@Macknit I loved reading your reply! Thank you for taking the time to post and share about yourself. WoW...as you said, so many of us have been on challenging journeys. I read where you wrote you are in a second career waiting to retire. I really admire all you have done in teaching elementary education. Seems like teaching has become a thankless job. I feel Blessed I had my professional life and career when I did because frankly, I can see things were MUCH less kooky even just a few years ago.
As an aside, I grew up in Providence Rhode Island, so I have that stubborn & industrious, proud & independent New England immigrant mentality In me. My mom immigrated from Italy and my dad was born in the USA. For a variety of reasons, I became very strong, industrious, independent and self-sufficient at a very young age. As these traits served me throughout my young life, I honed the traits very well.
Fast forward 61 years later and BOY has life changed! I won't bore you to tears but I find I'm needing to practically re-learn how to make things "work" for me, in so many ways.
I've mentioned within these threads that I am a certified Nurse Practitioner in Neurological & Psychiatric Nursing. My passion was working with the severely ill, medically compromised, neglected & homeless members of our society, those with TBIs, spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders, chronic mental health issues and the like. Due to many factors, my work occasionally departed from neuro-psych. I did lots of HOSPICE and AIDS work in Connecticut (during the AIDS crisis...mid 80s to mid 90s). I did Crisis Management in emergency rooms in Connecticut Hospitals (rapes, drug overdoses, domestic violence, muggings).
I moved to Manhattan around 1992 and did home care, Managed Care, consultation, auditing. I've taught at the college level all over and I've done some research. My final and most beloved job in NYC was as the Medical/Nursing Director of a Christian Foster Care Agency in the South Bronx/East Harlem, Cardinal McCloskey Children's Services. I managed a nursing staff who case managed the care our 550+ children required & received when they were removed from their homes and placed in Foster Care homes.
Off to Michigan I come as I follow husband for work. More mobile care for the homeless and helpless, treating people who are living under bridges in Detroit and Pontiac...more teaching.
Finally, I developed metastatic breast cancer in September 2013. Much of the treatment for the breast cancer, along with maternal history and occupational events led up to my wonky arthritic knees...that plus becoming 100 lbs overweight at one point, too.
One of my neighbors has been living with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia now for two years. She has also opted out of treatment for now and she seems to be doing alright. She is frequently tired and fatigued, she always looks pale. My neighbor is in her early 50s and is member of the Latter Day Saints Church of Jesus Christ. She and her husband have 8 children ranging in ages 7 to 24 years. I worry about her but Wendy is pretty stubborn and she rarely opts for conventional western treatments, or therapy.
Wendy's husband John had a total hip replacement just days after I had my TKR. Wendy, her husband John and I had many discussion abut the "over-use of surgery"...their opinions, not so much mine. After two failed stem cell treatments, along with a host of other failed stuff, John just had his hip replaced on November 3rd.
So, pardon my ramble but thank you for reading. Your post brought me down memory lane.
You are obviously a very strong person. Unlike you, I do not have a large & loving family. That is something I at times miss in my later years. But for a plethora of reasons, children and grandchildren were not meant to be.
Every person copes and manages as best as they can, I suppose. I rarely, if ever comment anymore on things of which I know little about unless I've had some first hand experience.
Peace, harmony, tranquility is what I strive for.