The Challenge

I wrote this after my six month check up and surveillance scan. My Doc told me I could get my port out and ride my skateboard again! A clean scan showed I could live my life now. I am grateful!

The Challenge
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I am alone, thrust into a world of disease. My body riddled with mutation. Internal scars begin to thicken.
I am alone, a sentinel who must lay down my guard.
I am alone, in a fight where mortality is in question.
I am alone, sequestered in fear.

It betrays me.
My mind races, as does the clock. The tick and the tock, haunting. The ebb and the flow drives madness causing caustic deranged feelings.
It betrays me.
In my mind the lies are ingrained, shrouded by darkness reinforced with doubt.
It betrays me.

I am alone, trying to be steady.
I am alone, giving into vulnerability, seizing my pride, curbing my confidence.

The road ahead is a challenging one with many uncertainties.
A barren wasteland of poison bags, Red Devils, needle sticks, and beeping pumps. Pain, fatigue, drowsiness and fog are constant companions.

I charge into the battle, faith as my armor, hope as my shield, courage as my weapon.
I whisper, “I will not falter, I will not fade, I will not submit to this adversary!”
This is my resolve.

As I shed the chrysalis of despair and burn away a body that is unworthy, I see a luminescence. Gleaming in the distance, I see my north, my hope, my salvation.

My mind, it no longer betrays me, rather serves as an ally for my fortitude. An amalgamation of strength, will, and perseverance pierce through my being.

I have run the tumultuous rigors of this gauntlet, and I will have my prize.

I am not alone

It is only until now that I realize I have never been alone. I have had my family, my army, my fleet, my company. Ready and willing to battle alongside me in the face of this evil.

I am not alone.

Only now I realize that
Life is a precious thing, and it is worth fighting for.