10 Years NED: A Survivor’s Journey

I’m ending this year officially 10 years NED — No Evidence of Disease.
Some people call it remission.
I like to say I’m in a long-term relationship with NED.

I still flinch when I say it.
I still wait for my body to correct me.
I’m still in shock, still processing — and maybe that’s okay.

Ten years is an incredible milestone,
one I once quietly hoped for,
but never assumed it was guaranteed.

I have toggled between scans and surgeries over the past 10 years.
Between side effects and uncertainty.
Between loss of fertility, loss of a career in media,
and the loss of focus that chemo brain swallowed whole.

I don’t feel triumphant.
I feel quiet.
I feel stunned.

Like someone handed me a fragile, yet heavy, crown and said,
“Here. Hold this carefully.”

NED and I are still going strong.
And still, the fear of recurrence never fully leaves.

Because survivorship isn’t passive.

It is active.
It is vigilant.
It is emotional.

So, here’s to another 10 years.
Here’s to living — not simply existing.

Until next time,

Warrior Megsie

One thought on “10 Years NED: A Survivor’s Journey

  1. I’ve been dating NED for a year and a half! It is weird, because cancer is definitely still a part of my life, which I did not expect. I am having my riskiest surgery yet, to repair radiation damage, sometine this month. My hospitalizations have all been after I met NED!

    10 years is amazing though. And I hope you and NED have many, many decades together ❤️

    Like

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