Ready for Christmas

I've done what I can this year in the way of preparation for the holidays. The tree is up. Presents are wrapped. Our oldest daughter has her plane ticket for Christmas Eve and we so look forward to her visit. I've spruced up my website with a little greenery. I've sent out my Christmas Newsletter. It features a lovely painting I saw at the National Gallery in London, along with my thoughts on what Christmas means to me. I've posted a FREE downloadable story for YOU called A Dragon Caern Christmas. I'm ready as I can be to celebrate.

And I'm ready as I can be for my surgery tomorrow. On Sunday, my pastor and friends from my church choir prayed with me. I've been inundated with promises of prayers and well-wishes from readers and writing friends. I know writers are supposed to be good at describing things, but words are not cooperating when I try to explain how loved, how uplifted, how strengthened I feel by the outpouring of support I've received.

And how very humble and very blessed.

Thank you all.

I probably won't be able to post again until I return home, which will be in a little over a week. (Through the wonders of technology, I will be posting on The Chatelaines on Friday the 12th, but that's a little like a taped broadcast instead of a live post. However if you want to see my attempt at sketching, please pop over! It's good for a laugh!)

This next week, I'll be thinking of you, scurrying about, fighting traffic, getting set for your holiday celebration. I'll be lounging in bed, tucked in with warm blankies and hilarious books, letting them bring my meals on a tray, while I wait for my cute surgeon to come back with good news. :)

All I want for Christmas is clear lymph nodes!

Cancer--The Inconsiderate Guest

If you read my blog, you know I had a colonoscopy last week, a procedure I believed unnecessary and tried very hard to wiggle out of. After all, I had no symptoms and no family history of colon cancer. I "lost" my paperwork. I nearly lost my patience and thought about hopping off the table when they couldn't get the IV started and had to call in a real anesthesiologist (3 cheers for Dr. Goodstick!) But it turns out, my unnecessary screening was actually very necessary.

The mass in my colon is cancerous and I'm slated for surgery on December 10th. I'm so thankful they got me in quickly because this will mean I'll be home for Christmas. On the down side, I'll miss out on visiting with readers when Pleasuring the Pirate is featured on Dear Reader.com starting Monday. (If you haven't signed up for this fun service, visit http://www.dearreader.com . Each week, you'll receive a snippet from a new story. Enough to try before you buy!) I'll be able to answer questions on the 8th & 9th, but expect to be in a drug-induced haze with no internet connection starting Wednesday. Cancer is just so inconsiderate of people's schedules!

They'll evict my unwelcome tenant along with my right colon, probably a foot or so, which will leave me plenty of healthy colon. (Dare I say it, a semi-colon? Sorry. Writer joke.) Then I'll spend a week in the hospital on a restricted diet while my innards heal. If you've ever remodeled a kitchen or bath, you know the last thing you want when you redo plumbing is leaks. When they take the section of colon, they'll also take some lymph nodes. If they are clean, I'll be pronounced cured. If there are cancer cells in the nodes, I'll need to go through chemo. Either way, weight loss looms in my future and that's no bad thing. I've been praying about losing weight. Guess I just wasn't specific enough.

I mulled over whether or not to blog about this. But I'm a writer and writing is how I make sense of the world. I hope it will help me make sense of this. And if my experience can help someone else who's facing a challenge, so much the better.

Colon cancer is not sexy. We don't have classy little awareness ribbons (I can't imagine what color they'd be!) But fortunately, it's very treatable and survivable if caught early. So, my friends, if you are over 50 (one source I checked recommended 40) please schedule your baseline colonoscopy. I have no symptoms. None. Zero. Nada. And yet . . . I have a date with a scalpel (which will be wielded by a very cute surgeon, BTW.)

I'm not afraid, but I would appreciate your prayers and healing wishes, most especially for my DH. It's always harder to watch someone you love go through something like this than to go through it yourself. The love and support I've received from my writing friends has been both encouraging and humbling. Thanks so much.

I'm not stressing. I'm sleeping the sleep of the just. I'm in the hands of a loving God (and a really cute surgeon.:))

It'll be ok.