The End of the Road

The end of the road  has many connotations. In my case, it’s the end of my cancer journey. I’m having surgery today to have my port-a-cath (the funny looking button and straw sticking out of my chest) removed. The port has been my gateway for receiving twelve rounds of life-saving chemotherapy. Having the surgery to remove it is a definitive marker of my remission. My oncologist had me keep the port in for 12 months after my last round of chemo, “just in case” Hodgkin’s Lymphoma reared it’s ugly head. The cancer never did return and I can’t even hold my breath about it any more. 

I remember when i first got the port surgically implanted in my chest. I had just been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma two weeks prior. Two weeks later, I started my first round of chemo. It’s been quite a journey with a bittersweet end. Though I won my battle with cancer, many other warriors haven’t been so fortunate including young Mohammad Ayan. At the tender age of fourteen, Ayan reached out to me when I was first diagnosed and encouraged me to Never, Never, Never Give Up. I never did. Instead, I became intimately acquainted with my spirit of resilience and created self-portraits documenting my journey. I like to think that my creativity was just as crucial as the chemotherapy being infused in my port.

Ayan, never gave up either. He fought all the way to the end. There is no reason why two people on the same chemo regimen have different outcomes. Life, as incredible as it is, is also unfair. So as I prepare for my surgery this morning, I’m counting my many blessings with great humility, grateful that the end of this road is here and a new road paved with possibilities is just around the bend.