Here is an analogy that gave me comfort and helped explain my condition to my co-workers:
Think of my cancer as having a 9-month gestation, and a due date around Christmas, followed by a 3 month medical leave.
I am making my announcement at lymphoma's Month 3, and will have it for 6 months more before I am delivered of it (It's a boy, and right now, about the size of 3 grapes*). Only odd thing is that it will shrink in size from a blob now to just a few undetectable cells on the due date.
Good news: the next six months of chemo will be (almost) like that happier expectant waiting, punctuated by monthly doctor's visits. I should be able to live a mostly-normal life while the cancer shrinks back to a few cells.
Bad news: We are essentially certain that as delivery is around Christmas, immediately after, I will enter a miserable, life-threatening phase requiring 3 weeks' hospitalization and 10 weeks' recovery at home (as I work off the chemo toxins, rebuild my immune system, and regain the ability to focus mentally)
This is the current calendar:
April/May/June = Initial growth
July/Aug/Sep = Phase 1 of Immune Therapy (easy Chemo)
Oct/Nov/Dec = Phase 2 of Immune Therapy (kinda easy Chemo)
Dec 25th: Cancer at undetectable levels
Jan = Remove stem cells, wipe out immunes & hairs, fear *any* germ, put back, re-grow
Feb/Mar = Recover at home; regrow hair & gut; clear chemo brain; regain workplace skills
April = start living at least 10 more years.
* or maybe 3 slightly smaller, say, blueberries, having grown at 1 berry per month since April 1st.
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