The Yearly CT Scan

 Every year since about 2007, I have had to have CT scans or Ultrasounds on my abdomen because I have 2 cysts that are benign.  There usually are no surprises or anything, well, until this past week.  I had to switch urologist because the one I went to did nothing t accept the new insurance that I had.  I found another one that my primary doctor suggested.  He was really nice.  He retired so I have a different doctor from that practice.  Thursday, I thought I had a Telehealth appointment, however, I guess it got changed to in person and no one told me.  I called at 10:30. That is how I found out. The person I was speaking to was very insistent that I have an in person appointment.  I did think it was a bit strange, but I made the appointment.  I was extremely unprepared for what I was about to hear. The is another mass and I have to have a biopsy this coming week.  There is a 70-80% chance it is cancer.  I am trying to not think about that  too much.  I am very anxious about it. My ADHD brain has been racing ever since.  All I right now is I have to have a biopsy.  I am working being strong. I am a work in progress. 

Was I a Mistake?

 March 24, 2025

For as long as I can remember I have thought at times I have thought God had made a big mistake when He made me.  I can remember when I was around 5 there would be nights where I would cry most of the night.  My mother would be holding me most of the night.  I would rarely go to school the next day because I would be so exhausted and my eyes would be very swollen.  This would happen a couple of times a year. I would sleep all morning and when I woke up, I would be okay.

It took years and years and years for me to believe that I was not a mistake.  Unfortunately, it wasn't until I tried to kill myself. The first time I tried, I was a junior in high school.  I Took a bottle of meds.  It was not pleasaant when I was brought to the hospital.  This was also my first flare up with Fibromyalgia. The last time I called my older brother before I  was going to take anything. He saved my life that night.  He stayed on the phone with me until our mother came home from Toronto.  

I have had extremely bad anxiety all my life.  I now know that a good percentage of my anxiety is from my ADHD.  I was only diagnosed with ADHD in 2021 or 2022. I have been fighting an eating disorder since I was 14 when my pediatrician put me on a 400 calories a day diet. It is extremely difficult to only eat 400 calories a day.  Hence the beginning of my fight with Bulimia.  (This was in the early 80's so the thinking of diets was completely different than today) I had to get weighed every week.  My mother had to keep track for the doctor.  Eventually, my mother came to realize that 400 calories a day was not good for me and stopped with weekly weigh-ins, especially when I started with the Fibromyalgia.  Things got a whole lot better then. 

Knowing your worth is so important.  I finally learned my worth about middle junior year at Wayne State. I can't remember what song I sang to anymore. I would get told that I was really dumb. I wasn't as pretty as some of my friends. 

Kathy to the Rescue, How She Saved Me from a Major Meltdown

 It seems like a lifetime ago now.

I missed the first day of Kindergarten.  We were driving home from vacation.  It was a two day drive from Florida.  My older brother was beginning 3rd grade and my younger brother was starting preschool, which was at our church.  He had finished Nursery School the year before.  That was how Kathy and I met.  At church and Nursery School.  We were three.  

Mom and Andrew went to school with me.  Richard walked to school with his friends.  When we found my classroom and mom was saying goodbye, I was super confused and starting to melt down.  No one had explained that I had to stay at kindergarten all morning!  I thought we got our work and went home to do it.  I was really wrong.  As I was beginning to meltdown, Mom spotted Kathy!  Mom pointed out Kathy and the chair next to Kathy was empty.  Meltdown avoided completely.  I just said, bye mom and walked to see Kathy.  She seemed relieved to see me too.  Kathy and I were together all the time.  We were partners when we needed go have a partner.  We rarely fought.  I can only remember 2 big fights in our whole friendship up to date.  One was in 3rd grade and the other was in 6th grade.  That was really about it.  Oooh, I did get mad one day in our band class during our senior year and one day in our theory class in our senior year.  

Kathy was very shy.  She rarely spoke in school.  I, on the other hand, was what my mom called a chatterbox.  I now know that for me, the chatterbox is a part of my ADHD.  We didn't know back then.  I was just really glad I found a friend who would listen to my chattering and she found a friend who would talk to her.

By the time 3rd grade came along, we were still in the same class.  We were both happy about that.  In 4th grade, against both our parents telling m the teachers that splitting us up would not get Kathy to speak more in class, they still decided to separate us.  At that time, I was viewed as bossing her around.  I did not.  The results they wanted did not happen.  Kathy said even less.  It also proved that I did not boss her around. We were never in the same elementary school class together again.  This broke my heart.

