All of a sudden, I started having strange pains. I was always tired. There were days that I only got out the bed to take the kids to school, cook, and back home. I felt bad because the kids needed an active mom, but I just didn’t have the energy to do anything. I brushed it off as depression. I am in school full time, and my husband was deployed. That had to be the reason for me feeling so bad. Some days, I felt like I ran a marathon and I didn’t do a thing. I hung on. I ignored any possible signs of a problem.
My husband came home. He was impressed with the weight loss, but he was concerned about my lack of energy, my stomach issues, and a newly found lump in my neck. So, I went to the doctor. I was treated for a book of stuff. I blew off the lump in my neck but finally made an appointment to appease my husband. As a result, I had blood tests, ultrasounds, and multiples scans. You name it I had it done. Finally, the doctor suggested that I go get a biopsy because it seems to show that I had cancerous looking nodules, nine to be exact.
Waiting for that biopsy seemed to take forever. And that forever turned into the most scariest call I ever had. “Mrs Coates, blah blah blah ….cancer.” Cancer that word is like a death sentence. Yes, I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. What do I do? How do I tell anyone? What’s next? My kids!!! My husband!! To be honest, I was scared…no I AM scared, but I told myself to pray for strength. Whatever happens…I needed strength.
That same day I realized that if I didn’t lose weight I would have just gotten sicker and sicker.
As I sit and talk to with my doctors about concerning symptoms, I realized that the warning signs were there. I just chalked it up to being fat.
Knowing all of this, I got really sad and I ate, and I ate. And I ate some more. Then it hit me. Snap out of it. Put the food away and live. I am strong enough to face Cancer. I don’t need the extra junk. I want to be healthy. I want to live to see my children have children. I want to be able to enjoy life.
Thyroid cancer, if caught in time, has a high recovery rate. I have to get my thyroid removed and any lymph nodes if the cancer has moved to them. I will have my surgery in the next two weeks. I am scared, but I know all will be fine. I also found a new outlook on life….a healthy one.
Every day, I post on Facebook and Instagram about being happy. I am happy. Yeah, I had a moment where I didn’t get out of bed. I had a moment where I cried. I had a moment when I questioned my life. Yesterday, I finally shared with my children what was going on. Talking to them made me realize that I have no time to be sad or depressed. I know I will come out of this fine. So, I have to enjoy my life to the fullest because I only get one and wasting time being sad is interfering with my time to be happy.
I am also proud of myself, right now. I am proud that I am up and moving. I am proud that I am even sharing this with you. I am a private person and sharing so much about myself is a bit intimidating. However, Sharing my story may inspire others to be healthy or educate themselves on cancer and even being healthy. I believe God put me here to uplift, teach and inspire. I believe sharing my story does that.
