Strong Enough

Hi everyone!

The outpouring of love and support since reopening my blog and leaving the "open for biz" sign outside has been incredible! I am so blessed to have a support system far and wide that will help be beat cancer!

Christina has been the best fiance (soon to be wife!), dog mom, cancer care giver and plant mama that I could ever ask for. We used quarantine as a time to redo things around the house, adopt way too many plants and master the game of Connect 4. There is no one else I would rather be bored in the house with than her. 

Ok now to the important stuff... I will be having surgery next week to remove the mass, my thyroid and some nodules just below my thyroid. The surgery will keep me in the hospital overnight but I will be home ASAP to lay on the couch and recover! My official "Bad Ass ESPN Thyroid Cancer Survivor" pal Ashley sent me the link to the best recovery pillow so I cannot wait for that! 

Keep me in your thoughts, prayers, pray to whatever God you want, just think of me! I know people want to know what they can do for us - we have everything we need but will never say no to beautiful flowers, or plants -  GrubHub/UberEats/Door Dash/Amazon are frequented in this home LOL so there are some ideas! LOL -  Now to some more Rubey Rambles...

Many people have asked me how I knew something wasn't right...Did I have any signs or symptoms? So here is the long-and-short...

I would say around October of 2019 I really started to feel crummy. Crummy enough that it really started to impact my daily life. I would have to pick and choose what physical activity I would participate in that day. Sometimes the stairs at work would leave me exhausted...it was insane.

But to say my symptoms started in the fall wouldn't be accurate. I truthfully started to think something wasn't right about a year before. I was starting to get colds - FREQUENTLY. These big bad mama jamas would take me out for sometimes days, weeks. Lingering type of annoying type colds. They would come out of no where and they were brutal.

My dad had always asked me, "Why are you always sick?" - and I would chaulk it up to the nasty newsroom germs because lets face it, busy offices are just as germ filled as elementary school PLUS more. It was the running joke at work that I was always the sick one, and I was!

Near the end of 2019, I really had enough of feeling crummy. I wasn't able to run much anymore. The pain and exhaustion afterwards far outweighed the benefit of running (but like who really likes running anyway lol) - I was sad but moved towards a new way to stay active and joined a great, small-group fitness gym that had me feeling like myself again. I swear, I was flying high, feeling good...until it came crashing down. Another cold...taking me out hard.

One night while sitting on the couch, I was touching my neck just feeling the general tenderness of the cold and the symptoms. I had really started to take note of the types of colds I was getting and just taking notes on my overall health because I just knew....so during a sore-throat-glands-check, there it was. I found a mass on my neck. 

That was my sign, I finally had something tangible. Something that wouldn't be disregarded as "another cold" or "you work at a big place, lots of germs". I had something...

That "something" was real.

One of the biggest reasons I decided to start blogging again was because I know my experiences, my sharing of knowledge and bringing awareness can help not only myself cope, but hopefully help the next generation of women navigating the health care system. 

Alright...before I let you go...Shoutout to my amazing support squad....

My ride or dies -  Rocket & Christina

Mama Rubey - The Queen/Family Anchor

Crossword KING - Ken Rubenstein w/ the amazing Daryin


The best BRUNCLE ever...Dill!




Comments

  1. JanJune 4, 2020 at 2:20 PM

    With all the love and amazing support around you...You will get through this stronger than ever before!! YOU are a beautiful beam of light, it's not surprising that you are surrounded with so much love!! keeping you in my prayers, Elanna! xoxoxo <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. OlgaJune 5, 2020 at 4:04 AM

    Awww this is amazing and so cute! Love the pics :-). You got this lady!

    ReplyDelete

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