Two months ago today, I was in surgery. The cancer was coming out. [View all]

How can it be only two months? It seems as though I've been here for a very long time. When I first thought about when the surgery actually happened, I thought it was farther away than two months.

Like last year! Wasn't it last year? Well . . . no. I was confused.

When I actually looked at my calendar, I was astonished. March 16th. I'd gone through a time warp. The landscape had shifted and I was disoriented. Somehow, I'd expected to recover much more quickly than I had. And I realized that this had caused me to be confused. I needed to shift my expectations.

It's been tough. Six hours in surgery! No wonder I often feel fatigued and lost. So I'm coping the best that I can. I've had quite a few surgeries, but none were this big. God forbid that I ever have another one like this.

The horrifying thought is that I could spend the rest of my life recovering. I want my life back and I don't know if that will happen. I'm 82 right now and who knows how much longer I might live? That's a big change for me.

One thing I wanted to mention: I read the pathology report and learned that the cancer was removed in its entirety. There was no lymph node involvement. Clean margins! We'd gotten the success we craved.

If you've read this far, thank you. The support I've gotten from all of you means so much!