ok,...so it’s been a little while since i have given the majority of y’all and update on how things have been going in the past month and a half or so. to say things have gotten better would be a lie. to say that they are bad is also not a lie. what i’m trying my best to do is describe them as, down, but not out. hopeful and ready for a fight to get back up. so, here we go.
lets start with the good. i’ve been keeping up with myself physically and mentally for the most part. more on the mental later but otherwise work and runs and bikes have been pretty good to me. :) reducing coffee intake and upping the water and fresh juice. veggies and fruits galore.
my dad came through the other side of his triple bypass pretty well! with a decent bit of healing and rest and rehab, he back up and just this week got the clear to go back to driving and taking it easy like he does. very good to report that.
but now onto the other side of things....as you probably saw, my grandfather Carl passed away just about two weeks ago, the progression of his dementia had taken a pretty good dive downward in the last few months. my hope was that after years of being looked after by my grandmother Claire for the last 6 years or so, that the introduction to some professional care and such would even him out some and allow my nana to get some much needed rest and self care. unfortunately with this disease, you can never really tell when its going to degenerate some of the key parts of the brain. his body didn’t last much longer and he drew his last breath on the evening of october 24th, a mere three hours after me and nana had sat with him for a good while telling hi how loved he was, and in my case, telling him that if he felt comfortable with it, i would take care of everything that needed that care, just like he taught me. a promise i intend to keep.
as far as the last couple years go, this was a passing that we had time to see and prepare for about as much as you can be able to prepare for that sort of thing. that man has earned his rest of his body, and we knew it. he had struggled and kept on long and hard like the stubborn midwestern man he was. my nana is in mourning, but also knows that this is the best we could have hoped for considering. he is missed in this house, and in our lives.
but knowing that life has this tendency to keep on moving, whether we like it or not, we move on to next situation at hand...on two occasions now my nana has had to deal with a small basal cell carcinoma {one of the most common types of skin cancer} in her left cheek. two MOHS surgeries in the books to remove any cancer found. well, it’s back. again. and its a stubborn and sneaky little bastard. a week ago finding out that a biopsy had come back positive, we were then informed that its a little more serious this time. as far as we know now, and we’ll know the full extent once we get her into an MRI, the cancer seems to have found a way to move back through her cheekbone, and right under the space of her eye. as it’s moved that direction, a “simple” MOHS surgery at this point isn’t the right call and it seems as if x-ray, or radiation therapy, is whats on the horizon. being that the cancer may have moved very close to the eye, the beam of the x-ray will more then likely be too close to it, and would possibly take away the use of that eye. not saying that the eye would have to be removed or anything, but that she would basically become blind in her left eye. of course this took me and her by complete surprise, as neither of us were even aware that a skin cancer could even act like this. we wont know the exact idea of whats going like i said until the MRI that is scheduled next week, but we know it has the potential to be bad. and all this just a couple weeks after the death of her partner.
it’s been a little excessive for us to say the least. but we know that death and true sickness is not exactly what we’re dealing with, and to be honest, i was very hesitant about the idea of another surgery for my 85 year old nana. to me, and her to an extent, this is one of the least scary situations we can hope for. no chances of her not coming out of general anesthesia, no evidence that this had made its way back to her brain, and the greater chance that this an pass with any real pain or discomfort. that much makes me happy. but the reality of the situation also doesn’t escape me, i know that this is scary, i know that this is real, and i know my stay here in Mass is going to last a little bit longer. which has its ups and down’s. i do know that i’m going to take a little bit of time for her, and for myself, off of work. just to have one less thing going on while this gets figured out and attacked. i will make a trip to see my home and my wonderful lady and my friends in columbia, and if i have the time also maybe a couple of other cities (avl, rva, philly im looking at y’all) otherwise, we’re just going to keep on keeping on. going to try and stay positive. thanks to all my friends who keep checking in on me and for being gracious with me whenever i don’t respond and get a little reclusive in my world up here.
as always, thanks, and i love all of ya. xoxo....
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