Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to stop by and say hello to my family here at CSN. I haven't been posting much lately, I know. I could say that I've been busy and I have... but I think losing my mom to lung cancer in August hit me a bit harder than I'd anticipated. I've still been visiting every couple days, happy to see the old-timers doing well and some new folks getting great advice (as always).

I'm spending Thanksgiving this year in Iowa with my boyfriend and his mom, who lost both her husband and mother in 2013. It's been a rough year all around, but I'm genuinely thankful to be here and healthy. I had a hot spot in the nasopharynx on my last PET scan earlier this year, but based on the position, size and symmetry, my ENT was pretty sure it wasn't cancer. I was scoped again a couple weeks ago and he said there's still swelling there, but he's still pretty certain that it's nothing. Everything else looked good. I'll probably have a follow-up PET in a couple months, but it was great to hear that there's no visible sign of disease.

For the new folks, just know that life does get better and even back to something pretty close to normal. I'm about a year and a half out from the end of treatments. I have about 75% of my taste back, and a decent amount of saliva. I still need water with almost every bite of food, but that's a small price to pay for more time. It may seem endless when you're in the middle of it, but you'll finish treatments soon enough and start healing (emotionally and physically).

So happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope it finds everyone warm and cozy with family and friends.