As a matter of fact, today’s post actually composed itself while my think tank was answering an email received from a young friend, concerning the serious nature of her mother’s recent cancer diagnosis, and all she ‘said’ to stimulate my concern for her mother’s health was—you and my mom are warriors—warriors being a buzz word for those battling serious illness, right?
So by making good use of cut and paste, here is the train of thought that occupied my processor throughout the day, once my young friend’s reply confirmed my concern about her mother’s recent decline in health—
I’m truly sad to know that your mom is seriously ill. Thoughts about living across the cul du sac from your family warm my heart to this very day though we’ve not been neighbors for more than twenty-five years.
I fell in love with your beautiful, little face the first time I ever saw you cradled, as lovingly as is true of new born babes, in your mother’s arms. And now, here you are, my sweet friend, the loving mother of two children, whose beauty equals yours.
(As an aside from my email reply—Will and I built and moved into our present home while my sweet young friend was a child, and as our current abode is close by to the home in which we raised our sons, it became my habit, from time to time, to drop small surprises—addressed to my sweet young friend—at our former neighbor’s front door, while on my way home from here or there. And I don’t know whose heart was tickled more, over the next several years, my young friend, her parents or me. Reflection suggests that, over my lifetime, my heart has developed deeply creative ways to remain insightfully connected with people of all ages, whom I love.)
And with that pleasantry clearly stated, let’s return to my reply to my former neighbor’s email in which my personal battle with cancer was condensed:
And so, my dear friends, I hope each of you feels my love as well as Will’s, hugging all four of you and your precious families close to our hearts, and please remember that any updates concerning Audrey’s recovery will be deeply appreciated at our our end of our loving and thus, lasting connection, which continues to wish for eventual good health for everyone in your family,
I fell in love with your beautiful, little face the first time I ever saw you cradled, as lovingly as is true of new born babes, in your mother’s arms. And now, here you are, my sweet friend, the loving mother of two children, whose beauty equals yours.
(As an aside from my email reply—Will and I built and moved into our present home while my sweet young friend was a child, and as our current abode is close by to the home in which we raised our sons, it became my habit, from time to time, to drop small surprises—addressed to my sweet young friend—at our former neighbor’s front door, while on my way home from here or there. And I don’t know whose heart was tickled more, over the next several years, my young friend, her parents or me. Reflection suggests that, over my lifetime, my heart has developed deeply creative ways to remain insightfully connected with people of all ages, whom I love.)
And with that pleasantry clearly stated, let’s return to my reply to my former neighbor’s email in which my personal battle with cancer was condensed:
As to my cancer diagnosis, I have a very rare sarcoma, a tumor that’s almost never found in the lung, and though I saw multiple doctors, over this past year, expressing pain within the right side of my chest, no one suggested an X-ray, because I had no fever, chest congestion or cough—and since my internist was on extended maternity leave, it was not until my annual physical had been scheduled (which always includes a chest X-ray) upon her return, last September, that I was diagnosed with pneumonia until that misdiagnosis (somehow, reconfirmed by three radiologists, over the next several weeks), changed to my being treated for Valley Fever until our sons suggested my seeing a pulmonologist who, with one knowledgeable glance at my X-ray, sent me for a CT scan ASAP, after which the advanced state of this sarcoma was clearly identified and correctly diagnosed. Being that last year’s annual X-ray showed a pair of healthy lungs, the painful invasion of this tumor had plenty of time to grow to be 7cm.
As clearly shown in echocardiograms scheduled every six weeks, the tumor is encroaching upon the lining of my heart, which is why an aggressive protocol of chemo treatments, beginning last November, saw me hospitalized several times for lengthy stays as my heart and production of blood were compromised by side effects, necessitating several transfusions and IV antibiotics to combat infections contracted, simultaneously. And, since my immune system was understandably ineffective, scary situations, which I’ll refrain from describing, took place during those hospitalizations.
Over the long run, I’ll need heart/lung surgery in Houston as that’s where a team of innovative surgeons have designed and experienced success with a surgical procedure, which, thank goodness, they see me as a candidate to undergo, once my oncologist, their colleague, a sarcoma specialist at MD Anderson, believes me ready to pause chemo treatments, which will resume, after this complex surgery, believed to be curative, is past in hopes of insuring that the aggressive nature of this sarcoma does not return. I mean why go through all of this treatment, which demands resilience and courage unless my being seen as a candidate suggests that these brilliant doctors believe they can save my life?
I’ve traveled to Houston, every six weeks, until world wide concern over the corona virus changed everything on a global scope. So now, I expect future scans will be ordered in Houston to be administered, here, at Mayo (where all of my chemo treatments have taken place ).
The results of up coming scans will be forwarded to the sarcoma specialist in Houston, who has been in charge of changing medical protocols, long distance, each time chemo proved so threatening to the present state of my health as to have seen Mayo’s medical specialists gathering round my bed, discussing what to do, next, while thankfully, I was more unconscious than not.
Today, the depths of my hope to be surgically cured of this sarcoma within coming months, continues to strengthen my resolve to do whatever proves necessary to combat the toxicity of the tumor, itself.
Today, the depths of my hope to be surgically cured of this sarcoma within coming months, continues to strengthen my resolve to do whatever proves necessary to combat the toxicity of the tumor, itself.
Thank goodness, the miracles of modern medicine and the fact that I feel surrounded by love’s healing powers truly inspire my personal connection to courage to infuse my spirit with smiles, day after day, as each smile acknowledges my good fortune to train my brain to place fear at bay in favor of dwelling on my good fortune to be so well cared for by Will’s love, and each time I choose to sway, back and forth, on our patio swing so as to enjoy the beauties of Mother Nature’s desert spring, or while sitting myself on the floor in my master bathroom, emptying cabinets, over stuffed for years with this and that, which I no longer use and have decided to donate to The Sojourner Women’s Shelter, my free time serves a worthwhile purpose that encourages my spirit’s smile to focus upon my think tank’s expansive capacity to set fear aside in favor of remaining proactively engaged with helping others in this small but heartfelt manner without leaving the safe haven of my home—and thus do I, following my family’s loving prescription, do nothing to place my seriously compromised health at further risk.
As to Will’s being almost as quarantined as proves 100% true of me, whenever he ventures out to replenish supplies, his disposable face mask and gloves are clearly seen.
As to Will’s being almost as quarantined as proves 100% true of me, whenever he ventures out to replenish supplies, his disposable face mask and gloves are clearly seen.
Currently, as is likely true for Audrey, my compromised immune system and I will continue to self quarantine at home, indefinitely, where all of the love that my heart feels for Will as his loving attentiveness proves boundless, includes the attentiveness of our three sons, and combined with our circle of family and friends, both near and far, I continue to focus my attitude toward embracing sound reasons to continue to feel ever so grateful, most especially as the corona virus has quarantined most everyone I know, which suggests why my heart, missing the presence of so many loved ones, depends upon my spirit’s smile remaining deeply rooted within inner strengths, developed during challenging times, over my lifetime, as we all make our way through life’s most recent crises, which necessitates our working together for the common good alongside of today’s medically trained specialists, whose deeply intelligent brains sustain the hopes of so many by providing their patients with creatively innovative life saving miracle cures, which were unknown, less than two decades ago.
And so, my dear friends, I hope each of you feels my love as well as Will’s, hugging all four of you and your precious families close to our hearts, and please remember that any updates concerning Audrey’s recovery will be deeply appreciated at our our end of our loving and thus, lasting connection, which continues to wish for eventual good health for everyone in your family,
😷🙋🏻♀️❤️🌈🌻Annie
Sent from my iPad
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