Back in early September I gave you a brief rundown of events in the year that had kept me out of the blogging business. I said I would blog more frequently after that and then pretty much disappeared once again. The reason for that is because the perils and putfalls of Rusty did not end with that chapter. They continued on.
I'm not into making excuses for things, but for crying out loud, someone make it stop! There is no safe word for real life and we generally have to deal with what is handed to us, but one can get to feeling as though his fair share has been had.
So okay, what happened? Well...
If you recall, I had a tooth that gave me some problems. My bit may have played a role and such. I had the new crown for a short while when the tooth broke above the gum line. That necessitated another trip to the dentist. The situation is now under control once and for all, but what happened next is the real nugget here. I got out of the dentist chair - very sore in the mouth, mind you - and headed off to another doctor's appointment.
This one had been set up in April. It was now November 2. Specialists book way ahead. At issue was my blood sugar. It tends to run high at odd times and we wanted to look into that. So a visit with an endocrinologist was in order. She looked at my readings and noted that I have been steady for over 10 years, so there was nothing to worry about and probably wouldn't be for many years to come. We would follow the sugars annually just to make certain. But the diet and exercise program seemed to be doing its job.
Great news! At last!
Then she told me to get up on the table so she could examine me more closely. I sprang from my chair like a gazelle and sat nice and still for her so that she could do her thing.
That's when she found the lumps on my thyroid.
Long story short, it was cancer. It was a very slow-growing sort that posed no immediate threat to life, but it meant that the thyroid would have to go. That happened on December 17 and I am now sitting at home recovering from the surgery.
I am so glad this year doesn't have any more months to it. No telling what it would fork over at this rate.
So this will go down in the history of my life as the year that wouldn't quit sucking. But while that may be true, it is also true that my life still has wonderful people in it. They include Stormy, Mistress and all the wonderful pony folk who make life fun and interesting whenever we can find the time to get together. My family has been a great source of comfort and support, and the people I see on a daily basis have been really great all along.
This isn't over yet. There are tests yet to do and there may be further treatment, but that treatment, if required, is pretty easy to go through and doesn't cause a lot of the things we normally associate with cancer treatment. It's a one-time thing and it's done. Then it will be an annual scan just to be sure for a few years.
People do well with this sort of cancer, but it's really something the way that word plays with your head when it is applied to your body. And then there are the permanent changes...insurance plans for which I will no longer qualify because of the diagnosis; medication that I will have to take for the rest of my life if I don't want to get very sick...
Yeah, life will be different. But this pony will march on and look proud in the process. I am headed for the winter Flea again this year (good gods...I haven't even finished my piece on last year's Flea yet!) and then who knows? I do hope for Camp again. But if I've learned anything from 2009, it's that nothing can be taken for granted.
We are fortunate for everything we have.
No comments:
Post a Comment