Christmas and health scares

Recently my hematologist, whom I go to for hemolytic anemia, noticed some abnormalities in my blood. Enough that he ordered a bone marrow biopsy. I almost blew off the biopsy--the thought of it terrified me immensely. I also made the mistake of googling the procedure and that worked me up even more. Finally I scheduled the biopsy--the first day of my two week Christmas break. Now, I must admit, it wasn't as horrible as I had imagined. Of course the Demerol I insisted they give me relaxed me somewhat. When the "Biopsy guy? came in, I had to laugh and say something to him, as I recognized him from 2 years ago as a man I was sitting near at a local coffee shop who was rather intoxicated and loud and extremely funny. Once I said something, we realized we had several friends in common and that led to some small talk, which also helped to relax me.

Then came the waiting. Waiting. Waiting. and once again my imagination began to run away with me. I kept thinking, "It's bad news and they don't want to call me right before Christmas, so they are waiting." Sure enough, the first working day after Christmas, they call--answering the phone, I was holding my breath, waiting for the bombshell. Whew, it never came. The doc said" Well, the biopsy doesn't look horrible." He went on to say that there were no indications of Leukemia and that my red blood cells may be showing some early signs of displasia. Hmm....the white blood cells are what caused them to order the biopsy, so I found that strange. Although my red blood cells are white I've been seeing a hematologist since 2006. My doc is retiring on the 31st of this month, so I will see a new doc in January to go over the results of the test thoroughly and see if we are going to follow a treatment plan of any sort. At least the worrying is over for now.

Autumn

I spent this past weekend camping in Flat Rock, North Carolina. We had a lot of fun at the Flat Rock Music Festival. I'm home now and back at work. Last night I found myself feeling melancholy. The air changes when fall is here and it makes me feel a little sad. Not sure why, I love fall days, but nights and early morning seem to depress me. I sat on the patio yesterday afternoon with my dog Sparky and four of my 6 cats. We all just sat out there enjoying the crispness of the air and the slight breeze. The sun was shining and felt so good after all the rain we have been having. Yet, once darkness fell, the melancholiness set in. This morning was no better. It's no longer light outside when I get up, which is very depressing to me. It was 51 degrees and I just seem to have a hard time getting motivated in the dark. I need sunshine--lot's of sunshine. Perhaps I find fall sort of depressing because I know winter is right around the corner. Spring and summer are my months!!! Maybe it's time to start counting down till Spring. However, I don't want to wish my life away!!! I have another festival to go to this weekend. Haven't decided if I am going to camp or not. If it is raining, I am not camping. If it's nice, it should be good camping weather. Music will end at 11:00, so camping would be better than driving home, although it isn;t far from home--about an hour or so. I guess this will be the last festival of the season. There is one more the following weekend, butI don't think I can afford another one. wish I could. I do love camping at music festivals. We'll see. Still need to buy the part for the heater, so I need to budget my money accordingly. I will be going to homecoming at the University of West Alabama on the 30th of October. That should be fun. The alumni homecoming party is always fun. Probably won't do the football game. I suppose I need to quit rambling and get some work done.......................