Well, hello there, little bloggie. I haven't been on here for months, but I think I have rather good reasons... the most unfortunate reason is my health. Towards the middle of May, the day after our last contract day, I had a biopsy done on my face (a weird bump near my left nostril that had not healed over since fall!), and the dermatologist was pretty sure it was basal cell carcinoma. Skin cancer, although not the total evil kind. Within weeks, I was "signed up" for 21 radiation treatments in Fargo, and that sucked up my summer. The radiation itself was 30 seconds worth of nothing, even if halfway through (treatment 10-ish) my skin did freak out a bit, which threw me into a spin of anxiety. {The same thing happened with my breast reduction; at some point, your brain wonders why you are doing what you are doing, and you question all of your decisions.} I was able to get away to two cabins to attempt to recalibrate my soul and body, and those little trips did help, even ...
I've compared this summer to last summer so many times that I should probably just let it all die, but it's wild what better mental health and physical health can do for a human!? Last summer, around this time, I found out I had a nugget of skin cancer - basal cell - near my left nostril. I spent most of the summer driving to Fargo for radiation treatments. I had 20+ of them. Short bursts of something you can't see, plowing into my dermis to kill something else off. My body started to equate driving anywhere with "cancer anxiety." Luckily, that has finally faded, too. Unluckily, we lost Gma Maxine last summer, too. Gpa, her hubby, had left her less than a year before, and I knew she would deteriorate quickly. That was the peak of grief, really. She was gone, my body was screwed up, and I just wanted everything to feel normal. Cut to this summer, and I have put myself on generic Zoloft (last fall wasn't fun weaning off and on meds), and my major lady bit was ta...
β β β Recently, I officially wrapped up my third health hurdle: ditching an angry uterus. π Earlier (May - Nov) it was skin cancer, then navigating a chaotic anxiety medication switch (Sept - Dec). Grateful to be on the other side of it all and ready to focus on brighter days ahead. Hereβs to resilience and taking life one step at a time. πͺβ¨ #MentalHealth #SoreButHappy #TrifectaOfFun What did I actually accomplish in 2024, besides a trio of health struggles? NOT that I needed to be productive at all, but I did distract myself from my health stuff with the creation of two OER textbooks. They are shown in the banner below, at the far right - The Quest for Meaning (HUM 101) and From Ink to Link (ENGL 220). I've spent most of winter break resting and healing; periodically, I've been checking in on my Intersession students (HUM 101!), as well as prepping my Spring 2025 courses. I'll have a new lineup that I don't think I've ever had before: ENGL 110 at 10am TR as we...
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