How it all started…

I think it would be best to let you know in advance that this post will not be my entire cancer journey, nor will it be the whole of 2020, which is when it all began.

Instead, I want to explain the complexity of all we were facing, before reality came crashing down around us. This means I don’t know how long my posts will be or how often I will write. After all, it isn’t easy reliving your past on a good day, so you can only imagine how it must be recounting something as traumatic as the big C can be.

On that note…

While the world was distracted by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, which we affectionately referred to as The Spring Break That Would Never End, we were trying to juggle this new reality and its effect on keeping up with doctors’ appointments and other medical procedures. For example, during a virtual appointment, the family allergist had Bonus Monster One (BM1) put my cell phone to his chest so he (the doctor) could check BM1’s heartbeat! When I received the call to cancel my mammogram due to lockdown restrictions, I asked if we could instead do something similar with TWO phones, but no such luck: I’d have to visit the Boobsmasher in person. Eventually.

Anyhoo…

That summer I finally got around to seeing the doctor about a stomach issue I’d dealt with for YEARS. Yep. I’m that level of stubborn. I’ll spare you the details of what I would occasionally endure but sweat-inducing-nausea-triggering-passing-out pain levels were often included. It was suspected I had Celiac Disease. Instead, after much testing, it was discovered I not only had a dysfunctional gallbladder but I also had Selective IgA Deficiency which itself makes testing for gluten allergy unreliable.

By October, I was consumed with all of the pre-surgery testing before that pesky, not-so-rapidly-failing gallbladder could be evicted, so when I found a lump in my breast, I wasn’t in any rush to bring attention to it. After all, there would be time to schedule testing while I’m recuperating from surgery. Right?!

I guess now is also a good time to inject something good and happy and amazing and wonderful…

In February, on our sixth anniversary, the Gomez to my Mortica decided it was time to make an honest woman of me! ~happy squeals~

We picked June 6, 2021 to get married since BM1’s high school graduation wouldn’t be until later in the month, and that would have also been my mom and stepdad’s 35th wedding anniversary. We paid the necessary deposit to be able to have the ceremony outside, and the reception inside at the St. Louis Carousel at Faust Park. I started scouring the internet – primarily Facebook Marketplace, Poshmart, and Wish – for inexpensive wedding decorations and clothes. I not only had my wedding dress, but I also had a backup dress, just in case. We even had decided on our colours and a theme!

In October I discovered the school district had changed the date of graduation to June 6, 2021.

I cried, and quietly raged, while composing a, hopefully, calm sounding email to our contact at the Carousel requesting to change the date to September 4, 2021. The thought was we could get married on Saturday, relax on Sunday, and have a potluck free-for-all on Labor Day at the park near where we live. Luckily, that day was available!

On October 22, 2020, that damnable gallbladder was forcefully removed and rehomed to wherever in the universe problematic organs go to live out their remaining days.