Ten Months Later...

     So, it's been nearly a year since my last post.  Navigating life and my health through the pandemic has thrown me off kilter.  A lot happened in 2020, so much so that it's overwhelming to actually write down.  My inability to find time to post blogs over the past year speaks to how cluttered my life is, and has been.  Here's a quick update:

     Since my last entry, I've had two sets of routine follow-up CT scans and brain MRIs.  It mostly seems my cancer is still stable.  The last chest CT scan found a very small lesion in the upper left lobe of my lungs.  It's very small and the radiologist did not characterize or describe it in a way that makes us, (me and my oncologist), feel like it's a new tumor site.  It may be "artifact".  In any case, it's too small to do anything about, even if it is a tumor, so the plan is to look at it when I get my next CT scans in a couple months.  Hopefully it will still be very small, or not there.  I'm happy to be busy so I'm not obsessing about it.  

 

     We moved.  After 26+ years in our 2-story home, I was no longer able to happily live on two levels.  We were very fortunate.  Just before the pandemic, we found a single level house in close proximity to our old house, which has made the transition a little easier.  We sold our old house at the height of the pandemic, within a week after it went on the market. Our new house sits on a nice lot and we share a pond with a few neighbors.  As much as I need to live on one level, however, moving sucks.  The place needs some work and tradespeople have been scarce during the pandemic, so it's taking some time to feel settled in.  

 

      My 92-year-old mom, and her caregiver, moved in with us.  Over the past few years, it was becoming more and more difficult for me to manage her house and my own.  Her needs have been increasing with her age, and my energy has been waning with age and illness.  Additionally, it was obvious that the isolation of the pandemic was contributing to her decline. Living on one level allows my mom to get around with her walker and wheelchair.  Although I cannot deny that it is not without its challenges, (i.e. she fell out of bed and broke her arm two weeks after arriving), life is a little better and a little easier with her living here.  Wynn and I both come from families that had grandparents living with the next generation, so we are like-minded about this.  But I would be remiss not to mention that he's been great about having my mom here.  

I'm now in the onerous process of cleaning out my mom's house and preparing it for sale.  I cannot believe all the crap she has.  Nuff said.

  

     Work continues for me.  I'm grateful and a nervous.  Grateful because I'm one that loves what I do and the co-workers I do it with.  My employer has, so far, allowed me to work from home, seeing patients virtually. However, with the vaccine now available, there's increasing pressure for me to return to the office.  I was close to agreeing to going back in, but then U.S. Congressman Ron Wright from Texas died of covid19 earlier this month.  He had stage 4 lung cancer.  He had what I have.  And we know that lung cancer patients have a higher mortality rate with covid19.  My job provides me with health insurance that keeps my medical bills manageable.  So, it's very hard to weigh employment provided healthcare insurance against the 5-6% risk of covid infection - even with both doses of the vaccine.  Five to six percent seems like a pretty small risk...except if it turns out to be me. That's the part that makes me nervous.

   I'll try to post again soon.