This was my breakfast this morning. Actually, part two of my breakfast. My usual breakfast consists of a bowl of plain instant oatmeal (with cinnamon sprinkled in liberally), eight ounces of vegetable juice and two hard-boiled eggs. That’s what I have almost every day. Today, I switched out the hard-boiled eggs for two sunny-side up, courtesy of our hens. These were the first eggs that any of them laid, starting this week. Thanks, Buttercup!
So, I started off the day appreciating a couple of gifts. Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my diagnosis of stage IV melanoma. I really did not expect to be enjoying a homestead breakfast this morning, or enjoying anything else for that matter. I won’t re-hash all the events and emotions of the last year. I think that they are well covered elsewhere in this blog. I mostly want to discuss my gratitude for being alive and for having pretty good health right now. There’s a a guy in the melanoma support group I attend and he often speaks of his gratitude for being on the “grassy side.” You know, as opposed to being under the grass. If you’re reading this, hi Casey, keep on keeping on the grassy side!
So, sunny side, grassy side, they’re both different words to express being alive, and being filled with joy for being alive. I won’t say it hasn’t been a struggle at times. Diabetes and colitis are no picnic. Surgery and SRS weren’t a lot of fun either. And all the doctor’s visits and treatments and the medical bills are not how I’d prefer to spend my time and my money. The end result, at least so far, is worth all the hassle. I’m alive and I feel pretty good, most of the time, and my outlook is much better than it was a year ago. So, thank you to all the researchers who came up with the treatments that appear to be working for me. Thank you to all the melanoma warriors before me who put their lives on the line battling for a cure. Thank you to all the doctors, nurses and other medical staff without whose expertise I wouldn’t be alive. Finally, and most of all, thank you to my wingman Lynn, without whom I would not have been able to get this far and without whom I would not have had the courage to continue the fight when things looked the darkest.
Things are not perfect. They never are. I don’t know what the future will bring or if I will be celebrating a two-year anniversary this time next year. I’m not going to dwell on that now. For now, I’m going to keep it on the sunny side.