Keeping a Promise

Cancer treatment, to put it mildly, is a bit of an inconvenience. It prevents you from going to work every day. It gives you a fresh, new perspective on life. It helps you lose those last twenty pounds . . . Wait a second. That doesn’t sound inconvenient at all. That sounds awesome.

Let me start over. Cancer treatment, to put it mildly, is a bit of an inconvenience. It prevents you from enjoying things. It gives you a fresh, new perspective on needles. It helps you lose those last twenty hairs.

So yeah, overall, it’s not much fun. But c’mon, it’s hard to ignore that bit about the weight loss.

Granted, I’ve lost twenty pounds at least five hundred and seventy four times over the past few decades. However, I always accomplished this through diet or exercise or both. You know, the kind of stuff one can do at any time. Stuff that doesn’t require eight different doctors, two hundred prescriptions, and half a million dollars.

But this was different. As soon as I lost weight due to the inconvenience of cancer treatment, I made a promise to myself: don’t gain it back. Ever.

Ever. Ever. Ever.

Because I’ve definitely gained back twenty pounds at least five hundred and seventy four times before. I know what it’s like. I can see the signs clearer than thirty foot tall Golden Arches glowing at midnight. And after going through what was simultaneously the easiest and most different weight loss program ever, I swore I wasn’t going to throw that all away on a string of Biggie Fries.

It’s now been over two years since I finished treatment and somehow I’ve managed to keep that promise. In fact, I’ve not just kept it off, but I’ve lost even more. And all without the use of Doxorubicin and Prednisone. Sure, it hasn’t been at what I’d call a lightning pace, but that’s really not the point anymore, is it?

This is usually the spot in the blog post where I insert a graph, demonstrate my so-called progress, and beg for positive reinforcement. But I’ve also come to realize: that’s really not the point anymore either. The point is, if you’ll forgive the phrase, to just keep calm and carry on. And that’s exactly what I’ll do.

After all, I’ve gotta drop that next last twenty pounds.