Beyond my cancer diagnosis: Where do I go from here?

PHOTO: Me at the gym.

A cancer friend of mine recently posted on her popular blog that she was going to put her "story aside" after four years. She was now transitioning back to normal life after four years of writing about breast cancer.

I understand what she is talking about. It has been nearly five years since my second brain surgery, and three years since I finished chemo. Besides advocacy work in the brain tumor community, and maintenance scans (now six months apart), brain cancer is no longer a focus in my day-to-day life. Sure, I take anti-seizure meds, and I think about the disease, but I am focusing more on my career, my husband and work-life balance, and less about cancer.

I am starting to let dreams back into my life that I never considered the first few years after diagnosis. Is it time to start drumming again and join a band? Is it time to get serious about Olympic weightlifting and participate in a competition? Should I pursue new career options in other cities?

When I want to blog I think about things that need fixing in my community and politics, and less about brain cancer.

What should I do?

I look at people on the scene: the newly diagnosed, the people in treatment who are just finding their voices in the brain tumor world. I wonder if it is their time to share their stories, and time for survivors like me to take a step back.

Any opinions out there?