How ironic.  A little over a year ago, I didn’t know if my speaking voice would ever be the same after my thyroidectomy.  Now I got asked to be one of the honorary speakers at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at JHU!  I’m blown away by it.  It is crazy in a very good way.  I keep going back and forth in my mind, thinking about when I was first diagnosed with cancer and how I was consumed with fear. I couldn’t really talk about it because there were not words to describe how I felt. But today, I’m a cancer SURVIVOR! I’m going to use my cancer-free vocal chords to let everyone know during my speech to never lose hope.  Fight the fight. Never give up because we never know what the future will bring.  

During my cancer treatment, I was in isolation and not allowed to have anyone within three feet of me during my radioactive iodine therapy.  I felt so alone.  There were days where I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed.  I didn’t know how I was going to face the world.  I was emotionally and physically tired.  I had to fake it until I made it.  I put one foot in front of the other and got better.  As I’m writing this, I’m overwhelming with gratitude thinking about standing in front of over a thousand people, as a cancer SURVIVOR, giving a speech about my journey.  It is an amazing feeling.  One I wish for everyone touched by cancer in some way.

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