There are only a handful of 3-word combinations that will forever change who you are. In a matter of seconds, your worldview changes and you are not the same person that you were just a few seconds ago.
Some are cause for celebration;
She Said Yes!
It’s a Girl/Boy!
We are homeowners!
Some are cause for concern;
I ate what?
It’s probably nothing.
And others are absolutely devastating;
You Have Cancer
My Name is Jesse and I heard that last one in the fall of 2019. I was diagnosed with Stage 4B Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the tonsil.
In a moment, everything went silent. I don’t even know what was said in the minutes after that. I know that I got a bunch of paperwork and my wife was making appointments and phone calls. To this day, I have no recollection of any of it.
The ride home was silent, save the occasional sniffle from the tears that were flowing freely from my wife's eyes.
Funny enough, my biggest fear at this time wasn’t the possibility of my demise, but it was the fear of the unknown. I had no idea of what to expect, and even worse, I had no idea what questions to ask. I was stuck between fear and ignorance.
I made a decision at that time that I was going to start vlogging my experience and thoughts of going through the process for my cancer in hopes of helping anyone who just had those 3 words said to them.
The following video is #11 in My Cancer Journey. This video was made after doing my 3 months post-treatment PET scan and getting the news that I was NED (No Evidence of Disease).
I hope you can find just a small nugget of wisdom in my words, and I hope I am able to help.
Thank you for watching.
Jesse