Things You Learn

It's been almost a year since my last post...and what a year it's been! You see, last August, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Everything happened very quickly-diagnosis followed by total hysterectomy, then chemo beginning in October. I finished my treatments in January, then promptly started falling apart. ....first, I fell off my Danskos in February and hobbled around for days. Next, my chest port became infected and landed me back in the hospital for four days. Finally, I had a spontaneous internal bleed caused by the blood thinner I was taking. This caused a deep hemotoma that put pressure on some nerve on my left side. It was very painful & made walking pretty much impossible. It also put me back in the hospital where I received 3 units of blood to replace what I'd lost in the bleed. I began physical therapy to help me with walking and am almost back to normal. I still have some numbness in my left thigh though. Then there's the neuropathy in my feet from the chemo. Oh, well - it's not stopping me, as I walked another 3.2 miles this morning. Only my heel blisters are slowing me down. Grrrrr.

 



 So, what did I learn through all of this? The main thing I learned how much love people have to give AND how much I am loved. This was very humbling and overwhelming. Despite the medical issues, I feel so blessed. I have always been blessed, I know, but it took having sucky cancer to open my eyes to just how much. I never-ever want to forget that again....everyday I am blessed and so are you. Don't forget it! It's easy to get overwhelmed with daily crap.....be positive, count and acknowledge your blessings each day and give thanks for them. ( Here's one of my blessings pictured below)

 



I also learned that some people give me energy and others, though well-intentioned, drain every ounce of energy right out of me...right to the bottom. I still love them, but have had to work at learning to put up my deflector shields. That was an eye-opening experience.



I learned that under all that hair I do not have a Tweety Bird head. My head is actually on the small side and has a very nice shape. My hair is growing back now and almost looks like a really short hair cut. BUT - it's not as red as before.  Maybe the second growth, after cut #1, will be redder.



Well, that's where I've been and what I've been doing....lol. I also had neuropathy in my hands and fingers, so knitting was not enjoyable at all. I started knitting FULL FORCE about a month ago and have heaped my knitting plate FULL for the summer. I think I'm up to three KALs now, plus two other shawls still on the needles. Below is WendyKnits Summer Solstice Mystery Shawl Clue A. I'm knitting it in Wollmeise 100% in Frosch.

 



To add a little more joy and distraction to the summer, DS#3 helped convince me to adopt cat #3. Meet Augustus, named after Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove. He's feisty like Gus and fits in just fine with Gunston and Bella.

 



There's even more fun on tap for this summer, but I'll save that for
another time. Now get busy! Go and tell someone that they are one of your
blessings!