A: Thanks for asking! Dani, she of Fighting Back against Cancer, says it well —-

I haven’t stepped foot inside the cancer center since I completed chemotherapy back in June.

And I’d be lying if I said my anxiety wasn’t off the charts walking back through those doors.

It’s strange how a building can hold so much. Fear. Hope. Pain. Relief. Some of the worst days of my life—and some of the people who helped me survive them.

Cancer treatment may be behind me, but my body still remembers these hallways. The smells. The sounds. The waiting rooms. The feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I think the cancer center will always feel a little like a battlefield I survived. I’m grateful I made it out, but walking back onto the field still makes my heart race.

Maybe that’s another part of survivorship no one really prepares you for. 🎗️

You can leave the cancer center, but sometimes the cancer center doesn’t completely leave you.

—- Yup. This guy, who is currently my social media portrait rep, is in the lobby of the place I now go for follow-ups. When the surgeon said in July that we could shift from three to six month intervals, some would say this guy smiled as I left. I sure was.