The first thing I noticed is the voice of my doctor, not the nurse. If the doc calls me with results, I know from experience that usually means bad news. My stomach immediately dropped.
After the “How are you?” and “Merry Christmas” small talk, he gave me the news: “Abbey, you have thyroid cancer.”
Fun, right?
I immediately froze. I didn’t even hear what kind of cancer I had; all I knew was that cancer means death in certain situations.
As most of y’all know, I already had a close call with thyroid cancer a few years back. I’ve already braved a biopsy and was tremendously relieved when the results came back noncancerous.
This time around we’ve got a different story. Now, I wait to schedule a thyroidectomy before my last semester of college.
Luckily, I was diagnosed with the most common and treatable form: papillary thyroid cancer. This means I’ll just need my thyroid taken out and will have to live on the thyroid replacement medication Synthroid (which I already do anyway).
I mean, I’m used to being known as the sick kid; it’s all I’ve been known for. My senior superlative was almost “most likely to be injured.” It would’ve been if I didn’t put a stop to it.
I’m not scared of surgery; I’m pretty sure this will be round number 10 of general anesthesia. It’s just incredibly frustrating that I never get a break. There’s always something wrong.
The part that annoys me the most is that I literally had surgery in May. All I wish for is one year of actually being healthy, but at this point, I think even that’s too much to ask.
Living life with chronic disabilities is a struggle. All you can do is suck it up and act like everything is fine, even when it’s not.
People will look at you with sympathy, tell you how “strong” you are and all you can do is smile and nod. It’s a never-ending cycle, and I am tired of it.
To everyone reading this: I’m okay. I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon; it’s just time to buckle up for a bumpy ride yet again. Unlike last time, I’ll have y’all riding along with me.
Sincerely, Abbey