Single Most Asked Question

Today is my six and a half year cancer diagnosis anniversary and it to this day it amazes me how it seems like yesterday, with every feeling as familiar as if I had just felt them. To be told that you have this unknown monster living in you and knowing that it could kill you isn’t something I would wish on my worst enemy, but looking back I’m incredibly glad I went through it. It changed me in ways that nothing else could have and was an amazing life changing experience (not one I’d like to go through again, but not one I regret).

In all the years since going through it, there is one question that I get asked, hands down, more than any other… “Didn’t it hurt?” The mass in my leg was six inches by four inches and wrapped around the side of my knee, a rare form of cancer known as liposarcoma. There were red flags that made me wonder what was going on, but like I tell everyone, “Nothing hurt until they fixed me.”

From what I’ve been told, cancer is silent and if it gets to a point where there is pain, it’s likely advanced. If most people are like me, they know something is amiss. I tried denial, but my right leg was three inches larger than my left in diameter and it would go numb from the knee down if I would sit too long. Those are things that are extremely difficult to ignore. Even before going to the doctor I had that “gut feeling” that something was seriously wrong. I’d ignored this problem for no less than two years or tried to. With no pain, that came easily.

With this fact, I tell everyone to pay attention to their bodies. Don’t ignore something that seems “off.” Have a doctor check out issues, if for nothing other reason than you own peace of mind. Cancer sneaks up on us and we need to take care of these precious gifts that are our bodies.