Break upon Pressure

 Beautiful Life

All belts should break upon pressure.

Because sometimes thinking smart is not in the picture.

I'm angry because this has become a thought pattern, although I was told.

If not the proper help, they succeed eventually.

This belt broke.

I'm here, but no one asks if I am ok.  

I don't use belts so that is not an option, 

Nor would it ever be.

My insides scream for a situation I have no ability to fix.

I am the parent 

So I continue to ask the Universe, and the Earth we are on,

Give him some light 

And make the belts break

Every time he thinks they are an option.

Where are my people when I need to talk?  I don't ever want to burden anyone because I am put on this planet to help others....not to burden.  The failure I feel is so immense it is almost overwhelming.  Like a heavy blanket.  I am here.  Working, parenting, loving, leading and caring every day...but it is difficult.  Difficult to sometimes find the happiness I need to help others.  The person who used to ask me every day, "how was your day?" is no longer and there is no-one who has stepped up to take that place.  This is a hard hurtful spot inside me. I'll be ok.  I know it. My weakness are these kids and walking looking backwards is not helping to build the strength I need to move ahead.

write ya later,

m

Seems Irrelevant Now

 

Lucked out...

Boobs are just fine as of Friday.  Still have to get a mammagram every year and a breast MRI every year , so that is a boob job every 6 months. To top that off it's not covered 100% by insurance.  I take that back.  If I could afford the insurance that takes 700$ out of my paycheck every time it is only a copay....but if I could afford that I would just save the money and not have to pay for insurance.  Catch -22, right?

Murphy's Law always prevails.  Boobs good, Lungs not....well not lungs but the right middle lobe has something that showed up. Could be nothing , could be everything.  I guess I will find out.  But in the inbetween, do I really want to go to gym or not drink a cocktail or two.  Should I have really worried about my belly fat and cellulite for the last year?  Maybe I should have had the ice cream. The thing with Boobs.......they can lop those bitches off, lungs...not so much.

as a nurse who worked in procedures and diagnostics I know that when  a person has been "cancer free" for 7-10 years then they start having respiratory issues it means it is not in your boobs, but has metastasized to lungs or bones or brain.  I've seen it many times.  Healthy...but not so much.

Well, this is giving me the power to get my business in order and make sure everyone knows where I need to be and the party that needs to be had IF that is the case.  I'm hoping and praying that it is just "inflammation or a blood clot" which it could very well be.  I have really only told 3 people , and I have to wait to see what the dr says, right???  Yes.... but like I said, I'm a nurse and know too much. I can read the MRI and the report.  

Other than that. Here we are. doing our goshdarn best.   I bought myself a new Kindle ( the cheap one) to treat myself for the boobs still surviving strong.   I need to outlive my ex, so that I can cash in on his benefits before he cashes in on mine .

Every Muse outlives her stay.

this too shall pass 

xo,

Victory to the great teacher,

m

                                                                           across the universe

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup

They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind

Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva, om

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes

They call me on and on across the universe

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letterbox they

They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva, om

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing

Through my open ears inciting and inviting me

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns

It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva, om

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Nothing's gonna change my world

Jai guru deva

Jai guru deva

Jai guru deva

Jai guru deva

Jai guru deva

Jai guru deva

life is funny

 life is really quite hysterical.  just going along and then Boom you have to take care of shit.

real shit, shit you don't want to do.

No one to really discuss it with so I just quietly schedule the appointments and wait for the next request.

The costs for these appointments are exorbitant.

Every time I go to the women's clinic it is considered a specialist.

Do men have to do this with their wieners( I before E, except after C)?

Every issue is a specialist?  I highly doubt it because they can talk to their male primary care and get everything taken care of from there.

For me, and I do realize I am not the only one, I have to go to a specialist for every damn body part.

Last month my foot, which wasn't covered, so I paid out of pocket cash for an appointment and an MRI.

Now, boobs....appointment and MRI (specialist)

Next request was uterus ( start with ultra sound and biopsy ) again a specialist.

Would it be cheaper to just get the boobs removed?

What makes boobs a specialty? 80$ every visit.  because it isnt primary care, but it is primary care. We are  required to have them and bottom halves checked every year.  Not my fault my PCP doesn't do that.

Pretty sure they can check a prostate at the PCP office and it isn't "special".

I jokingly said last month, " what I wouldn't do for a flat chest. 

Universe, this isn't what I meant.

As I plod quietly through these appointments, scheduling when I should be at work. I know it is what it is.

I just don't really care for it.

I accept it and my biggest request is that my feet get fixed so that I can begin living again, which would take a way some of the stress.

My other request is to feel whole again.

Which I think is a reasonable request and I think I can make it happen.

calm down

xo,

m

Boobs and Feet, Boobs and Feet

 

Boobs and feet ....weird topic but one occupying my mind lately.

10 years ago this month I had my right breast cleared of breast cancer via surgery.

Just one boob...no biggie...Was told I should take Chemo, but with some counseling we decided maybe it wasn't the best for me right then.  I had small kids and needed to work full time...I didn't have the time to be sick or tired, I had enough of that with my life in general back then. hahahaha

The statement from my then Oncologist , who has since retired, 

"Its not if...it's when ...10 years, most likely"

Those damn old man doctors, full of non documentable information.

Shit the Journal of American Medicine could never prove.

They know...

So, this morning a nice MRI for my foot which has been the bain of my extra curricular life for about 2 years now and getting progressively worse.  

Luckily, as I lie there in the MRI tube listening to the bings and bongs and the occasional tech giving me the countdown of time 

"good job, Melissa , we have about 3 more sets of 7 minute picture rounds"

why didn't he just say we have 21 minutes left? Does the way he stated it sound easier?

maybe.