Junior high and high school we did have quite a few classes together through those years.  We were in band together for most years, not all, just most.  We were in band class and I sat behind her. She was third chair and I was fifth chair.  Kathy would actually turn around to talk to and then I would get in trouble.  She did this for a few days.  My breaking point was a few days later in our music theory class.  Our friend, Dave and Kathy were getting me and Dave in trouble for talking a few days before.  I purposely sat all the way across the room from them to stop them getting me in trouble.  Ha, when they started talking, I lost it.  I picked up my books and stuff, I said it isn't me!  It also isn't me in band class!  It is Kathy.  Then I burst into tears and left the classroom to go home.  When I got home, I called my mom and told her if any one calls to say I left my 7th hour, well, I did.  Mom and I talked about when she got home.  I didn't really get in trouble for leaving school, I was just told not to do that again.  The next day in band class, Kathy turned around to talk to me and she got caught by our teacher!  The teacher was standing, but she had to sit down.  She actually apologized to me. She also said I had a reputation of talking a lot.  I rarely talked in any music classes.  Rarely.  In theory class, I sat, again across from Kathy and yes, she also got caught.  Even though I was not a popular girl, there were a few kids in the class who told our teacher that it had been Kathy from the beginning of the year. That teacher also apologized and asked if I was sitting across from my best friend because of this. I said yes.  The teacher told me I could go back to my original seat and she would not blame me for others talking.  I moved back.

These are just a few of our adventures.  There are so many more!

Cymbalta

 About a month ago, I saw an advertisement of SwingCare, which a one of a kind group of medical professionals that work with only patients who have Fibromyalgia.  It is a virtual office.  I did contact them last year  UT they did not accept my insurance.  The person I spoke to told MD to check back because more and more insurances were being added as time went on.  The second time I contacted them, my insurance was accepted after being added sometime last year.  They work with all aspects of Fibromyalgia.  My first two appointments went so good.  The doctor added Cymbalta to my meds.  I had tried it years ago.  Many years ago.  I was up for trying it again.  

After a month of taking the generic of Cymbalta, I have noticed some good changes.  The biggest one is my sleep has improved.  I actually can sleep 6-7 hours straight through.  This is huge for me.  I generally, for years, woke up every 2-3 hours from pain, and then I would need to get out of bed to get back in to lay on the other side.  Not now.  I also think it has helped my mental health.  I never thought I had I had any kind of depression, however, being in pain 24/7 for about 32 years does cause some issues.  The Cymbalta has helped.  I had an appointment with my doctor last week and I am very pleased with the plan that we are following.  Sometimes it is really hard being in pain all the time.  I do my best and try to keep a good attitude, sometimes it is hard.  

Chasing a Man Who Never Wanted to be my Dad

 My parents divorced when I was around 8-9 years old, it was so hard on us three kids.  Mom took each of us out individually so she could talk about stuff with her.  I was first as I was having major meltdowns every time she walked out the door and it didn't matter why.  She could be going to the store or school or the Armories, it didn't matter where.  We went to McDonald's for our special time together.  At the end of our chat, Mom pinky promised that she would not move anywhere without me too.  Mom said that we were a team, Mom me, and my two brothers.  Mom kept her promise.  She never left us.  Even at the end, when she passed.away.  she had Alzheimer's Disease.  Mom was heading into the last stage of Alzheimer's, stage 7.  

We visited our dad only a few times after he moved out.  He did get remarried right after the divorce.  I think I may have been about 10 years old the last time I spoke with him.   I can only remember a tiny bit of some of the visits.  I don't remember this, however, apparently, the last time he did call us, he had asked us if we wanted to move in with him.  I do vaguely telling him I didn't want to live on a farm.  Both boys agreed.  I guess when we did that, our dad decided to shut us out of his life, mind, and heart, only at the time we didn't know that.  

It was zero communication for about the next 41 years.  I had written a letter to my dad.  No answer.

In 2008, I joined Facebook.  I really liked it because I made friends differs groups I had joined and I found friends I hadn't since in years and years.  Started around 2017, I would randomly put my dad's name in under the find friends as well as my step mother's day is name.  Some time in 2017-2018, one night I put my step mother's name and my step mother's profile popped up!  I was so excited.  I found my dad.  I had been looking for him for years.  At first it was really good.  I did eventually block my step mother on Facebook.  It was better that way.  It really began to get harder for me to speak with them on a regular basis because of the mean things that they were saying to me about my mother.  I even told them that mom had never said anything derogatory about either one of them, which is true.  All she would say is, he is your father.  Unfortunately, it was not reciprocated until after my dad died.  It was very hurtful to hear from my step mother that according to her my dad never loved my mother and he only married her because he felt sorry for her.  It made me feel like I was born out of hate in the family, not love.  I asked my 2 uncles about this and they said that my mom and dad were in love so we were born out of love.

