I really admire you posting for the first time, so clear and honest. I'm glad you have a definitive diagnosis. I had Stage II salivary cancer with surgery and radiation. At the time I had my only pap that came back requiring a recheck. While I had my surgery at a major medical center, a resident told me that cancer had nothing to do with the immune system!! This was 30 years ago, but I was an RN and knew he wasn't right.

Our immune and autoimmune responses are tied together. In the past 30 years I have acquired 5 autoimmune diagnoses. The most recent was in June when I started treatment for LS. Yes it is considered autoimmune. That's why it can be treated but you can have flares and do have it for life.

I have found that it takes me a short time to learn to cope with new illness. But the emotional toll takes me longer. LS is not anything I can talk about with others (private), so I feel that joining supportive groups like this is helping. I have rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto's (30 years), Sjogren's Syndrome(30 yrs) , Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, on the spectrum of Ehlers Danlos (both 30 years) Now LS.

And I have a rich inner life, long stable marriage. I'm a poet and make jewelry. These are the ways that I find joy (following baseball too!).

I hope that you are finding ways to enjoy life even with autoimmune illness. I also honor the path you've had as a cancer survivor!