The MRI didn't bother me. They gave me headphones and I listened to Jason Isbell and thought about warm weather and my list of chores I needed to complete....

and the fact I had another telehealth call at 11 that I better be done with.

We were done in time and the results were in my chart before I got home.

pretty pretty good

Small tear on some Achilles Ligament and something else which I really should know because I'm a nurse,

but I don't.

but I do know it was nothing horrible and I'm betting for the cash money the Sports Medicine guy is charging , it will be fixed with a boot and rest for 8 weeks

and it's not plantar fasciitis...which is good.

that's hard to fix , really hard.

Made it home in time for my telehealth video. 

She started with the good news, not that any is really bad

No BRCa gene, which means I am clear from that, and so is Olive and Ilin.

But then.... outta no where she says

" I'm going to schedule for a breast MRI and make sure you get your yearly mammogram. You will be doing every other one each 6 months ongoing from here on out. Your cancer risk is 37.3% which puts you in the high risk category.  So once we get those first rounds done we will schedule from the findings and anything we find we should be able to treat quickly, because thats the key with this type of history"

ok, lady.  i liked you, now I'm a little stressed and wish I was having a beer while doing this telehealth.

" let's make sure you get the ultra sound of your uterus as discussed last month when you were here.

Insurance should have no problems covering these because of the risk involved .....and when you come in we can discuss a referral for double masectomy; when you are ready"

what?

wait a minute, 

how did we go from no gene to boob removal?

yeah, no.  I'm not ready...i'm doing the math in my head and I still have 72% chance nothing will happen.

Are these things they just have to slide in there in the conversation? or does she know more than I do 

probably the latter even though I am a well educated RN, I kinda didn't do too well in the women's health part of school or clinicals.

Any way.  one thing at a time...  feet first... I want to be able to have some fun.

then boobs.  

I guess 

if anyone has any insight let me know.

They are just boobs...

but honestly i can't imagine using my PTO for boobs in stead of beach vacation.

xo, 

m

the first time of diagnosis

for your reading pleasure

Thursday Night Update

 here we go ...

I saved my drink of the week for writing tonight. I feel like I have earned it. 

It is interesting how things just ebb and flow. One week I am at my wits end with work, my body, my life...then Boom... just like that, I could give 2 shits.  Just keep moving forward. 

As long as I don't think " to what end am I moving forward?  There is only so much forward I can go before the forward is over"

. Weird thought, huh?

Work

Work has been fine.

I had a long discussion with myself last week on the drive into work. It's work. No need to be dramatic. The job isn't bad, the people are fine.....the problem is that it is just work, and that is part of the picture. I'll be just fine. Just do what I do, stay on the no problem list and make the money....then go on vacation or save to buy a house somewhere quiet. 

Health

Health is keeping me on my toes. I spent my late 30's to late 40's preparing my body for retirement. I wanted to be strong enough, fit enough and solid enough to be able to enjoy life in my late 50's on.  I wanted to wear the bikini, jump off the cliff and ride the motorcycles. 

When my feet started hurting and I could no longer run, I think I just quit. I think in hindsight I was so mad at my body, or myself, that I literally just quit trying to be that person.  I realized that maybe part of this was menopause and the feeling of distress that no matter what I did I would never be strong again or even worse I would forever be in this pain that I have been quietly experiencing. I decided, " ok, I don't need to run, but please, PLEASE can I walk without pain so that I can at least hike? Please...." 

That has yet to be determined. 

I started back to the gym. I called my Dr and she started me on HRT.  It's controversial for me because I had breast cancer, but after counseling and looking at my life, past and future hopes, we decided together that living my best life is more beneficial at this point, because what good is longevity if I can't function?  HRT is coming with some pretty weird side effects , hopefully temporary, so I'm ok with that. Within a week my aches and pains in my joints are gone, my sleep went from 3-4 hours a night to 7-9. This alone has made me less tired and emotional.  On the downside I started my period again because of the estrogen....but I can survive that. Been dealing with that for 35 years so it is what it is. I have been requested to do a follow up in 3 months. I was tested for BRCA gene and will get an ultra sound and an MRI for a tumor in my uterus, so that we can monitor if it is growing or if it's just a cyst. Two weeks now and my feet still hurt, but I will schedule an appointment with a sports medicine doctor and see what the next step is.  All in all, I feel positive.  I have been lifting weights 3 times a week and going to at least 2 to 3 classes ,including yoga ,a week.  This is really helping my mind set. Yoga is honestly been a real game changer for me and my mind.

I'm drinking only about 3 drinks/beer a week and feel better but sometimes want to have a few more still...but I think that is ok. I can indulge once in a while. 

Goals

I really need to finish some things in which I have started, and I know that. Big goals for this summer are some house upkeep including building a divider wall in our attic guest room. ( I have never done that before but I think I can do it).  I want to learn how to fly fish ( got the poles all ready ). I want to get stronger at gravel riding and quit being a silent crybaby in my head when I ride. And the big goal.....I really want to put money down on a piece of property. Anything.... something that is mine and I can maybe put a little trailer on and have a place to go and invite friends.

This summer we have plans of camping and a few small local trips and I am even planning a few solo things.  I'm grateful my other half encourages this.  I would love to solo travel to Georgia to see my friend Ivey, the nurse I bested with in NY during Covid.  I just miss her.

Well, that is probably enough blabbering for now.  There literally was no comedy or depth to this writing...it was just to say I am moving forward and learning to accept all of this new stuff with grace.

xo.

write ya later

m