Tu(m)ors and Travels

It was Monday June 17th, 8am, at Intel's JF Conference Center. Sixty four new hires stood in line to get their badge pictures taken, and then got ushered to a huge training room where they all got their laptops delivered. In about three hours, the new employee orientation was complete and everyone was free to socialize. It was at that point that it hit me that just about everyone in that room was closer in age to my highschooler than to me. They all had the enthusiasm and innocence I had as a recent college grad, twenty years ago, in that very room. Same employer, same conference room, and the same me, and yet, somehow it felt very different. I probably still have some of that enthusiasm but much lower energy, and certainly none of the 24yr old's innocence. I was just beginning to understand my new norm! That afternoon, I met with my new team- consisting mostly of my dear old coworker/friends. I got the general description of the projects I will be working on. I got reminded of...

I laid down next to Taara in her bed this evening and read about why Uranus is the coldest planet, even though Neptune is farther from our Sun. Minutes before sitting in my bed to write this post, I took my contacts off, undid my ponytail, and brushed with my electric toothbrush. Before that, I drove to four different friends' homes to return their food containers they thoughtfully filled with yummy food and delivered to my family last month. Earlier in the day, my mom massaged my scalp with coconut oil, comparing today's scar status with yesterday's in the process. I did not need to ask my dad to lower the TV volume at all today (he watches TV with ridiculously high volume)  Four months ago, none of the seemingly mundane activities I described above would have been worth another thought, let alone warrant a blog post here. From the initial diagnosis (Feb 15th) to surgery (April 30th) to today (June 15th), what a rollercoaster it has been! I am able to sleep OK even when my...