Back and forth and
and so on. I had a primary care appointment at Oakland Outpatient today. Main purpose was to check in with my primary care doc and to make sure that I have the usual meds on hand. While I was at it, I picked up a copy of those medical records pertinent from the middle of last month on. I also now have a DvD with the relevant images. It is nice to have one’s own copies. Providing copies of my 1995 interactions with the medical system has certainly helped inform my current care.
And yes, same disease still/again. My particular flavor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma falls on the extremely slow growing end of the scale. Prior to immune therapy it was almost impossible to treat since chemo usually killed the person rather than the disease. That part really hasn’t changed so as you can imagine I am not a fan of multi-drug massive chemo. My personal plan is to start with tumor mass reduction. Unless it degenerates into something that is actually curable, I am looking at limiting disease growth for as long as possible. I was given a 50% survival in 1995. Obviously, since I have had over 21 years of pretty much disease free life I made the right decision. I have been able to watch my children grow from toddlers to adulthood. I had a good career in the military. In the last five years, I have traveled and met a lot of wonderful people. None of this is to discount all of those with whom I am still in contact from the KnitList and later Ravelry.
My goal was never to be internationally recognized, win a Nobel prize or wind up in the criminal system. Rather, I can look back at a life pretty well lived.
Now, I would just like more years of the same to do things like attend the RoundTable sponsored by the UC School of Public Health on the challenges of the next few years. The issues of change in narrative and the need to be inclusive rather than exclusive. To not foster an US vs THEM mentality. To understand and support preventive services; especially since many of the programs have been shown to have a positive impact by reducing major use of hospitals and decreasing chronic disease.
I’ll just add this to my dream list of when I am Queen of the Universe.
