Diagnosis Anniversary
In 2014, I had surgery on December 23rd. I was discharged from the hospital on Christmas Day. The following Monday I got a call from my surgeon. She kept apologizing, and told me the pathology report showed Uterine Leiomyosarcoma. I had a flashback to medical terminology... Leio- smooth, Myo- muscle, sarcoma - Cancer.
Later after some Internet research I realized why she was apologizing. "Rare and aggressive" were the two terms used to describe this. I dug until I found statistics... how long will I live? I reached out to others with this disease. ---Even found a few who were diagnosed at the same month I was.
My surgeon had done a residency with a gynecology oncologist, Dr. Chon. She had made phone calls to Dr. Chon, and gave me the phone number to make an appointment with Moffit Cancer's Women's Center.
And that's how this adventure began a year ago. What a wild ride it has been. Everything changed... Where I live, where I work (ummm, I don't anymore), How easily I can walk to the end of the block. My body has been tested, poisoned and now, there is no cancer inside. But my life has changed.
I'm adjusting to the new life... and only really annoyed when the old life beacons... I can't go back. I don't have the money, and sometimes don't have the time.
I weigh 30 pounds less than I did. My blood pressure is mostly normal. I eat out less but only because I'm not eating at the work cafeteria most days.
Today is the day after my diagnosis anniversary. Tomorrow my mother and sister are driving over from Ft. Lauderdale, where they are vacationing. Mom showing up randomly (and driving across Florida to see me) has happened several times since I moved here. My sister, that's a different story. I haven't spoken or seen her for 9 years. We're very different people. We took very different paths. To complicate matters, a third sister, now deceased, was close to both of us. Unfortunately, the third sister lied a lot... well, basically all the time. She lied to make herself look good, lied to make others look bad. I can only imagine what tales she told about me.
Heck, some of them are true. So tomorrow, I'll be having lunch with my sister and mother. As I said, it's been an interesting year.
My 3 good things..
1. My mother called and will come to take me to lunch tomorrow. (This sounds like it happens all the time... but no. She lives in New Orleans, is vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale, and is driving almost 4 hours one way to have lunch with me in Lakeland. This makes me feel very loved.)
2. I need to clean/organize my new home.. which still looks like a storage locker. Hopefully, I can make it look like a neat storage locker.
3. My cold is gone, and I'm able to walk longer distances.
Later after some Internet research I realized why she was apologizing. "Rare and aggressive" were the two terms used to describe this. I dug until I found statistics... how long will I live? I reached out to others with this disease. ---Even found a few who were diagnosed at the same month I was.
My surgeon had done a residency with a gynecology oncologist, Dr. Chon. She had made phone calls to Dr. Chon, and gave me the phone number to make an appointment with Moffit Cancer's Women's Center.
And that's how this adventure began a year ago. What a wild ride it has been. Everything changed... Where I live, where I work (ummm, I don't anymore), How easily I can walk to the end of the block. My body has been tested, poisoned and now, there is no cancer inside. But my life has changed.
I'm adjusting to the new life... and only really annoyed when the old life beacons... I can't go back. I don't have the money, and sometimes don't have the time.
I weigh 30 pounds less than I did. My blood pressure is mostly normal. I eat out less but only because I'm not eating at the work cafeteria most days.
Today is the day after my diagnosis anniversary. Tomorrow my mother and sister are driving over from Ft. Lauderdale, where they are vacationing. Mom showing up randomly (and driving across Florida to see me) has happened several times since I moved here. My sister, that's a different story. I haven't spoken or seen her for 9 years. We're very different people. We took very different paths. To complicate matters, a third sister, now deceased, was close to both of us. Unfortunately, the third sister lied a lot... well, basically all the time. She lied to make herself look good, lied to make others look bad. I can only imagine what tales she told about me.
Heck, some of them are true. So tomorrow, I'll be having lunch with my sister and mother. As I said, it's been an interesting year.
My 3 good things..
1. My mother called and will come to take me to lunch tomorrow. (This sounds like it happens all the time... but no. She lives in New Orleans, is vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale, and is driving almost 4 hours one way to have lunch with me in Lakeland. This makes me feel very loved.)
2. I need to clean/organize my new home.. which still looks like a storage locker. Hopefully, I can make it look like a neat storage locker.
3. My cold is gone, and I'm able to walk longer distances.
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