191–200 of 304 posts
I'm thankful to work in an industry where I can take a multi-year sabbatical and still find employment within a couple weeks, where I can work remotely and pay my month's rent in only a couple days of work.
I'm thankful for all the good people I've met in my life.
And I'm thankful for my health.
This is ideal since I can deal with a bit more radiation and I was worried I was looking at more chemo. I'm really sick of chemo, but as long as it it isn't neck/mouth radiation it is easy.
So next week I go in for a "simulation" where I get put in a person-sized beanbag and they put in a IV to inject contrast and then they stick me in a CT machine to map out exactly where they need to radiate. And then they suck the air out of the beanbag and mold it around you. A "Han Solo frozen in carbonite" situation. That way you can't move when they actually administer the radiation. That and they shove a tube in your mouth and turn off your breathing for a while so your abdomen doesn't move. The first time having my breathing turned off was a problem. But I have hitting the cardio hard for the last six months so it should be a breeze.
Hopefully radiation will start the week after that. And it is only five treatments (20 minutes) spread out over two weeks. Chemo would have been months of significant discomfort. It is all horrible but this is a lot less horrible. But now that there is a real plan to deal with this I am in a much better head-space. I was a bit of a grump until a few days ago. Now I am happy working on stuff around the house instead of just sitting and bitching about everything.
Above all things, I am grateful to my God's grace,blessings and Mercy through which I have all these things and many more.
Which of us can fail to find something to complain about in this short life? I can tell you I can find plenty with minimal effort. It is so easy to forget the things you're thankful for when you complain. And when you forget those things hope fleets away and without hope you have nothing to look forward to, no reason to endure another today, no ability to enjoy today as you wait for "some day". Here is to appreciating our beliefs,hopes and posessions so that we may forge a tomorrow that is better than today.
My kids are launching into adult life and finding their callings and paths. I am thankful for my expanding understanding of family. My wife's ex is maybe not a brother but close. Our Christmas mornings have exes, current and former in-laws, kids, and extended family all mixed together in wonderful fun ways. This year a half sister, I didn't know I had, connected with me. The first DNA relative I can talk with about t…
A few months ago another cancerous spot popped up. The oncologist wanted to hold off a bit and see how it was reacting to my current medication. I wasn't thrilled about this since your urge is to just get in there and kill it. But he probably knows best. But about a week ago he said that since it isn't spreading they might as well go in and zap it with some radiation. This is ideal since I can deal with a bit more ra…
No wonder. I wish you good luck!
There was a lot of pain before I reached this point. Maybe it's the only way.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's amazing! I'm super happy for you and your family! Your comment gave me pause because it reminded me that it is opt-in not opt-out. It is an election cycle, I wonder if we could convince one of the candidates to switch us to opt-out rather than opt-in for organ donation.
> That's amazing! I'm super happy for you and your family! > Your comment gave me pause because it reminded me that it is opt-in not opt-out. It is an election cycle, I wonder if we could convince one of the candidates to switch us to opt-out rather than opt-in for organ donation. While I am personally an organ donor, I don't believe the state should be the defacto owner of my organs post mortem.
How it works is a form to do some other thing (for example, get a driving license) has a checkbox to donate and one to not donate, and the form is rejected as incomplete if you don't choose one or the other.
This of course means you don't have to apply a default to those people, because they've made an explicit choice already.
Of course, you still have to work out what you'll do with people who haven't filled out the form - like the newborn baby mentioned at the start of this thread.