Wednesday 14 December 2016

The rollercoaster of maintenance

I have technically been in remission for over a year now (!!!!!!). Out the doors I went, never looked back on the cancer center, the hospital wards and more importantly, the chemotherapy. I returned for regular check up's and carried on with my, some-what ordinary life. That's what you would expect to happen when your in remission, right? I do wish it was that simple with my diagnosis.

It's funny though, I never had a moment when someone sat me down and told me I was in remission. I continued to attend my treatment appointments as usual and nurses carried on with their job. It was only when I noticed that some members of staff started to speak to me as if I knew there were no leukaemic cells left in my body that I questioned it. I can't remember the exact words that were spoken, but I was in an isolated room, most likely having a treatment complication, and I kind of took in this 'remission' topic and smiled. I didn't cry. I expected myself to, but I didn't. I don't think I was at that relief stage yet as I still had months of intense treatment left, because no matter what stage in your treatment you reach remission with leukaemia, the treatment continues. Also, that wouldn't be the end of it, as after the intense treatment I would be tackling the next hurdle, maintenance treatment.