A Little Surgery

This mild March morning, early, Keith drove me to The Skin Center in Cary.
I had an appointment to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose--a small area close to the tip of my nose.
My dermatologist had previously treated the area for pre-cancer, then, at a follow-up visit, it was diagnosed as cancer.

From the Skin Cancer Foundation:
"Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer, affecting approximately one million Americans each year. In fact, it is the most common of all cancers. More than one out of every three new cancers are skin cancers, and the vast majority are basal cell carcinomas. These cancers arise in the basal cells, which line the deepest layer of the epidermis (top skin layer)."

I checked in at 6:45.
The office was inviting, with indirect lighting, comfy chairs and couches placed in grouping around the solarium, magazines and newspapers scattered here and there, along with a coffee bar; perfect for patients waiting to hear news---would more treatment would be needed, would repairs be simple, complex?

My nurse, Nicole, was friendly, kind and thoughtful. My doctor was warm, sensitive, charmingly funny.
Waiting was part of the plan, primarily for the anesthesia to work, but I'm not good at waiting (a trial for me):( Thankfully I could hear surgery chatter next door that kept me somewhat comforted that I was not alone/forgotten.

After being called back three times, Nicole gave us the news that they had removed all the cancer. After more waiting the doctor arrived to gently stitch my nose. It was painless. As he worked he told how his widowed mom had taught him to sew:)

At 10:45, with my nose bandaged like a clown and feeling pretty exhausted, I climbed into the Cruiser for Keith to take me home. Home to my couch, home to mend.

Joyce

Death has reared it's ugly head in our neighborhood, at a house within sight of me. Last Friday Joyce, the sunshine neighbor of Apache Lane, suffered a stroke & Sunday she died.
Little did I know.
Then last evening I received an email from a good friend who reads the News & Observer obits, asking if I knew Joyce, who worked at the library.
I was stunned.
I was stricken with grief.

Joyce & her dear friend (a fellow neighbor) walked early in the mornings at the same time I walked Wyatt, so we ran into them 2 or 3 times a week. They loved to pet Wyatt:) And Wyatt would gallop to greet them, only to get close & act timid to have them pet him...a mystery? Then I finally figured out it must be that they both had a cat, & he could smell the cats as he got near them (cats are a scary thing to Wyatt). Joyce & her friend were such good sports though & every morning would be tickled to see him, & we always enjoyed a quick chat:)

Joyce & her husband Brien offered Cameron his first job. Joyce called Cameron to ask if he wanted to work for them at The Postal Center--and he loved that job:) Even Seth worked there later for a time:)

Joyce worked at the library right up the street for years, so everybody knew her. She was truly a delightful person, one of the most positive people you could ever meet! She always asked about you & the focus was on you, never her.
And her smile lit up a room, or a library, or a green way:)
And what a sense of humor! Any time you were with her you laughed.
She never failed to make you feel better, a rare gift:)

I will miss her, our neighborhood will miss her, her best friends will miss her, her co-workers will miss her, & her family will never be the same.

A woman of great light & joy has left us.

Well....

It's Sunday night, the first day of Daylight Savings Time for 2010.
Skye left for Boone right after lunch, after spending Spring Break at home...always a little sad to see her leave.
It's quiet.
Keith & I are watching the movie, Jumper.

I haven't written in a while.
Maybe a big part of the reason is I have struggled with two bouts of respiratory bugs since Christmas. This second cold has knocked me back for almost a month. My immune system must be on the blink, or something. I'm usually healthy as a horse:)

Feeling punky, having no energy, eventually wears me down. I must say even as Spring approaches, I've been suffering with some depression, feeling blue.
Years ago I dealt with my "great depression" after my Cameron was born. It's a tough road. But my blues only lasted a couple of years. Countless people fight chronic depression all their lives. Now that's TOUGH with a capital T!

I've recently cut down my days at Cardland from three to two, thinking it would be more manageable, push me to do some artwork, give me more time for C&C and Stephen Ministry, but, am not sure I did the right thing at the right time...
Second guessing myself. Not good for a Presbyterian girl to do it for very long.

I'll keep you posted.
Oh, Jumper turned out to be a good movie--it just ended without really "ending":)