Monday Morning This and That

Life is a celebration of awakenings, of new beginnings,

and wonderful surprises that enlighten the soul.

Cielo

Another weekend over, too quickly, but there is a different feel to this Monday.  This is my last Monday at work. Only five days to go. Sometimes, when I think about it,  I still find it hard to believe.   Last year at this time I was feeling a bit hopeless, like there was no way out.  I just didn't think I would make enough in pension and social security to survive and felt I would have to work until I dropped. But then, when health issues came up, I knew something had to be done, and that is when I decided to make my move.

This weekend I only had to cook  for one week only. I kept it simple, but I did make a dish that turned out so delicious it is worth making again--Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry.  Simple and tasty. 

1 cup onions (I love onions, and they are so good for you)
1/2 head of cabbage
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup broccoli
3 tablespoon low sodium Teriyaki sauce
Pepper to taste
No salt butter

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and cook in butter. When chicken is almost finished cooking, add about a teaspoon of the teriyaki sauce and finish cooking, making sure it does not burn.  Set aside.

Saute onion in butter.  Add chopped cabbage.  On the side, cook broccoli and  when cabbage is almost done, add chicken, broccoli, and rest of teriyaki sauce to the cabbage and simmer.  Serve over rice. 

On Friday, they called me to set up an appointment for my thyroid biopsy. I've been so hung up on my lung biopsy that I totally forgot about that one and was totally taken aback. It just seems so overwhelming right now. I couldn't make a decision, and besides, the doctor who called to set the appointment, is NOT the doctor my 'endo' referred me to. Nice of someone to alert me, the patient, of any changes made. I asked if I could call them back. I just can't think right now. So much is going on around me.

On top of that, when I got home, hubby had a message for me about my lung biopsy.  It seems they have scheduled me for blood work and EKG for Monday morning at 9 am.....this, after I told them I would  still working up until the 15th and couldn't take any more time off.  I am not keeping this appointment. I just had an EKG and bloodwork for medical clearance 3 weeks ago.  Why again?This has me a little upset and feeling as if everyone has their hand out trying to get a piece of me....and my insurance. I've been told that as bad as my insurance may seem to me, it is one of the better ones. At this point I have a regular physician, a pulmonologist, a radiologist interventionist, an endocrinologist, and now this doctor, who I have never met, who is calling about the biopsy.  Oh, and my doctor still has me scheduled for more tests on other parts of the body.  She has to be kidding. I can't keep up with it all.  Oh, and before I forget,  the first thing everyone does is send me for bloodwork. I've been poked and prodded more these past few months than most people in a lifetime. 

I'm trying so hard to stay upbeat, I really am, but they are not making it easy. I want so much to believe they have my best interests at heart, but it seems that everyone is making money off me--doctors, labs, XRay techs. Everyone. Maybe it is because I've never been sick before. Who knows? But all ll I wanted was that ONE WEEK of freedom in retirement before this running to doctors started again. I just wanted to put it all out of my head and relish this new stage of my life. Is that too much to ask? And just when I am beginning to feel the joy of a new beginning, they have to bring me down. I don't want to be depressed. I'm trying hard not to be, but sometimes....

Sorry for rambling so on what should be the start of such a happy week for me.  I don't handle 'sick' very well, and the fact is, no matter who is making money, no matter how much I try to push it out of my mind, the fact is there is a possibility that a cancer is growing inside of me, and it has to be taken care of.  

But, for now I am going to pull myself out of this dumb depressed state that  I seem to have allowed myself to fall into.  Perhaps it is all this heat and humidity getting to me. I don't handle 'hot' very well either. It's time to get myself ready for the celebration, for this truly is truly a week of celebration as I prepare to enter a new and wondrous stage of my life.  Whatever comes was meant to be. May you all have a blessed day.

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!

Barbara Hoffman