It's been just shy of 4 months since it happened.
In some ways, life has not changed.
In many other ways, life will never be the same.
Four months ago I went through a very invasive surgery to remove cancer from my tongue and neck.
I spent a week recovering in the hospital, getting my nutrition from a nasal feeding tube.
I couldn't speak for the first five days because the swelling was so intense.
I breathed through a hole in my neck for those first five days as well.
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Yet last week I breathed a sigh of relief.
The past four months have felt like four years.
The first month home from the hospital was a very slow time.
I slowed way down.
I walked slowly.
I ate slowly.
I drank slowly.
I talked slowly.
I slept a lot.
That was what my body needed at that time.
While I slowed down and focused on rest and fueling my body with good nutrition, I was able to witness first hand how quickly my body was healing.
After the doctor removed the cancer from my tongue and neck, a second doctor reconstructed a new half-tongue for me with part of my forearm.
That area was then covered with a skin graft from my thigh.
We changed the bandages daily for both my arm and my leg.
There were noticeable changes every single day as both areas began to heal.
Last week when I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor, he was amazed to realize that my surgery was only four months ago!
He could hardly believe my body had healed so quickly already.
My mobility is back in my arm.
The skin is healed up completely.
My speech has improved quite a bit since those first few days after surgery.
I breathed a sigh of relief when he said he was comfortable waiting another four months to see me.
At that point, we will do some scans to make sure the cancer is gone and has not spread silently to another part of the body.
But he has no reason to believe we will find anything.
That sigh of relief was refreshing!
That's what good news is to us, isn't it?
It's refreshing.
It's energizing.
It's inspiring.
I felt that way at another point last week as well.
Last week I launched my eBook for sale on Amazon, and people bought it!
It's a bit strange creating something for months, pouring over the words and the content inside.
Then releasing it to the world, wondering how it will be received, or if it even will.
It was another sigh of relief.
In less than two weeks, the paperback version will launch on Amazon on December 18, and I'm very excited to release that to the world as well.
The Clarity Question is about asking the question: What does this season require of you?
I've been asking myself that question a lot this past year, and especially these past four months.
It's been a season of healing and recovery for me.
But your season is most likely different from mine.
When you ask yourself what this season requires of you, you now know how to be successful in this season right now.
If you're a reader, check out the book.
If you're a listener, I'll have the audiobook available soon.
Either way, ask yourself the Clarity Question: What does this season require?
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