April Showers Bring May Change

Warriors! I have so many updates for you that I can finally share!!!! Settle in and let’s kick this thing off! 

First up is some rather sad news. On February 27th, we lost our beloved 13 year old greyhound Able. As is often the case with those of a “golden age” as grams used to say (aka senior citizens), it wasn’t necessarily expected but it also wasn’t unexpected. Every life does end one way or another for everyone after all. 

I had gotten home from work that day and it was rather chilly out. I went to put a sweater on the sweet old man Able when he fell. This wasn’t unusual for Able as he had doggie ALS. What was unusual was his inability to move one of his back legs when he got up. Mitch rushed home. We gathered up Able’s favorite bed (a well worn slumber ball), a bow tie, crown, salmon treats, and Oliver, then headed off to the urgent care vet. At the vet, Able’s condition continued to deteriorate, affecting both of his back legs. 

As fate would have it, Mitch and I had recently talked about Able’s end of life. We had agreed this would be a situation where we’d let him go over the rainbow bridge, so that’s what we did. Knowing what this sudden change in Able’s health meant for us without having to have the conversation for the first time in that exact moment took a lot of added stress off the situation. I highly recommend having those difficult talks before the time comes, for pets and humans. 

Even with having those talks, it was and still has been quite difficult. As I’m always a bit “extra” and I process myself through my writing, I wrote an obituary for Able that you can read here. He was the absolute king champ and is greatly missed. 

Seeing as Able left a huge hole in our heart and house, I decided that we should foster greyhounds again. Quickly after Able’s passing, Heartland Greyhound Association (who we have fostered around 40 dogs for in the last ten years) had two 18-month-old lurcher farm dog sisters who needed fostering. We agreed to take one in—Dolce. We’ve kept busy teaching her all there is to know about home life. 

Dolce has helped alleviate some of the sadness, while taking up a little space at our place. She’s 45 pounds of a sweet, silly, and still a bit of a puppy. At first I was quite worried we had gotten in way over our heads, but Dolce’s been a quick learner. She’s quickly learned that sinks are not for dogs, how to do stairs, and walk on a leash. We’re still working through some kinks, like a strong dislike of the kennel, but overall it’s been quite a rewarding experience.

Julia’s Health

Medically, this story left off with a pending trip to endocrinology to figure out my thyroid situation. Much to my surprise, my blood work came back better and actually just in range! This led me to be quite confused. Luckily for me, I had Doctor Uma (my new endocrinologist) on my side who was not confused one bit. She took so much time explaining to me how the thyroid and pituitary work. 

After a bunch of labs to rule out things like Hashimotos and any pituitary dysfunction the official ruling is either I’m on way to primary hypothyroidism and/or an angry thyroid post COVID. One might even say sick thyroid syndrome. Basically, sometimes you can get so sick or your thyroid gets so confused when you’re sick that it just goes a bit wonky, like mine did. I have another follow up in early May to continue tracking my numbers and making sure I continue to rebound. Either way, I’ll be keeping endocrinology on the roster to track my numbers and ensure I’m not evolving into primary hypothyroidism. This pokemon here just wishes my poisons and radiation lead to a better evolution like charizard, but I digress. 

Looking back, it’s absolutely wild to me that I was so incredibly sick this fall and yet I continued to work, trying to continue life as normal. It’s interesting how the body tells us to slow down when we’re ill—even forces us to. I wish I had slowed down and taken more time off work to fully heal and address my new concerns when it was happening, but living is learning. This time I learned that I need to truly and totally put my health first. I also need to keep an eye on my thyroid, especially if I get a pandemic disease again. 35 years old and just adding to the ever growing list of “things to keep an eye on.” The joys of survivorship, am I right? 

Work Work Work….

Now to the most exciting update: I’ve been dying to share with everyone! I turned in my notice at the high school I work at as a school nurse! In school settings, one typically turns in their notice for the end of the school year, which is what I did. My last official work day will be May 23rd. I will continue getting paid with insurance through the summer. Then September through December I will pay for COBRA, as we have already met the out of pocket maximum and it will be cheaper to pay for COBRA than a whole new out-of-pocket maximum this late in the year. 

Insurance aside, what does that mean? Where is Julia going next? Well Mitch, Oliver and I are hitting the big open road! We’re becoming the nomads I always dreamed of becoming. From May to around December I won’t be employed full time. Rather, I will be going to tons of conferences, camps, and events to gain even more knowledge on the science of cancer and connect with you all in person! A bit of a “Between Two Kingdoms” type vibe. Mitch will continue to work, as his job is mostly remote. 

We will be adding a calendar page soon to the site, so you can keep up and let us know if we’re near you! For certain, at least I will be hitting Chicago, New York, Portland, Boston, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Colorado. We’d absolutely love to get together with any and all cancer patients, advocates, or simply you dear warriors.

For now, that’s about it warriors. Just a small little update with lots of big changes on the horizon! Expect a lot more posts this summer while we keep you informed of our journeys, and as always, have a magical day!