Many cancer deaths could be prevented by making healthy choices like not smoking, staying at a healthy weight, eating right, keeping active, and getting recommended screening tests. Abby Osborn's powerful story is a great reminder to be proactive.
How has cancer impacted my life.....
Cancer
Nobody wants to sit in a doctor’s office and hear that word. Three weeks ago, I sat across from my doctor and heard that word.
Let me rewind 5 months earlier. Every day I work out with two of my very good friends. I follow the Linda W. Daniel Foundation and love everything they represent. I told my friends about MoveMeMonday and said we need to start posting our beats every Monday. All three of us and our families believe in a healthy and active lifestyle and feel that is one of the best steps in prevention. Each week we post our beats and it began to feel like each week we heard from someone we knew that was dealing with cancer or had fought cancer.
Then, in early February I was standing in front of the mirror at the gym doing a lifting circuit and noticed a lump in my neck. Panic and fear took over my body. I called my doctor’s office the minute they opened and made an appointment. Thankfully they got me in the very next morning. I also began looking back at the MoveMeMonday seflies I had taken and was able to see the lump pretty well, which made me then look back at pictures from high school. I noticed that I have always had a lump on my neck but a much smaller one. This showed me that I have probably had the lump for a very long time.
One week later my husband and I were sitting with an ENT and discussing the options I had to treat the multi nodule goiter that the ultra sound showed on my thyroid. The ENT said a few of the nodules were larger than he would like and he would recommend to either biopsy the nodules or go ahead and have my entire thyroid removed. I was hesitant to have my thyroid removed because it was functioning properly. However, I knew that thyroid cancer is hereditary and a few family members have goiters as well. So, my husband and I decided removal was the best option. If there is a way we could prevent these nodules from growing we were all for it!
One week later my thyroid was removed and the biopsy showed cancer in 3 of the 12 nodules. I am so glad I was proactive and saw the doctor immediately. I am also so thankful my doctors moved quickly. The treatment for thyroid cancer is removal of the thyroid, and we are already one step ahead of the game.
Here I am two weeks post-surgery, working out, feeling great, and wanting other people to be proactive. If something doesn't feel right or look right get yourself to the doctor. I feel because I am active and aware of my body, I was able to catch something before it could have been a lot worse.
My cancer story has not ended but has just begun. I still have many appointments to attend and preventative treatments I will have to do. However, I will not let cancer define me. Tomorrow I will get up, work out, kiss my husband, watch my two little boys play, and live each day to its fullest. I will also continue to look forward to taking a MoveMeMonday selfie with my girls!
Thank you Abby for sharing your story with us. We appreciate your support and enjoy seeing your #MoveMeMonday posts early every Monday morning!
Check out Abby's blog where she discusses being a wife, mom of two boys, teacher, and a nutrition and fitness fanatic: www.momwithmusclesblog.wordpress.com
Have a wonderful weekend, Happy Easter and see you Monday!