I had my six-month check-up with Dr. Corum today like I usually do. Over the summer I had asked him if I could take a break from the hormone blocker because it makes me sensitive to the heat and sun, and I wanted to go to Summer Camp with the high school students from my church. He said that would be fine, as I was close to the 5-year mark of taking them, which was the initial goal, but if I could tolerate it, he was pushing for another two years.
I took a 2-month break and felt better than I had in a long time!! Not only did I tolerate the heat and sun, I actually enjoyed it! My energy level and physical stamina also increased. Summer Camp was so fun!! Around mid-August, I decided it was time to get back on my medication. By mid-October I was ready to quit again. I messaged Dr. Corum and asked if I could be done. His response: “We aim for 5 years minimum and she has reached that. Ok to hold until next follow-up with me and we may agree to stop altogether at that point.” I was elated!! I stopped the medication and figured I could probably switch to an annual check-up instead of every six months. I was NOT expecting what he told me today: “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason for you to come back and see me. I consider you to be cured.”
I lost it. I felt like I was in shock! Dr. Corum and his nurse Jessie have seen me through this entire ordeal. He compared it to being in a foxhole with someone. We formed a bond because we went through something really scary together. He said, “We could try to come up with some reason to see each other, but I don’t think that’s what you really want.” I got a big hug from him and from Jessie before I headed back to the treatment area for my last Prolia injection to increase bone density (because when you block estrogen, your bones can deteriorate!).
The nurse who led me back asked how my day was going, and I said, “Dr Corum just told me I’m cured and I don’t need to come back again!” She asked me if I wanted to ring the bell. It hadn’t even occurred to me until that moment. I remembered telling Kent when I stopped taking the hormone blocker that I felt like I needed to ring the bell one last time. So immediately I said, YES!!!
After I got settled into a room, the nurse who was going to give the injection came in and I told her I was going to ring the bell afterward. I asked her if she could invite several of the nurses that I still knew to come as witnesses. I hadn’t brought anyone with me to the appointment because I didn’t know it would be my last.
The nurses all signed this document for me and after my injection, I proceeded to ring the bell – ONE. LAST. TIME.
The nurse who hugged me afterward is the same one who gave me my first treatment on December 23, 2019. She was one of the two I requested to witness this momentous occasion. She told me, “I love you, but I don’t ever want to see you here again. Maybe at Walmart or something.” It felt like a full circle moment that I could not have orchestrated myself.
On the day of that first treatment, I said, “I do know that my cancer is very treatable, but it will be a long road to get there. The Lord has granted me so much peace and I have felt His presence and heard His voice so clearly!”
God came through on His promise. This moment was six years in the making. Now I have my whole life to celebrate all that the Lord has done. But I also know there’s so much more to come! Sometimes we have to experience the lowest lows to really appreciate the highest highs! God is so good!!!
