Kilometre Stone
Well, I made it to the grand age of 70 on the 28th. of August. I finally feel like I have grown old and that brings a certain satisfaction. My Mother in her eighties often said while complaining about her aches and pains, "don't ever grow old." My regular reply to her was "It's better than the alternative!" She was never able to figure out that the alternative of being alive with a few aches and pains was better than an early death!
On the 23rd August I was at the Ottawa hospital checking in for another radiation course. This will just be for two weeks and it should kill off some of those peripheral lymph nodes that have recently been causing some pain. As you might imagine I have some negative feelings about further radiation and I did get a second opinion from my surgeon about the advisability of the proposed treatment. He reassured me that the dose will be small and it's goal is to improve quality of life. It won't address the main course of the cancer which is surrounding carotid arteries on both sides of my neck. My decision to proceed with the radiation was because I have not been feeling well enough over the past 2 weeks to ride my bike or motorcycle. Luckily I have vast numbers of downloaded movies from our 2 kids to entertain me until I get some improvement.
My birthday on the 28th was celebrated by visits from my nurse and my dietician. Cheryl found some excellent white wine to go with some smoked salmon as a special treat. I was able to chew and appreciate the salmon but no swallowing was possible.
The next day I started my 2 weeks of daily radiation sessions in Ottawa so my 70's will begin with a heavy medical involvement but when that's finished I will start enjoying our fabulous Fall colours.
Cheryl had one of the best ideas for my 70th birthday - no party but inviting my friends, acquaintances and relatives to share some of their positive memories of their past contact with me by email.
I should explain that introverts like me are easily overwhelmed by large groups of people and I much prefer small groups or better yet, one-on-one interaction.
These emails have been flooding in and I have been quite surprised at some of the wonderful lost memories that I have retrieved. I also feel bathed in love and affection by descriptions of the huge number of happy, meaningful and productive interactions that I have experienced with those wonderful people over my 70 years. There were some negative memories but only the very best of my friends will laugh with me about those!
So, a big thank you to everyone who responded. You have made this a very Happy Birthday!
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