Lately, my life has been a “shit storm.” Our old dog Max Quigley was knocking at death’s door for nearly five weeks, and now he seems to have turned the corner and is back to his old diva self. We are considering renaming him Lazarus. During a rousing game of miniature golf with my grandsons, I lost my footing and fell in slow motion into a pile of faux boulders, and I did a pretty good job of wrenching my back. On top of that, much like Max Quigley, I have been experiencing some abdominal issues. A couple of weeks ago, my CA 125 (the blood work that acts as a cancer tumor marker) was elevated.
Since cancer is the gift that keeps on giving, I contacted my oncologist, and we decided that another PET scan was in order just to make sure that cancer schmantzer had not decided to come back with another of its greatest hits.
On Tuesday morning I had my scan, and as is per usual, I had to hurry up and wait until today to find out the results. Donna and I had prepared ourselves for the worst. If cancer had decided to rear its ugly head again, we knew the drill, so we were reasonably sure about what to expect. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was mentally arranging my calendar so that I could get all of the things done that needed to be done because I always need to have a plan.
The good news is that my doc said that my PET scan looked good.
While that was a huge relief, I realize that there is still much left on my to do list. Given the soul crushing headlines in the news--the border debacle, the Supreme Court rulings against unions and Muslims, and the news of Justice Kennedy’s retirement--many of the human rights that have been so hard won are now in jeopardy. While those who hate politics do not want to hear about these issues and while others are applauding these moves, I am not, and I will not sit still and allow that which I know is wrong to happen without my speaking out. I find the prospect of what may lie ahead to be frightening, but as a tax-paying, voting citizen, I know that it is part of my civic responsibility to stay awake, informed, and engaged. I know that I must do my part. I know that I do not have the luxury of looking away.
Even though my back is still killing me, I plan to get off my heating pad and go out and canvass for the candidates whose positions I support. I plan to support them with my time and with my dollars. I plan to continue having respectful conversations with people whose opinions differ from mine; however, I also plan to call BS when those people are spewing unsubstantiated talking points.
In short, I am back, and I plan to kick ass and take names.
