A Season of Suddenlies

It’s been awhile since my last blog post, so trying to catch up a bit. Some days life seems pretty mundane, nothing special happens, then “other” days seem to bring more than a body wants to deal with.

Since mid December of 2018 and going into March of 2019, I have had more days of “suddenlies” than I cared to deal with. 

As anyone who has followed my blog posts knows, I am in treatment for a rare type of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, by the name of Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma. The words themselves are more than I ever expected to deal with, much less the treatment for the disease these words represent. 

These are my “suddenlies”

- Victim of identity theft 3 different times in 3 months

- New car had mulch blown all over it at Biltmore, mulch plastered to the car

- Another health scare with a lung nodule, CT scan, PET scan, biopsy

- Phone call at 4 a.m. from my cousin telling me that my Aunt Dot 

  had passed away… SUDDENLY!

- That same night at 8 p.m. got a call…another identity theft

I don’t know about you but when I have a little warning, I deal with things differently than when something happens suddenly. A phone call brought most of these “suddenlies”. You answer the phone, someone on the other end of the line starts telling you something and you are like...What??? You can’t mean it!!! Oh Lord, please let this be a dream!!! This has happened…AGAIN??? Then you slowly begin to get your wits about you and if you are like me, I start asking God to help me deal with this thing…this “suddenly”! And He always comes through.

 In just a few moments, your life can be altered…for good or bad. Then it’s our choice as to what we do with these “suddenlies.” Life seems like a roller coaster in the past few years. I’m learning to respond rather than react…at least a little better than I used to when I was younger and had not had as much practice!

The latest health situation with the lung nodule turned out to be benign. The pulmonary doctor, radiologist who did biopsy and the surgeon were almost positive it was that “C” word. Either lymphoma or lung cancer was pretty much the verdict…although they didn’t have biopsy results to confirm. They pretty much had me convinced because I thought….they were the experts. My oncologist however did not hold the same opinion because she felt it was some side effect of lymphoma treatment. Results were to be known in 48 hours…turned into 6 days. As each day came and went I kept feeling…they can’t pin point this thing…which I had chosen to side with my oncologist anyway! I liked her opinion. Results came…suddenly…on a Saturday night…not “C”!!! Praise be to God!!! Even though the lung dr. has reservations and we are doing another CT in 3 months, I am trusting God that it will be GONE!. They are stopping my lymphoma treatment to help my body’s immune system to rebound and fight this nodule and get rid of it. 

God is so faithful to me. The longer this journey goes along, the closer I feel to Him. As you walk out these “suddenlies”, you change…you grow…you reflect…you think about future differently…or at least I do. I was reading in the Living Bible translation tonight in Psalm 17:15 which says…But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth, but in seeing you and knowing all is well between us. And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face. 

We all have battles, challenges and life events that cause us to look deep within ourselves and we either realize we are stronger than we thought we were OR we begin to see we have some “self work” to take care of. But there’s one thing for sure, if you know Jesus Christ, you have Holy Spirit living within you and he can help you through any “suddenly” like he is doing with me. 

This post is more serious than most, but it has been a more serious time for me. I guess that’s why I haven’t written…I wasn’t sure “which” thing to write about. 

I started this blog 2 years ago last week…this is the longest period I have gone without writing and this one was written in March, I just never published it…I guess mainly because of so many different distractions…hopefully I will get back on track soon! Maybe even in the next week…tomorrow I have another follow up CT scan for the lung nodule(which had decreased in size 3 months ago!) and then on Monday I have an MRI scheduled for the yearly check on the pituitary tumor so I will try to give an update soon and maybe share some Tea updates!!! A subject that is much more fun for me!