Patty Knight

I am happy so many of you are following my post.  I just wish I could get myself together and write more often.  Well, I had surgery in December to remove another metastatic lesion.  I went to see the doctor for my follow up and thankfully this time my stitches held and I am healing nicely this time.  They removed my stitches and said that the pathology report looks like they got it all.  Thank God and all who have said prayers.  It is amazing that my cancer has come back so many times yet God hears and answered all the prayers to heal me again.  The doctors still do not know why my cancer was able to come back while I am on treatment and have been on  the new immunotherapy now for over two years.  They looked at the cells to see what may have changed and what treatment would be my best option and it unfortunately is the drug that I tried twice and it was just too toxic for me.  The doctors have decided that since I did make it the longest without reoccurrence on the immunotherapy that they will just keep me on it for now.  If for any reason it comes back again then we will have to look into any new study drugs that may be developed.  I guess I probably just bought myself at least another few years of treatment but I am thankful that all the new developments in cancer treatments has bought be the time that is has.  I was originally diagnosed in February of 2012 and here we are in 2020. I think of all the others with my same diagnosis who have not been so lucky.  This is a terrible cancer that can be devastating and I know that I am extremely blessed to be here and doing as well as I am.  I can never say thank you enough for prayers as it is God who hears and answers all prayers.

My daily life in a few short sentences.  Well, I can say that I am doing pretty good.  I have gained many new grey hairs but I still have hair.  I have gained weight because I can’t exercise and do as much due to the swelling from my lymphedema and pain but I am still not obese, just a bit larger that I was before.  I have lost a lot of energy and get worn out much quicker than I used to but I am able to rest when I need it.  If I have a bad day I stay at home and nobody really knows except my family and they are overly supportive.  I go out when I feel good and people only see the old me. I have had many surgeries but my scars are all hidden under clothing so nobody can see that I have had anything done to me.  I have terrible degenerative disease in my spine which is very painful and the immunotherapy makes the pain worse but thankfully the doctors are able to manage my pain most of the time with medication.  I have had to adjust my daily activity, rest more often, control what I do to minimize my pain and swelling but it is all manageable.  I don’t think that any person who has as many issues as me and has been fighting cancer as long as I have can say they have it this good.  I am truly blessed.  I hope that everyone who reads this can recognize what a blessing it is to be able to wake up each day and get out of bed.  That in itself is a blessing.

Story:

I want to tell you about an amazing woman I met during my last treatment.  She was an older woman who was full of spunk and energy.  She had been battling cancer for quite some time.  When I finished my treatment and was getting ready to leave she stopped me and told me she had something for me!  She opened up a large bag and pulled out a homemade bar of goat milk soap.  It spelled amazing and had the cutest goat grazing molded into the bar.  She explained she and her crazy family had a goat farm and that they make soap from the goat milk.  She went on to show me pictures of her family, crazy family she called them, and the animals who live on the farm as well as the goats that make the milk for my bar of soap.  She was so enthusiastic about the things they do on the farm and what they want to do.  She had decided to bring in a large bag of the soaps to distribute to all the cancer patients as her goodby.  She was finishing her last treatment and looking forward to a long remission.  She has so much to do.  She touched me in so many ways.  I was of course thankful for the soap but to see her passion for life. She is one of few that I have met in treatment who look at the positive in life instead of focusing on all the depressing things we are surrounded with dealing with cancer and treatments.  I truly believe that attitude and goals helps us to survive.  We can never give up and life if full of opportunities if we open ourselves up to them.  Focusing on bad news, pain, or the medical statistics for beating any disease can be depressing and cause us to lose hope.  I admire this woman I met and hope that I will always have her same attitude about life.  There is so much to live for.

Challenge:

I want to challenge everyone reading this to do what I do each morning.  I wake up and grab a cup of coffee, you can grab whatever you like to drink, then I list 10 things that I am thankful for.  The big challenge is that you can’t name the same thing twice, every day must be 10 new things.  The first couple days are easy then it requires some thought and after a week or two it gets really easy again.  Before you know it you will begin to realize just how many blessings you have been blessed with.  For me I can say I never really took the time to think about all the things we take for granted every day until I started this practice.  There is an added benefit to this exercise as well, you start your day off in a good mood.  You can say goodby to the days of getting up on the wrong side of the bed and beginning your day in a not so good mood.  It makes you happy to think about how wonderful life really is and it gives you a break from all the stressful things going on in your head.  Try it at least for 2 weeks and see if your days seem to be brighter.

Challenge two.  Do something nice for a stranger.  It can be as simple as saying hello and how are you to a homeless person or as big as you choose.  I just want to challenge you to do something nice for someone who can’t repay you in any way.  It makes you feel good and it will change the way others feel.

Thanks for reading my post and I hope everyone reading has a blessed week.