I have had this memory in my head for a number of years but it seems fitting to speak about it right now.
I think this had to be my second or third year teaching and I was hitting the Atkins diet hard and I don’t drink coffee. It was the Monday after daylight savings and I was sitting at my desk talking to another teacher drinking my Cherry Coke Zero at about 7:00 in the morning.
The building manager was walking around to the classrooms to change the clock before school started on Monday. He was the type of guy to speak his mind no matter what the situation was or how it made the other person feel. So, he walked into my classroom and saw me drinking my pop and he said, “Drinking pop is going to give you arthritis!“
I was mid-drink when he said that and once I swallowed and put my pop down, I looked at him and said, “I already got one disease, not getting another.”
I figured I should write this before the holidays come but I thought about that back in October. I am 40 years old now and a ‘rule follower.’ I scheduled my very first mammogram in October because it was during Breast Cancer Awareness month! Seemed fitting to me!
I had my very first mammogram in October and WOW!!! I cried and was told I would get results in a couple of days. The results came back, “inconclusive.” It was necessary for me to schedule a repeat scan.
Because I am a ‘rule follower’ and a scheduler, I did that immediately but in my mind, I was thinking about that day when I told the building manager that I’m not getting another.
We figured out that my Mom needed to accompany me into the room to get my scan and I need to be in my manual wheelchair to get that done. Once we were finished with the scan, Aimee (The nurse running the machine) told us she was going to check with the doctor and come back to tell us what to do.
It was at that moment when my Mom realized that this was pretty serious and something I had been thinking about since October. We said a few prayers together and Amiee give us the all clear.
I didn’t realize until we were driving home that I was being dismissive because I didn’t want to think about it but I’m glad that I don’t need to right now. There’s so much other stuff going on right now in dealing with the first disease I have…