You are one person before the diagnosis comes, you are another person during the journey and you are different person when remission is gained. That is not to say that certain pieces of you don't remain, but I feel it nearly impossible to go through this journey unchanged.
BY Kim Johnson
PUBLISHED July 31, 2018
Kim is a nursing student who is hoping to find her place amongst the phenomenal oncology nurses and doctors who cared for her sister. She loves reading, volunteering and enjoying the outdoors of Colorado.
Throughout my sister’s battle with cancer, we discussed the goal of remission. Although there were many times that neither I, nor her team, thought that she would reach remission, her bone marrow transplant made us realize that it might be possible. Towards the end of transplant, we all sat down to discuss what life might look like for her after cancer.
We discussed seeing her oncologist monthly in the first year, then three times a year for year two, four times for year three and once yearly for every year after that. It seemed like a wonderful change, considering that in the last three years, we had spent more time in clinics and hospitals than at home. But for my sister, it still seemed like too much. She lived in fear of what every lab test might show. In truth, for the longest time, I was terrified too.
We discussed seeing her oncologist monthly in the first year, then three times a year for year two, four times for year three and once yearly for every year after that. It seemed like a wonderful change, considering that in the last three years, we had spent more time in clinics and hospitals than at home. But for my sister, it still seemed like too much. She lived in fear of what every lab test might show. In truth, for the longest time, I was terrified too.
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