40 Days of Thankfulness: Days Twenty-Two to Thirty

Posted on November 22, 2010 by MaryO

I haven’t been too great on keeping this list up online but I have been keeping up on my computer so there will be a few catchup posts like this one.

Day 22 (November 5): Jack Canfield’s book Chicken Soup for the Surviving Soul: 101 Healing Stories About Those Who Have Survived Cancer.  There is a great piece in there called The Best Day of my Life.  I’ve written about it before on http://cushingshelp.blogspot.com

Day 23 (November 6): Lou Argow.  She’s been my counselor for many years, starting with my terrifyingly real dreams of death. Thanks, Lou!

Day 24 (November 7): SusanM on the message boards.  She did something so wonderful for me a few years ago, words can’t even describe it.  Fortunately, I have described it before. 🙂  Read more here!  People on the message boards can check this thread out.  Thanks again, Susan!

Day 25 (November 8): Travel.  I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel to several interesting places.  Some, like Iceland, we just lucked in to.  We’ wanted to go to Ireland but the travel agent couldn’t get us in at any time over that summer.  She did get us a deal where, if we flew Iceland Air, they’d give us a free week in a hotel in Iceland before flying us to London.  Duh!  Wonderful trip.

Day 26 (November 9): My dear friend, and sister I never had, Alice.  We’ve only met twice in person but we talk for several hours about every other day.  We’re closer than any of my local friends.  Happy Birthday, Alice!

Day 27 (November 10): TiVo.  I love that I can fast forward through commercials and have all my favorite shows waiting for me when I lie down on the sofa (and fall asleep!)  I probably wouldn’t have gotten one of these when we did but our son got us one for Christmas.  He had it all set up and ready to go on Christmas morning.  At that time, I had no idea of its capabilities but now, I don’t think I could live without it!

Day 28 (November 11): Veteran’s Day.  I am thankful for those who have served and are serving now.  My husband served during the Vietnam-era although he never had to go to Vietnam.

Day 29 (November 12): Crockpot.  Yay!

Day 30 (November 13): Rainbows. I have a special affinity for them.  To me, a rainbow is a sign that things are going to be ok.  Years ago, our little family was in Florida.  I felt guilty about going because my dad was terminally ill with his second bout of colon cancer.  I was worried about him and said a little prayer for him.  I was lying on the beach while DH and our son were in the ocean and I looked up and saw a rainbow.  It was a perfectly clear, sunny afternon.   I even called the people out of the water, in case it was something I wanted to see that didn’t really exist.  They saw it, too.

Where in the world did that rainbow come from, if it wasn’t a sign?

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40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twenty One

Posted on November 5, 2010 by MaryO

Today, I’m thankful that I got to see a friend I haven’t seen for a while and we got to play several piano duets.  Neither of us was quite as rusty as we thought we’d be.



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40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Twenty

Posted on November 3, 2010 by MaryO

Today is a very special day for me.  I am thankful to so many, named and unnamed.  This is the 23rd anniversary of my pituitary surgery at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland.

I couldn’t have gotten to surgery without a myriad of books from the public library, my parents who watched my son while I was at NIH for 6 weeks pre-op, an oncologist, the endo who got me there… So many, and so many years of sickness just trying to get diagnosed.

I won’t bore anyone with my “story” but if anyone is interested, it’s available here.

The short version is that I knew I was sick starting about 2003.  No doctors would offer any help.  A chance description of Cushing’s convinced me that this was what I had.  Even when I presented Xerox copies of medical texts to doctors, they would all say that I couldn’t have it.  It was “too rare”.  I was fat.  I cheated on my diet.  I was depressed.  Go away.  Take drugs.

I finally got to an endo who got me into NIH in 2006.  During six weeks away from home as an in-patient, they diagnosed me with pituitary Cushing’s.

For those who don’t know, here’s where the pituitary gland is:

I had a 7 year old son and I was sure I was going to die during surgery, if not before. I wrote letters “just in case”.  I was terrified of what could happen and also what would happen if I never had surgery.  I knew I couldn’t live with the Cushing’s.

A college contempory of mine wasn’t so lucky.  Luckily, I didn’t read this in the Alumni magazine until after my surgery. She had the same operation. She came from my home town. We  had the same major at the same college, we were the same age. We had the same surgical and medical team. I recovered. The other woman died during surgery.

So, today, on my 23rd anniverary, I am thankful that I saw my son grow up, that my husband stuck with me, that I’m still alive, that I’m able to help others beat Cushing’s…

Thanks to Dr Edward Oldfield, NIH, nurses, doctors, Fairfax County Public Library and how it all worked out in the end.

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40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Nineteen

Posted on November 2, 2010 by MaryO

Today I’m thankful for my paternal grandmother.

I was thinking of her last night when we were watching an old episode of This Old House and they were remarking about how Boston used to be a lot of swamp land.  I told DH that The Fens, (Fenway Park is on the outskirts), used to be a wetland for a long time and is now a beautiful park.

When I was growing up, my Nana used to live right on the outskirts of The Fens and in the summers I used to go there to play on the swings and run through the gardens.

So, I started thinking about my grandmother again and how brave she was.  In the early part of the century she had been living in Scotland with her husband and they had a young son – my father.   Her husband was in the Black Watch during World War I, and he died in Peshawar, India.

For whatever reason, she and her sister (who she never spoke to!) decided to come to America, to Boston to live.  So, when my dad was only 5 they sailed to the US.  I have pictures of him coming off the boat wearing a little kilt.

Somewhere along the line Nana married again, to a hard-working man who helped provide for their little family.

Until my grandmother died, she was a waitress at a YMCA.  But she managed to save a pile of money – under her mattress, in the closet, behind the sofa.  It was amazing.  Her American Dream, I guess.

I cannot imagine having her courage, leaving home with a small child, and starting life anew in a completely new country.

I wish I had been able to tell Nana while she was still alive how much I admired her.  I am thankful that she came here – or I wouldn’t have been born.

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40 Days of Thankfulness: Day Eighteen

Posted on November 1, 2010 by MaryO

This is going to sound really stupid but today I am thankful for my dropbox.  I have files all over the place and I work on them on different computers (PC and Mac), or my iPhone, iPad and other places.  If I’m away from home without anything (rarely happens!) I can still access my stuff online and do with it whatever I want.

I am really lazy and it’s so nice to have my files synced everywhere.  I don’t have to try to find a cable, zip drive or SD card.  Sometimes I’ll find an image or a program I want to install on a different computer and I just stash it in my dropbox.  When I’m done, I delete it or move it to its permant home to save space on the dropbox.

I’m also cheap so I just have the free version and I’m always monitoring how much space is available.  I seem to be running about about a third capacity most of the time.

This really makes my life a little easier and, for that, I’m very thankful today!

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