First, I'd like to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support I received after sharing my first post last night. I can't even express how much it means to me to have all of you behind me during this hard time. That being said, I'll get into today's post.
Lately I can't help but think about how blessed I've been. When I look back specifically to the beginning of my journey when I was first diagnosed, I don't know what I would have done without having my parents by my side. How crazy it is to think that just a year prior to my diagnosis my parents lived seven hours away!
I had moved to down to the Tampa area immediately after graduating high school and started at USF in 2006. I fell in love with the city and haven't left since. My parent's move down was prompted by my father taking over a position in his company that was based in Tampa, and I was happy that they would be living closer to me for the first time in quite a while. I had no idea what would be coming into my life just one year later, but now that I look back it is clear indication to me that the move happened for a reason.
In case you haven't caught on yet, I'm pretty much obsessed with Tampa. I think it's a beautiful city with so much to do! The close proximity to the water, the warm weather, the greatest university ever (USF!), and my friends are just a few of the reason I love it here! But, the one part of Tampa that I took for granted before last October was Moffitt Cancer Center. Living so close to one of the best cancer treatment centers has been such a blessing. At every appointment I have, I always hear patients talking about how far they had to travel to be treated at Moffitt. How lucky am I that I'm just a 30 minute drive away?
Tampa has also been good to me job wise. I was lucky enough to get a job right after college graduation. And after working two years and gaining some job experience I was able to change jobs to a position I really enjoy. The flexibility and support from my coworkers and entire team has been amazing. I'm blessed with having great insurance that has helped me be able to afford and receive these advanced treatments.
If having cancer has taught me nothing else, it has taught me to have faith and to believe that everything does happened for a reason. Whether we understand the reason now, or it will be revealed to us later -- that part is out of our hands.
Looking forward to tomorrow for my long awaited appointment at Moffitt to find out what's next for my treatment plan. Of course, I found out today that my oncologist is out of town due to an emergency so I'll be seeing a different doctor -- got to keep it interesting. I'll update everyone tomorrow with whatever I find out.
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