My step mother found my half sister in 2020.  This was a dream come true.  We hope to see each other in person this spring.  A few years ago, I was talking to my step mother around my dad's and my step sister's birthday that it wouldn't make any difference to my dad if we talked to him or if we didn't.  It was at the moment, I realized that I had been chasing my father who didn't want to be my dad.  

He passed away a couple years ago.  It was so weird to hear that he passed away and then to be asked if I wanted to be listed in his Obituary.  I said yes.  I wanted to be a acknowledged, I didn't want to be erased again.  That is how I felt.  My other siblings made their own choices.

After he died, my step mother stopped saying mean things about my mom.  She misses my dad so much, which I can understand.  They were married for 46 years years.  It was difficult for me to hear all the time what a good man and dad he was.  This was his 3rd marriage and while yes, I am glad he learned how to be a good husband, he wasn't a good husband to my mother or my half sister's mother.  He may have been a good dad to my 2 step sisters and a good grandfather to my step sisters' children,  I am glad he was to them, however, again, he wasn't for the four of us.  You have to be present to be a good dad.  He wasn't.  

After he passed away, I did keep in touch with my step mother.  I called her my bonus mom.  She really doesn't like the "step mother" title so that is when started calling her my bonus mom.  I really did try to be as understanding as I could, right now though, I need a break from hearing how good of a man my dad was.  I just had to take a break.  My heart couldn't take knowing that my father loved my two step sisters, yet not his four children.  I just couldn't.  He abandoned me, us.  Some scars take decades to heal.  Being abandoned hasn't healed yet.

Who knows, maybe 2025 is the year it finally gets worked through.  I can always hope!

How do we know if we are a good person?

 Sometimes I think the world has gone mad.  I  don't understand how some forget that everyone deserves kindness and respect.  Some of my favorite verses are Matthew 25:35-40. 

Matthew 25:35-40

New International Version

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I know that every culture and religion has similar.  It isn't a new idea to treat people the way you want to be treated.  This is something that was important in our house, however, depending on the day is whether or not this was in practice.  I do aspire to this ideal. Sometimes, I reach close to it, a lot of times, I fail miserably.  

When I started teaching, I had a couple of role models, one I wanted to be similar to, my ballet teacher, Debbie Martin Carlisle, and one I never wanted to be like, the voice teacher I had at Wayne State University. He was mean and lazy too.  the first three semesters, I sang everything I had  sang the prior 2 years.  He definitely showed me that being mean and cruel was not very inspiring and not helpful. Debbie, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.  I noticed that Debbie got great results out of her students without being mean or cruel or putting them down.  To this day, I really try hard to be a teacher like Debbie. 

I love teaching.  I really miss teaching full time.  When I was younger, I thought I was born for Broadway.  Then I got sick.  No more Broadway.  Thankfully, I had teaching to fall back on.  That was when I discovered I wasn't born for Broadway, but teaching.  Every lesson, choir, band, performance, class, all of that was to prepare me to be the best teacher I can be. I am thankful I  can still teach a tiny bit.  It is better than no teaching at all.

Finding My Value and Acting On It

 Yesterday was an absolutely horrible day.  Simply awful.  I think I cried more yesterday than I have in a very long time.  I missed my mother as much as I did the day she passed away.  I have caught the guck, as we call it, that is going around.  I have infections in both ears and I had a lot of congestion.  With the help of meds I am on the mend.  I somehow slept from Saturday Midnight to Monday noon.  Yup mostly straight through, which of course means no meds at all on Sunday as I was completely asleep.  On Monday, when I woke up, I was very light headed and it was not good.  

I was watching some videos on FaceBook when one really caught my eye and practically hit me right in the face.  So it was about a bottle of water.  in the grocery store it is $1, then a restaurant is $3 or something like that, and then I think there may have been one more with the last being the bottle is $6 in an airport.  The point was, if you don't feel like you have value, maybe you are in the wrong place.  So, as the day progressed, I realized how I have I allowed people to speak to me with disrespect and not only with disrespect but also treat me with much disrespect.  

Today, it was like night and day when I woke up.  I do think that making the decision I made yesterday was a part of it, also, I hadn't realized that the newest med I have from SwingCare has done more for me than just help the Fibromyalgia.  SwingCare added Cymbalta.  After yesterday, with missing a full day of meds, including Cymbalta, I realized that it is also helping my mental health.  This does makes sense since it is an anti-depressant. I feel so much better today.

Watch out world, here I come!