There is SO much going on in the world. SO. MUCH. I don’t need to list to you, dear reader, because you’ve been following all of it. I spent time today texting with a friend who said “I need to visit Europe and see if there’s somewhere better than America to move to”. And I replied “I don’t think there’s anywhere that would take me… I’m too old, have been out of my field of work for too long, and am not rich enough for them to want me.” It was a pretty sobering chat for a Monday.
But this past weekend was pretty good, and I’m focusing on that. We went out to dinner Saturday with one of Mr. Brillig’s former coworkers and his spouse, to a restaurant we’d been eyeing for ages. I can say without a doubt it was the most interesting dining experience I’ve had in a VERY long time, and the company was so enjoyable we’re planning our next get together. Then on a very chilly Sunday, we got to see K2 score his first goal of the season with his UPSL soccer team. It’s been interesting watching him with this team; he’s the youngest on the team by several years and the only one still in high school. Hard to believe that come fall he’ll be playing NCAA Div III soccer!
This weekend was also good for another reason. I’ve written about it before, way back in 2009 and then in 2011. It marked 25 years since Mr. Brillig went into the hospital for a burst appendix and left days later with much less small and large intestine and a followup plan for chemo and radiation. He was a 33 year old guy with no prior history or risk factors who had just discovered he had appendiceal cancer… the same cells as colon cancer, but in the tiny little appendix.
Twenty Five Years. It’s a literal lifetime ago. K1 was under a year old and K2 was six years from being born and a decade from joining our family. It was still the freeking 20th century!! The #1 song on the Billboard Top 100 was...
It was before September 11th changed the world, changed our country and our government and hurtled us headlong towards where we are today.
Over the past few weeks I’ve seen a number of friends posting that they had upcoming colonoscopies. Generally this announcement is followed by any or all of the following:
- Complaining about the suggested liquid diet the day before, or sharing that a liquid diet may not be necessary according to new studies. (It’s one. day. c’mon. You can do it)
- Complaining about the prep (I promise you’re not pooping for six hours straight. It’s a lot of netflix and sweatpants and seriously, a hat because all that liquid prep is cold!)
- Making jokes about either the diet or the prep or both
- Making jokes about HAVING SOMETHING STUCK UP THEIR BUTT (seriously. I have not seen your butt but I am absolutely sure there is nothing special about it that the doc hasn’t seen before)
I have zero patience with people who refuse to have their exam. Because watching someone you love go through surgery, recovery, radiation, chemotherapy, and then YEARS of anxiety and worry every few months at followup exams SUCKS, until that one day you FINALLY hear the words “We don’t need to see you again”. Get your exam. Be a grownup about it. Because of Mr. Brillig’s early diagnosis, K1 had to have an exam while still eligible to be on our health insurance. If SHE did it without complaining, you can too.
It’s been 25 years since Mr. Brillig was diagnosed and he became a survivor. That’s worth celebrating every year, but the best celebration of all is that we don’t focus on the fact he had cancer anymore.
We don’t have to talk about this in the comments, it’s a wonderfully open place for whatever you’d like to chat about, but if you DO have questions or thoughts or comments, I’m here for you. Let’s get to some Tops, then meet in the comments!
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