2017

2017 is not a year I'm excited to talk about. There were a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs. There was a ton of depression and anxiety. It started off as a great year probably one of the best. I was happy unbelievably so. I had a great relationship and great friends. Everything was great up until about June, my dad started getting sick. He had a lot of throat pain, it wasn't strep and thats when I knew it was trouble. He had a spot in the back of his throat a biopsy was done, we got the results back as stage II cancer of the soft pallet and throat. One word stuck with me, inoperable. I work on a surgical floor connected to a cancer center. I deal with cancer all day long but never with my own father. It terrified me especially with the knowledge that I have from my schooling. We got him into a good doctor, but honestly I wasn't sure my dad would seek treatment. He was already chronically ill. He wasn't sure he wanted to go through with the treatment he knew it would be rough. He went through about eight weeks of radiation treatment. At this point due to my career path I began to distance myself, I know a lot about co-morbities and cancer. I started making poor decisions: drinking more, grades slipped, relationship ended, friendships ended it was rough. My sister stepped up, moved him in with her and really took care of him. My dad said something that stuck with me, "You didn't tell me it was going to hurt this much, you didn't tell me it would be this hard". His nutrition began to slip, he radiation had killed his saliva glands. A G-tube was then placed to help support his nutrition, he still has this tube. October of 2017 is when his last PET scan was done, we found out my dad was officially cancer free!! The year started looking up: graduation, Christmas, New year.

Heres to a New Year, 2018: a year of a new career, happiness and health.