It’s been six months since her treatment was completed in October. Such a short time in some respect, but quite a distance in others. It’s not hard to remember sitting in the doctor’s office, with a grim look on his face, announcing to us that the ultrasound detected something very concerning, nor is it a stretch to recall him telling us a week later after the surgery that it indeed was cancer and that further treatment would be needed. The nervous feeling meeting with the oncologist is not far from vivid, either.

But to see her today, you would have no idea anything was ever wrong. Vibrant and energetic, expressing this in her work at the restaurant, she looks as good as ever. She has come to terms (sort of) with the gray in the thick black hair that has replaced the previous locks. If I can just convince her that it makes her look fantastic, I will have accomplished something.

Today we go in for a six month follow up that includes a full scan to see if any additional problems have surfaced. She gets to drink that lovely barium mixture that makes her glow in the dark and allows the machine to see if any bad guys are lurking around. The doctor doesn’t seem to think he will find anything, but nothing is certain, and this will yield more information to guide future decisions.

The 14^th of this month is our 21^st anniversary, so we have short trip planned to Denver to celebrate. It’s nice to feel the reprieve and embrace the day at hand. The question of “what if” still haunts me, but these two words can be followed up with any other source of catastrophe or bad news besides cancer, so waiting around for the other shoe to drop will only yield wasted time worrying over something that can’t be changed anyhow.