Giving Thanks

Someone forwarded a little Facebook fill in the blank last night, and one question was, have you almost died. Well, yeah. Not cancer, but becoming septic from no immune system and a bladder infection that moved to my blood. So yeah, I almost died. That was in April. But regular chemo ended in June and the immunotherapy I am on now seems to not screw with me too much. My bowels have a mind of their own (TMI?) but other than that life is as close to normal as I can expect, as I live with neuropathy and balance issues. I have a scan next Monday and right now I feel like all will be well. So tomorrow, on Thanksgiving, I can give thanks for chemo working, having an amazing surgeon who got rid of most, if not all, of my cancer pre-chemo, and a fantastic team at Hopkins who take care of me. On Thanksgiving tomorrow I can be thankful that I knew Bethany and Kaity, who left us way way too soon last month. They were half my age and it so sucks that cancer took them away. I think of Jarrod, Bethany’s devoted husband, and Hope, Kaity’s dog, who probably still doesn’t understand where Kaity is. I am thankful to BARCS, which really does give so much purpose to my life. It’s so much more than dogs and cats. Some of the best people I have ever met work and volunteer there. I missed it so much the months I couldn’t be there. I’m happy to be back there. I usually have way too many people here at Thanksgiving, but this year will be far more intimate. Just a couple of cousins and Jerry’s son, James. But yes, I made two pies today and tomorrow will be spent cooking, though I know James and Jerry will help with everything. I love Thanksgiving, even though the holiday has hideous connotations of stolen land and robbed identity. And this is the first year I have ever really thought about giving thanks. But this past year has been like no other in my life. It was hell but I came through. So yeah, I’ve got plenty to be thankful for.