This month is my seventh year in remission.Most of you know that I had thyroid cancer when I was a sophomore in high school. In 2002 I was considered cancer free. Just to be positive they decided to do a scan and make sure. Being the lucky person that I am, they discovered that it came back. That sucked. Now I'm cancer free AGAIN! I get regular check ups every three months and have even gone to UCLA and MD Anderson in Texas to have check ups done.
Cancer sucks! I have beat it twice and if for some freakin reason I get it again I know that I can beat it. My cancer was really, really easy compared to other types of cancer. I was very young the first time and recovered really fast. The doctors told me "hey guess what, You have cancer", I didn't feel like I had cancer, I was never sick, never weak. It was so strange to be walking around, feeling fine, and know that I had cancer. I have seen friends and family with cancer and they get SICK. I was so, so lucky to catch it when we did. A few surgeries latter and a little radiation and I was all better. . . ok maybe it wasn't that easy (especially on my mom).
The second time was a little harder. I was older and understood how serious it was but it still wasn't THAT bad. I had some more radiation (yes its true I do have a slight glow that radiates off me when its really dark) and few scans, no big deal. In the end it worked out because it made me skinny for my wedding :)
I tried to find some pictures of me when I first had my surgeries. This is the only one I could find. I guess no one wanted to take pictures of the scary girl with her neck cut open. If you look close you can see the drainage tub coming out of my chest. Come on, you know that's COOL!
So to remind myself how strong and determined I was all those years ago, and how strong and determined I will always have to be. . . I got a tattoo. Yep you read that correctly. I got a tattoo! I know that there will be some of you out there that do not approve or understand why I got a tattoo. There are also some of you out there that have not fought cancer twice, and to be honest I didn't get the tattoo for anyone but MYSELF. I love it and it's exactly what I wanted. For those of you that are a excited as I am here are a few pictures.
Yep I got a tattoo on my foot. The blue part of the ribbon represents Thyroid Disease and the purple part represents Thyroid Cancer.
This is the guy that did my tattoo. I don't even remember his name. I was a little nervous.
This is me being strong. . . . not really, this is me smiling for the camera trying to look strong.
Close up of my cancer ribbon tattoo.
I have wanted this tattoo for a really long time. I always talk about getting one but I never do. I have known exactly what I want for years. Saturday night we are at a family party and we start talking about tattoos AGAIN. Jordan (my sister) txt me late Saturday night and says " hey, gonna get a tattoo tomorrow want to come watch?" (yes, Jordan got a tattoo also but that's her story to tell). I say "heck yeah!" in the back of my mind I know I'm gonna get one too. I can't let Jordan be the only one that gets a tattoo. I'm no chicken! So we go down to the Palms Casino and visit the Huntington and Hart Tattoo shop. Jordan was already getting her tattoo by the time I got there and she was in a back room where we couldn't see, that kinda sucked. I check and see if they have anymore appointments and SCORE, they have one left. I decide to take it on one condition, that my mom stays with me while I get the tattoo. She was with me through every cancer, doctors appointment, and everything in between, I just couldn't see getting the tattoo without her. After it was all said and done I got my dream tattoo. I'm not gonna lie. It hurt. If I had to choose between kidney stones and a tattoo. . . . tat me up baby because those stones hurt like HECK!
The second time was a little harder. I was older and understood how serious it was but it still wasn't THAT bad. I had some more radiation (yes its true I do have a slight glow that radiates off me when its really dark) and few scans, no big deal. In the end it worked out because it made me skinny for my wedding :)
I tried to find some pictures of me when I first had my surgeries. This is the only one I could find. I guess no one wanted to take pictures of the scary girl with her neck cut open. If you look close you can see the drainage tub coming out of my chest. Come on, you know that's COOL!
So to remind myself how strong and determined I was all those years ago, and how strong and determined I will always have to be. . . I got a tattoo. Yep you read that correctly. I got a tattoo! I know that there will be some of you out there that do not approve or understand why I got a tattoo. There are also some of you out there that have not fought cancer twice, and to be honest I didn't get the tattoo for anyone but MYSELF. I love it and it's exactly what I wanted. For those of you that are a excited as I am here are a few pictures.Yep I got a tattoo on my foot. The blue part of the ribbon represents Thyroid Disease and the purple part represents Thyroid Cancer.This is the guy that did my tattoo. I don't even remember his name. I was a little nervous.This is me being strong. . . . not really, this is me smiling for the camera trying to look strong.Close up of my cancer ribbon tattoo.I have wanted this tattoo for a really long time. I always talk about getting one but I never do. I have known exactly what I want for years. Saturday night we are at a family party and we start talking about tattoos AGAIN. Jordan (my sister) txt me late Saturday night and says " hey, gonna get a tattoo tomorrow want to come watch?" (yes, Jordan got a tattoo also but that's her story to tell). I say "heck yeah!" in the back of my mind I know I'm gonna get one too. I can't let Jordan be the only one that gets a tattoo. I'm no chicken! So we go down to the Palms Casino and visit the Huntington and Hart Tattoo shop. Jordan was already getting her tattoo by the time I got there and she was in a back room where we couldn't see, that kinda sucked. I check and see if they have anymore appointments and SCORE, they have one left. I decide to take it on one condition, that my mom stays with me while I get the tattoo. She was with me through every cancer, doctors appointment, and everything in between, I just couldn't see getting the tattoo without her. After it was all said and done I got my dream tattoo. I'm not gonna lie. It hurt. If I had to choose between kidney stones and a tattoo. . . . tat me up baby because those stones hurt like HECK!
