29) The story behind one of my scars

The most obvious choice for this one is the giant scar on my neck, but I feel like a bit of a broken record with the number of times I explain that I have had cancer.  So I'll try to keep this short.

In my Junior year of college, fall quarter, I discovered that I had a lump in my neck that I could move around and not really feel.  At my annual exam I pointed this out to the doctor and she referred me to a specialist.  The specialist asked me if I smoked etc (risk factors for cancer) and, when I said no, he informed me it was probably a cyst and that it was probably not cancer.  When my results came back...he was proven wrong in his assumptions.  I was diagnosed with metastasized papillary thyroid cancer.

The treatment was a surgery and radioactive Iodide treatment.  So as far as cancer goes, I got away easy.  Here's a picture of me directly after surgery.  Note my suction cup drains to keep fluid from building up in my neck.

...I had been discussing what lymph nodes look like with my surgeon at all of my appointments.  Directly after my surgery apparently showed me the lymph nodes they had removed.  I was still drugged up pretty badly sooo I don't really remember that, but all told they removed 25 lymph nodes, 15 of which were cancerous.

Any who, I believe that the term cancer needs to be evaluated.  People hear it and instantly life seems to be over, but in many cases, like mine, there is an extremely high recovery rate.  Also people get tense when they ask me what my scar is from and I respond cancer.  They seem to think they have stumbled upon a touchy subject even though I am very open and comfortable discussing my experience.  Cancer has come to denote death and despair, which can make treatment more difficult for those facing it.

If you have any questions about me or my experiences in treatment for cancer, please comment or message me.  I really believe being open and honest is the key to surviving treatments, but that's just how I see things.