My Routinely Chaotic Life

I think most people would agree with me when I say that life can be a real bitch at times. And frankly, those who don’t agree with that are, well… living in a fantasy world where everything is just ducky. You might know it as denial.

The last 9 years of my life have been what I would call routinely chaotic.  Bear with me, and you’ll get the picture.

I went through a very rough time when I lost an uncle at the end of my senior year of high school, and things started to settle a bit when headed off to college that fall.

I met April at the beginning of that first semester of college, and our friendship was developing nicely, and we were officially a couple by October.  Love was definitely in the air, and things were going well.  Then our first Thanksgiving together found us dealing with a family medical crisis.  April’s father was hospitalized, and needed emergency surgery to remove his gall bladder.  For a while, it didn’t look like he was going to make it, but thankfully, things worked out for the best, and he recovered from the ordeal.

Things calmed down a bit for a while, but that didn’t last for long.  April’s mom ended up with a heart problem, and found herself in the hospital.  Another situation that could have gone very wrong, but didn’t.

At the beginning of the spring semester of my junior year of college, I found myself with a broken knee after slipping on a patch of black ice while walking across the college campus.

Then shortly after graduating from college and getting a real job, my great-grandmother passed away.

Then April’s grandmother passed away.

Then there was something else.

Then I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure, and life as I knew it came to a screeching halt.

Then I had my first D-Meetup in Michigan.

Then something else happened.

Then I was hospitalized for the first time because of a suspected heart attack, and they found something else to add to my barrel of fun.

Then I had my first D-Meetup with Michael Hoskins on the way back from Spring Break.

Then even more stuff happened.

Then I had a D-Meetup with Michael Hoskins, Cherise Shockley and her family, and Jenny Pritchard.  Good times.

Then, a week and a half later, I was hospitalized for the second time because of a suspected heart attack, and had a heart catheterization which found my heart to be in better shape than it had been previously.

Do you see why I said life has been Routinely Chaotic?  There’s always something going on.

Fast forward to today, and yet again, as Thanksgiving approaches, April & I are faced with another family medical crisis.  It’s amazing how history has a tendency to repeat itself.  Only this time, the outcome won’t be a good one.

April’s mom was hospitalized on November 4th, after experiencing severe abdominal pain.  Diagnostic imaging revealed several masses and nodules throughout her abdominal area and chest.  On Wednesday, Nov. 10th, they did surgery to remove a large mass from around her heart, and did a biopsy of one of the nodules found in her lungs.
Initial reports indicated that she had some sort of cancer, but they couldn’t tell us what it was without further analysis.  On Friday, an oncologist gave a partial report that indicated it was uterine cancer. And based on how far it has metastasized, it appears to be at stage 4.

Right now, they have said surgery is not an option, and that the only options they had were to do maintenance rounds of chemotherapy every three weeks to try to stop it from spreading further, or to turn things over t0 palliative care and try to keep her comfortable until the end.

We are waiting on the full reports to come back from the pathology lab, but we aren’t expecting any great changes to be announced in them.  Right now, we’re just praying for miracles, and hoping for the best possible outcome.  And we appreciate all of the prayers and well wishes that everyone in the D-OC has offered thus far, and hope that they keep coming.

As you might imagine, all of the chaos of the current situation hasn’t made managing my diabetes easy.  In fact, my whole eating, sleeping, and diabetes management routine has been shot to hell.  I’ve been trying to take care of myself and April at the same time, but there’s only so much I can do.  And admittedly, I’ve been neglecting my well being for the sake of everyone else.  I know that’s not good, but that’s just how I work.  I care more about everyone else than I do myself in times like this.

That’s just how life is at times.  And right now, it’s definitely a BITCH!