I passed my test! I was pretty sure that I would but it is not exactly the kind of test one can study for.
My blood is perfect and I have no lumps or bumps, no signs of cancer returning at all. And the MRI and PET scans will be talked about at the end of January, my next scheduled appointment. I gave him my arguments not to have them now and he respected my reasoning. I have no symptoms and therefore no cause to get these tests. I don't have the strength for another, much more invasive "cure" than the last one!And they are expensive, weather my money or the insurance company's, money best spent somewhere else.
And I am welding again, in the process of living and would prefer to focus on that.
It is interesting how we can take an illness and make it a life's focus, controlling everything that we do.
I think back over my life and I have never done that. Oh, I have hurt myself for sure but never gave it much time, just never saw myself that way. I remember once, years and years ago when I was working at the local cannery. I was severely burned when a batch of cream style corn exploded, getting 2nd and third degree burns all down my back. That sent me to the hospital but I heal fast and only missed three days of work.
On another occasion I was in a traffic accident when some thief stole a car and rammed into me going 80 mph. This destroyed the car and smashed a disc in my back causing me to wear a brace for about six months. I missed a week of work for that one and returned working along with the others in my cumbersome back brace.
I broke my hand once, smashing it with a three pound hammer and boy did that hurt! I worked another two hours, finishing what I was doing. I did go to the doctor for that one too but not until the next day! He put my hand in a cast which I was to wear for six weeks. I didn't miss a full day over that, just a few hours!
There were lots of other times I could have made an issue of an illness or accident. A few years ago I fell off a Church roof, steep as any church, fell 16 feet straight onto a concrete sidewalk landing on my bottom.
It looked like you beat me with a baseball bat! I never even went to a doctor over that.
The point to all of this is that I am not my cancer and have never been. It wasn't a fun process and the chemo took its toll on me, that is for sure. But at its worst when I couldn't lift 20 pounds I was still in my shop every day, doing what I do, even if with a weakened effort.
It would be easy to focus on what is wrong with me, dwell on my neuropathy, worry about my lungs and that I can no longer run, haven't the strength I used to have. It would be easy but oh so boring.
My Other Blog is HERE
My blood is perfect and I have no lumps or bumps, no signs of cancer returning at all. And the MRI and PET scans will be talked about at the end of January, my next scheduled appointment. I gave him my arguments not to have them now and he respected my reasoning. I have no symptoms and therefore no cause to get these tests. I don't have the strength for another, much more invasive "cure" than the last one!And they are expensive, weather my money or the insurance company's, money best spent somewhere else.
And I am welding again, in the process of living and would prefer to focus on that.
It is interesting how we can take an illness and make it a life's focus, controlling everything that we do.
I think back over my life and I have never done that. Oh, I have hurt myself for sure but never gave it much time, just never saw myself that way. I remember once, years and years ago when I was working at the local cannery. I was severely burned when a batch of cream style corn exploded, getting 2nd and third degree burns all down my back. That sent me to the hospital but I heal fast and only missed three days of work.
On another occasion I was in a traffic accident when some thief stole a car and rammed into me going 80 mph. This destroyed the car and smashed a disc in my back causing me to wear a brace for about six months. I missed a week of work for that one and returned working along with the others in my cumbersome back brace.
I broke my hand once, smashing it with a three pound hammer and boy did that hurt! I worked another two hours, finishing what I was doing. I did go to the doctor for that one too but not until the next day! He put my hand in a cast which I was to wear for six weeks. I didn't miss a full day over that, just a few hours!
There were lots of other times I could have made an issue of an illness or accident. A few years ago I fell off a Church roof, steep as any church, fell 16 feet straight onto a concrete sidewalk landing on my bottom.
It looked like you beat me with a baseball bat! I never even went to a doctor over that.
The point to all of this is that I am not my cancer and have never been. It wasn't a fun process and the chemo took its toll on me, that is for sure. But at its worst when I couldn't lift 20 pounds I was still in my shop every day, doing what I do, even if with a weakened effort.
It would be easy to focus on what is wrong with me, dwell on my neuropathy, worry about my lungs and that I can no longer run, haven't the strength I used to have. It would be easy but oh so boring.
My Other Blog is HERE
Your absolutely right. When you own an illness it becomes you instead of just being something you experience. Which really is all it is. Glad everything turned out good.
ReplyDeleteYou're never boring, Jerry...always a doer. Glad your tests turned out well. I think when we start focusing too much on what's wrong with our health, we limit ourselves too much. I actually went to my last job interview with my elbow in a cast and convinced them that I was just as good with only one arm, and besides the cast wasn't going to be on forever. Got the job.
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