Daily Prompt’s Question of the Day

What have you been working on?

This is kind of a no brainer as I’ve been forced to return to the cancer fight. What I once thought was over after radiation therapy in late ’23 has been confirmed as still being there. And this past month without an appointment with either urology or oncology my mind has been spinning more than ever.

Oh, I tried getting in sooner than my late October and first week of November appointments with those doctors however I was unsuccessful. Even was put on a waiting list for no shows or cancellations.

I guess what’s held me together in between has been my cardiologist, whom I had an appointment with this past week. He and I have pretty much grown up together with my heart issues. The regular scheduled checkup went well. He told me to go ahead with the MRI oncology wants if it comes to that. And we’ll deal with another if and when the time arises.

We were both young when we first crossed paths in ’05. He did my first ICD implant that year. I’ve been seeing him since. The trust is there, so I run everything by him like a patron saint. That trusts comes from cutting me open a number of times along with other various life altering procedures.

Chrissy, above, has got to be one of the best office managers for a doctor on the planet. The woman has pulled so many strings over the years. Either for me to get a procedure done quickly or to get insurance to cover something they normally wouldn’t. I have to give her a shoutout. Ha-ha gotcha in another blog, Chrissy.

While I was with doc, he suggested I switch to a vegan diet. A friend of his, also a doctor, seemed to have lowered his PSA numbers by the change after he discovered he had prostate cancer, too. Again, the trust factor weighs in heavily.

I said I’d check it out, the vegan diet, but was holding my breath. Not only because I was raised on meat and potatoes. But, like the yoga my primary suggested, the only person I know that has stuck to vegan is my ghost.

All I could think of was, “Isn’t that a kick in the ass“. To top it all off, the dreams have returned. More proof healing isn’t linear. Get ready for a call Agnes.

A couple of days had passed before I brought up the vegan diet to my friend Loren. Low and behold she knew where to lead me. What makes it better, she knows my eating habits. Although not a dietician, she has agreed to start picking out recipes for me to incorporate into my lifestyle.

I had tried keeping up with the yoga but the classes through the hospital weren’t exactly what I needed. They’re programed for someone more experienced.

I did the next best thing by turning to longtime friend, Shiny Hippie. She used to do live yoga sessions online from the beaches of the Pacific Ocean in California. No that’s not her real name. I’ve been sworn to secrecy for the better part of our decade plus friendship not to divulge it.

She referred me to a yoga instructor she goes to that has, as she says, “the moves” for Psoas. Which is what my doctor suggested.

I go Wednesday or Thursday, of this week, for more blood work to see how high my PSA levels have climbed. Hopefully not much. Yet, it’s been a couple months since the last labs were done, and I suspect they have climbed. The following week, I have the long-awaited appointment with the oncologist. Then I’ll know more about treatment.

Oddly it seems only fitting that this morning I heard former POTUS Joe Biden has started hormonal therapy and radiation for his cancer. I learned of my cancers return around the same time his bone cancer was announced. Fortunately, mine hasn’t spread.

What have I been working on? Obviously, I’m working on me, ‘The Man in The Mirror‘. I might be tired of all the testing and therapy but with better habits and a bad ass mindset, I will survive. And that’s what I want.

Would like to close by saying ‘thank you‘ to everyone that has stood beside me the past couple years. And a special thanks to those that have kept me in their thoughts and or prayers. You’re all in my heart and I’m grateful for each one of you! All I could ever ask is for you to ‘love me anyways‘ and I pray you’ve done just that.

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