There is no way I can write about all of this in any kind of chronological order. Things came at lightning speed leaving me in perpetual survival mode.
This is the general timeline of the last 4 years – the road map so you’ll have an idea of where events I may be writing about fit into the overall story.
Husband had a quad bypass in late 2019 at age 55.
I got Covid in November 2020 and went into (although I didn’t know it at the time) long covid. For two solid years I couldn’t taste or smell food. My gut wouldn’t accept food without pain and I had no appetite or thirst. I had to set alarms on my phone to remind me to eat SOMETHING and to drink water, if I didn’t I could go the entire day without eating or drinking and not be phased by it. I lost weight. A lot of weight – in total 85 pounds. In fact, I lost so much weight that people who had worked with me in the past, did not recognize me.
Long covid also interrupted my thinking. For a good year and one half, I couldn’t read. I’d try to read a paragraph and it wouldn’t make sense. I didn’t recognize some words that I had seen my entire life (ex. Campbells – I read it as Camp – bells – what the heck was that?) Thankfully at about the 1.5 year point, my reading comprehension started to come back.
Although I can now taste and smell *some* food, I still have no appetite or thirst. I have to constantly remind myself to eat.
Kids got covid – some worse than others.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in May ‘22. No family history, no genetic mutations – it happens. Even though I know it happens, it happened to ME.
Panic. What do I do? Panic. Panic.
Had a bilateral mastectomy. August ‘22 – an absolute horror show (oh you’ll be hearing about that.)
I live in a town that is contaminated with PFAS chemicals by an industrial polluter. I’ve been fighting for clean water since 2016. In 2016 we had our private well tested and the PFAS results were so high that we could no longer use our water. We installed a whole house filtration system along with an R.O. For the last few years, we’ve used bottled water for all of our drinking and cooking.
At the request of an Environmental advocacy agency, I had bloodwork that showed I had 12 PFAS chemicals in my blood above the toxic limit allowed for humans. High levels of PFAS chemicals associated with breast cancer and ovarian and fallopian tube cancer. (PFAS just loves those reproductive cancers.)
I thought that by using filters and bottled water, I was keeping my family and me safe. Joke was on me.
Oncology docs started paying attention to my PFAS results and as a result I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. December ‘22. They felt that with my blood levels, it would only be a matter of time before they were affected.
Complications from surgery #1 for a year (chronic pain, limited arm movement, seromas) led to a full revision in May ‘23. I’m still recovering from that.
Throughout this all, I continued to work at a job and as a state rep for my town. Other than taking 6 weeks off for the original mastectomy and 1 week!! off after the other two surgeries (Lesson learned – your health is more important than any job) I continued to work through this all.
There are other medical issues that have popped up over the last 4 years with other members of the family but it’s their stories to tell, not mine. Just trust me when I say that since 2019 it has been one wildfire after another.
Even still, I fully grasp that we are all lucky to still be here. I am in a cancer support community and people who have been diagnosed later than I was have already passed from the disease. I am okay for now, can’t speak to tomorrow though – I have learned that cancer does not play fair. (Lesson learned – living one day at a time – it’s not just a catchy phrase, it’s a way of life.)
But man, the broken health system, the misogyny in breast cancer treatment, the ignorance of physicians, the fear and sense of betrayal by my body, and the cost of trying to stay alive have really opened my eyes.
Yup, I have a lot to write about.
