As always, I am a few days late, but better late than never, right? It has officially been a year since my surgery! Technically speaking, it has been a year and two days, but we can just pretend that I was on time! I made a Facebook post but my post in here is slightly delayed...

Today is a special day because a year and two days ago today I went in for my third surgery. My cancer had relapsed in May 2013 and spread to my lymph nodes. St. Jude sent me to MD Anderson to have my surgery by one of the top head and neck surgeons in the world. The airfare, the surgery, the medical care, and the housing all paid completely by St. Jude. This is one of my favorite pictures from this week that is forever engrained in my mind. The first time you look at it, you see me sitting in the bed just waking up from surgery, however if you look closer you see Luis holding my hand. We both have on our medical bracelets on and at this moment we were both at the climax of our treatments. Luis, who was currently on chemo at the time, flew down to Houston to take care of me. He was feeling pretty crummy, the way chemo loves to make you feel, and despite his own medical circumstances he still came, for me. There was nothing glamorous about recovering from a 6 hour surgery but Luis looked at me like I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He stood by me and helped me start to walk again. When I think of this week I don't think of the pain, the discomfort, or the physical toll the surgery took on my body, but I think of the selflessness and unconditional love of Luis Aguilar.