Almost back to "normal" life. What a journey. I tell most folks that I've had emotional whiplash from this whole scare. And I realized how scared I was to share what I was going through. In my new found relief, I now go about dropping things like "oh yeah, now that I don't have cancer..." And when the response is "WHAT?!", I realize perhaps I didn't tell everybody (despite feeling quite the contrary).

So if at some point in time you've accessed this site AFTER the cancer scare and enjoyed the book that my sharing has created, I'm sorry you were deprived the knowledge in the moment, but I was at capacity.

Capacity. Because I never get a break from doc appointments, tests, pokes and probing, I saw my doctor yet again recently. Thankfully it was primarily for med refills, but hey- guess what we talked about! He asked how I was doing mentally after this wild ride. I told him that I'm still spinning in circles, relived but perhaps a bit more aged. He provided me with official medical leave during the last several months and he offered to extend it if need be. Thankfully, I am not putting things on hold or stressing over all the preparation needed to go through treatment and worse case scenarios. I'm still going to work towards making sure affairs are in order and such, but not with the mindset that I'll be sick or dying in 5 years. So my capacity to get out into the world as an independent small business offering marketing technology consulting and advising (that's what we're going with these days) has now opened up. Onward and upward (cue money cha-ching sounds!).

But as the title mentions, the doc did mention one more test he'd like to try. It's to help determine if perhaps my auto-immune wacky self decided to collect another auto-immune disorder by the name of Sarcoidosis. If you google it (go ahead, you have my permission!), it often manifests with symptoms and pathology similar to lung cancer and lymphoma. Very similar presentation, symptoms, etc. Now why did we not test for this in the first place? Heck if I know, but it does appear to be very rare (~200K cases a year) and hard to explicitly diagnose. It pops up and goes away on it's own. It looks like other things (cough cough, lung cancer?). It is diagnosed primarily through process of elimination of other possibilities (rude! I'd prefer not to go through a biopsy to get to this option). But it does make sense so perhaps this will not be the last blog update. I do keep hoping that one day I will write the final footnote in this saga and no longer feel the need to update a closed chapter in my life. If it is indeed Sarcoidosis, I'm cool with that. I've got auto-immune disorders aplenty. And, it typically goes away with little to no treatment. So, worst case scenario, I got another thing to go on my medical record. Best case scenario, I can continue my internal dialogue that I am so mighty I possess the capability to kick cancer in the arse before it can take hold.

Look for at least one more update from me. And if you've enjoyed this strange style of writing (I apologize to all of my English teachers - I've forgotten most of my English), I have been considering doing a blog on my company website. A portion called "Strange questions for Karen and other things to come from her brain you may be interested in." Taking other name suggestions. However, I had someone helping me out the other day and they said (if only it were the first time I've heard this one....), "Karen, can I ask you a weird question?" Well of course. "Where did you get this floss from because I need it and can't find it anywhere?". Ugh. Called out on my inability to throw my gross old floss in the trash can. Sorry folks, I admit it. Doesn't happen EVERY - SINGLE - TIME. But lo and behold, I gave her the amazon link (Dr Tungs Smart Floss folks, it's the best!) PLUS the info on the best toothpaste ever, Himalaya Botanique (thank you Shelley for the intro, I now spread the gospel). And you know what, the number of unique and interesting questions I do get on a regular basis (knowing what star thistle may be) could be rather entertaining and provide some insight into that side of my brain. Or, as I joke, if I could just get paid for every piece of good advice, resources or answers I provide, I'd never have to work a day in my life again.

On that note, thanks for reading, caring, supporting, texting, and continuing to be in my life. Ya'll make this version of Earth the best!