In a few weeks, I’ll meet with my radiation oncologist and my GYN oncologist for my six-month post-treatment check-ins. Can’t believe it’s been that long. Some days it seems like just yesterday; other days it seems like a lifetime ago that I was dealing with cancer on a daily basis.

I celebrated a major milestone a few weeks ago: The six-month anniversary of the triumphant return of my hair. That’s right, a bit more than six months ago I noticed the first hit of stubble on my scalp. Now, thanks to a fabulous shampoo product manufactured by Monat (my friend Leslie gave me a bottle and I have used it religiously since I finished chemo in late May) my hair is back and fuller than ever.

So what did I do to celebrate this glorious milestone? Dyed it purple, of course!

Not all over, just hints/streaks of purple. And I have to say, it was QUITE a hit in San Francisco when I visited there in mid-January. It’s washed out a bit now, so I have an appointment to have it tweaked up in preparation for our trip to Vienna, Austria in early April. Gotta make an impression, don’t you know…

Celebrated another big milestone today when I Marie Kondo’d a Ziplock bag full of cancer meds to CVS to deposit in the pharmacy’s safe disposal bin. THAT brought me joy, I can tell you!

These were anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, anti-diarrheal, pain control and other drugs that were prescribed to me during my treatments. Some (like Compazine) I took as part of the standard pre- and post-chemo protocols, others I took to deal with side effects from chemo and radiation. And then there were the ones that they prescribed for me but I never took because the potential side effects freaked me out so much. Especially the one that could cause seizures, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. JUST what a cancer patient needs!

Good riddance.

This morning a “Memory” from seven years ago popped up in my Facebook feed. It was posted on the day that GMA anchor Robin Roberts celebrated the fifth anniversary of her bone marrow transplant. In reflecting back on her own cancer journey, she made a statement that resonated with me then. Little did I know that I would unconsciously adopt this sentiment when faced with my own cancer diagnosis.

“You can live in fear, or you can live fearlessly. I choose to be fearless.”

So as I prepare for my six-month follow-up appointments, I am choosing to be fearless; looking ahead to our adventures in Vienna, a possible return to Italy in the fall and many, many wonderful days ahead.

#BeFearless