I am a cancer survivor (and other thoughts)

It occurred to me the other day that I hadn’t written anything on this blog that wasn’t a run report or birding-related since September 3 and wondered, why is it? Ennui? Lack of interest? Just plain laziness? Questioning the value of putting my thoughts out onto this weird, hollow shell we call the internet? I’m still not sure, but one thing also rolled into my mind shortly after: That I survived cancer. A year ago I didn’t even know I had cancer. In fact, it wasn’t until after my surgery in May this year that it was confirmed to be cancer–specifically thymoma (warning: link includes a kind of gross photo of a thymoma), a “less aggressive” form of cancer that forms as a tumor inside the same space where the thymus gland lives. The surgery successfully removed the entire tumor, with no evidence that it had spread at all, so I am, as of now, cancer-free. But that’s the thing with cancer–once it’s in you, it can come back, unbidden and unwelcome. It’s why I have a follow-up CT scan…