Best of times, worst of times...
So... my surgery went well. I feel mostly fine. I can work now and easily walk 4-5 miles, and it's only been 3 weeks and 1 day. Somehow I had a low anterior resection of my colon and only had to take 4 days off work because of a magical ice storm that closed the schools for my actual week of surgery. Because of the state of emergency, we don't even have to make those dates up. Sometimes, I really do think I am magical, and this is one of those times.
Of course, as soon as I think I'm magical, something else happens elsewhere, and that humbles me again. Most of my tests were like... "You're OK!" One test... one lymph node even, was like, "Not so fast..."
And if even one lymph node is affected, well, it's pretty aggressive treatment.
SIX MONTHS OF CHEMO? WTF.
I don't feel sick. I don't have anything you can see on any scan. My bloodwork is ok. It's really hard to wrap my head around it, and yet I know that it's a privilege to catch something before it manifests.
It's going to suck so very much. And yet... I've had several people, INCLUDING MY ONCOLOGIST, who said, "I've been putting off this colonoscopy, but I am getting one now." I guess that's a plus?
I've been trying to think what is going to help get me through this brutal chemo season of life, and I just keep coming back to growing up without any health insurance. You can, if you're lucky, be pretty freaking sick and see it through. If my grandparents, in all their poverty, southern-fried diets, and bad habits, prove to live longer than I get to live, well, people really have to do something about all those microplastics and farming chemicals and insurance-delayed testing, etc.
Of course, as soon as I think I'm magical, something else happens elsewhere, and that humbles me again. Most of my tests were like... "You're OK!" One test... one lymph node even, was like, "Not so fast..."
And if even one lymph node is affected, well, it's pretty aggressive treatment.
SIX MONTHS OF CHEMO? WTF.
I don't feel sick. I don't have anything you can see on any scan. My bloodwork is ok. It's really hard to wrap my head around it, and yet I know that it's a privilege to catch something before it manifests.
It's going to suck so very much. And yet... I've had several people, INCLUDING MY ONCOLOGIST, who said, "I've been putting off this colonoscopy, but I am getting one now." I guess that's a plus?
I've been trying to think what is going to help get me through this brutal chemo season of life, and I just keep coming back to growing up without any health insurance. You can, if you're lucky, be pretty freaking sick and see it through. If my grandparents, in all their poverty, southern-fried diets, and bad habits, prove to live longer than I get to live, well, people really have to do something about all those microplastics and farming chemicals and insurance-delayed testing, etc.