August 16th marked my 3rd rebirthday. Another milestone day towards the time when I'm deemed to be cured (as much as one can be I suppose) and I'm now officially in the downhill run to that all important 5th anniversary.
In all honesty, I almost forgot it on the day. Sure I'd remembered in the days leading up to it, but with work pressures, the day itself just crept up on me. A surprise birthday cake from one of my ex-workmates made me remember.
However, the limelight was definitely stolen by the earthquake that decided to interrupt our Friday afternoon. And yet again I had cause to contemplate my situation.
Firstly, the earthquake last Friday was the first time in my working life that I've resorted to taking cover under my desk. It was a goodie without doubt, and some of the aftershocks also grabbed the attention. Things have certainly quietened down strength wise, and I hope that continues for some time. Unfortunately the experts reckon we could have another good shake before the end of the weekend. If we do get one, I'd rather it was when we were at home - getting out of the central city last Friday was a nightmare.
Now, I don't like to think I'm an attention seeker by any means and while I'm happy to discuss my journey with anybody who asks, I don't go out of my way to raise the subject. So having said that are the anniversaries of the end of my treatment really that important? In the overall scheme of things, probably not. Undoubtedly the first anniversary was really special, but with the passing of time, they seem both less special and more special at the same time. As I alluded to above, they represent the milestones towards my clean bill of health, and for that reason alone I'm happy to acknowledge them. And I'm happy to do that in a low key manner as well.
Why are they less special? Well they also signal the always evolving return to normality that I've mentioned previously, and as such my challenges are slowly but surely being pushed back into memory. Every so often something happens that "opens the box" and stirs things up, but as I've been quick to point out before, day to day life is certainly the norm now, so the occasions when those "interesting" times of 2010 are recalled actually require a fair bit of recollection.
It's not the same issue with the physical "aftermath" Over the last couple of weeks my throat has been particularly raspy and I'm struggling to find something that soothes it. Not an issue before radiotherapy, so just goes to show you can never take things for granted.
