Life 103

Sunday, July 27, 2008

so, what did you do for the church fast?

For a moment this evening, I thought I’d forgotten how to log onto my own blog. Yes, it’s been that long… And if you’re curious, here’s why.

If you've read below, you know that late in May, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma – the kinder, gentler form of skin cancer that doesn’t cause permanent damage to any vital organs except your head when the doctor tells you that you have the ‘c’ word. What you don't know is that I scheduled my surgery ASAP and on the day of, Tuesday, May 21, 2008, our son stayed home from school with a “stomachache.” Being the ever attentive mom I am, I said something akin to ‘let me know how you’re feeling tomorrow...’ Being absorbed with my own post-op issues, I failed to notice that his stomachache was intense, shooting pain on his right lower side… I thought he had the flu. Lucky for him, he still looked sick the next morning so I took him to see a competent professional at 8:30 a.m. And, he was in surgery having his appendix out by noon…while I was back at the skin cancer surgery center getting a new 3 ½ inch zipper where a dime size tumor had been. Intense.

Then, my doctor called because my PAP came back abnormal and told me not to worry about it (does that amuse anyone else?) but to come back in August for a follow up, oh, and BTW, you're due for a mammogram. Are you kidding me? Then, I got a migraine headache. Then I got depressed because I was on light duty, my son could have died and I had a migraine. Then, a huge oak tree at the back of our property fell for no particular reason on our fence just when neighbors planned to move their cows into our pasture. Then, when Steve and I took an evening walk TO RELAX, our big dog got hit full on in the chest by a skunk. Then, we had a graduation party for our beautiful and talented daughter who graduated with honors from high school.

On a lighter note, since graduation (Yea AJ!) we vacationed in Seattle where I lost and found my cell phone at Joey's and ran not one but two red lights downtown looking for a place to eat, I co-taught a workshop at Northwest Yearly Meeting, our son turned 16 (Yea AW!), and I shared about my work with Faith in Action in all 3 (final) services at Newberg Friends. And now, I fully expect life to return to normal.

So that’s what I did during our church fast. I wouldn’t recommend it.

Enjoy a picture or two from this era of our lives: