Tuesday, January 05, 2010

What a Difference a Year Makes

A year ago this time, I had no idea what was to happen. I guess that's true pretty much anytime, but of course when one has dramatic events it's human nature to use them to mark time.

On January 6 last year I went in for a medical test that would lead, two days later, to the diagnosis of an ovarian tumor. It set in motion a series of events that have culminated in yesterday's pronouncement by yet another surgeon that I'm healing well from yet another sugery.

I had no inkling I was about to embark on three weeks of wondering what was happening inside me and what it meant for the future, if there was a future. And I certainly had no concept of what the year would entail as I made my way back to health.

Greg said recently that he was amazed by my strength then - that I really seemed prepared to hear that I was dying. I guess I just didn't see any other choice. If you're told you could have a serious illness that may result in your death, and you have a few weeks before you know, you spend that tinme getting your affairs in order and preparing yourself.

I was very fortunate. And if I had to choose a "phrase of the year," it would be, "Benign is a beautiful word." I'm a very lucky girl.