Yesterday I had a procedure done to remove my ovaries and fallopian tubes and a D&C. Prior to my whole cancer experience, I had only gone under anesthesia a few times with my first experience at 32 for my first of 2 D&Cs for the miscarriages I had between my daughter and son.

I was so worried about going under anesthesia for the first D&C but it was fine — I woke up feeling refreshed and great — less so after the second one but at that point I was officially depressed and convinced I would never have another child.

Then, my son, backwards in the womb to keep his head near my heartbeat, was born via c-section and the whole labor and delivery floor was in shock as I got up out of bed around 2am after a 9am delivery the day before and walked to the bathroom to pee (first was getting the catheter out). I was walking to the shower and dropped something and bent to get it when the nurses all yelled to stop — it was fine. That afternoon, when my ob-gyn saw me sitting on the bed and bending towards my toes he was flabbergasted and sent me home early.

For many years, I avoided hospitals until a small cyst on my hip had to be removed. My parents came with me and my husband — my only concern was to not tell my children and to make sure my mom knew all of my passwords so she could share my diaries online and in paper with the kids — dramatic much?

My dad quasi-threatened the surgeon to make sure I would be ok or else…

Then, you know — breast cancer and the need for more important surgery, the kind that is a big deal and was thankfully done at Sloan — I woke up laughing and happy despite not wanting to see my new body… I walked around and was doing my exercises for my arm that night and released early the next morning…

Then this week — the reason my day 7 is a day late — my surgery to remove my ovaries and fallopian tubes along with a D&C — I was called a model patient as I walked around the corridors and despite being in pain, I am still doing what I can to heal. This time, I am so thankful for my body and all that is has been through — the surgeries and the way it seems to hopefully be able to withstand it all to still be strong and able to carry me forward, thank you body.