Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th has long been regarded as an unlucky day stemming from various roots according to an article from National Geographic.  For my part, I've always joked around about it without ever really giving any credence to the phobia and I maintain that belief today.  I find it hard to grasp that my God would set aside a specific calendar day as being "unlucky" for all of mankind.  That being said, I know many people do suffer real consequences from this phobia to the extent that it affects their lives.  It's not my place to judge or condemn anyone about anything just because I don't feel the same.  There is a quote I found many years ago that sums up my feelings very well.  At the time, it was attributed to Mother Teresa (and in many places, it still is).  However, at the website maintained by the Mother Teresa Center, it is a quote that falls under the category "significantly paraphrased versions or personal interpretations of statements Mother Teresa made; they are not her authentic words."  It says:

According to my faith, it's my job to love. (1 Corinthians 13)

I chose the title I did because many will look back on yesterday and whether you attribute it luck or not, it was not a good day.  

First and foremost, the horrific acts violence that tore through Paris, France once again demonstrated that evil is free and loose in our world.  When I finally turned on some news late Friday evening, I was devastated and heart-sore.  My prayers and thoughts go out to everyone touched by those senseless acts of violence that were perpetrated by individuals from an organization that seems to have evil at its very core.  I can think of no cause or belief so great as to justify the slaughter of innocents.  All I can do is pray that this evil will be stopped.

The other reason yesterday was not a good day is that I received some news that is not good.  I had my sentinel node biopsy at Kennestone Hospital.  They discovered that three of the nodes had tumors that tested positive for cancer.  Based on that information, they performed an axillary lymph node dissection.  I'll be honest, I think I tuned out a little bit after that due to the disappointment from the three nodes testing positive plus still coming out of the anesthesia.  My sister said Dr. Robbins said they removed between 30-40 lymph nodes as part of the axillary dissection.  It is my understanding they will test these nodes and I will find out how many showed signs of cancer when I meet again with my oncologist on Monday, November 30.

I won't lie, I was very disappointed by this news.  I was hoping to get out of this with treatment consisting of radiation and tamoxifen only.  With this news, at best, we will be adding chemotherapy to the mix.  The battle is going to be a little harder than I was expecting.

I am also having some uncomfortable side effects from the surgery.  Due to the scope of what they had to remove, there were some sensory nerves involved.  I have some significant numbness in my underarm and back of my upper right arm.  Post surgery, I had quite a bit of pain in this arm as well.  It is some better today, but not completely gone.  In addition, I have a drain tube that I have to deal with for a little bit.  Because of this, I am trying to sleep in my recliner to keep from accidentally crushing it or crimping the tube from lying in the bed.  It and the numbness in my arm make showering an interesting affair.

In the famous words of a former co-worker, "It is what it is."  So now I take it one step at a time.