Now, January 2019, I’ve been on antidepressants for over a year and I continue to feel like myself on a day to day basis.
One of my first times that really proved to myself that I was doing much better was how I was managing scanxiety. For those of you who have never had close brushes with cancer, scanxiety is a period of heightened worry when you’re coming up on a scan that you hope is all clear. While I wasn’t on the medicines, I had such frequent mood swings and periods of despair as I awaited the news.
Since beginning on antidepressants, I’ve had two CT scans of my entire body to make sure there aren’t any active cancer cells. While I was a little anxious the nights before my follow up appointments, it was much lower than usual. I’m not sure if I should chalk it up to the medication or maybe just getting used to this life as a survivor, but I’m happy with how I handled my scan this time.
I’ve also made a strong commitment to regular exercise and writing as therapy. To be honest, writing the nearly 10,000 words this month about my two experiences with depression has been hugely cathartic and has allowed me to continue healing.
I am still on antidepressants and I have no plans to get off of them anytime soon. On occasion, I miss a dose here and there and I do feel a slight difference the following day. But once I get back on track, I’m back to regular me.
All in all, 2019 Justin is doing far better than his 2017 and 2006 counterparts.
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At age 25, Justin Birckbichler was diagnosed with Stage II testicular cancer. Now in remission, he committed to getting the ball rolling on raising awareness of men’s health and testicular cancer through his website A Ballsy Sense of Tumor. Though he no longer has the pair he was born with, his new favorite pairing is humor and education. He was recognized as one of 15 People Who Raised Cancer Awareness in 2017, awarded Best Advocacy/Awareness Cancer Blog in 2017, selected as the Hilarious Patient Leader in the 2018 WEGO Health Awards, and recognized as one of “40 Under 40 in Cancer” in 2019. Justin shares how we can stop dropping the ball on men’s health and how to use humor in awareness, even if it makes you sound like a nut.
