I share this photo as a mere warning! It is of my shin on my left leg. It is cancer!
I haven't posted for quite awhile. Life got in the way! A week ago last Tuesday I had a biopsy on an area of my leg that I have been concerned about. I first noticed it in August or September...who writes those things down??? I had it frozen in October when we returned from Molokai but it never healed...so I went in for the biopsy. They said I would have results in a week, so imagine my surprise when they cheerfully called the next day to tell me that I have cancer! It is a squamous cell carcinoma to be medically correct...but when you hear that...all you hear is CANCER! Because they have already froze it and burned it...the next step is to have surgery to ensure that they get all the cells. I am flying to Honolulu to have the Moh's procedure preformed in January.
At first I was just going to keep this to myself, but after telling family, I decided to call one of my dear friends who lives in Seattle to tell her. We have been through much together. She once sat with me waiting for the ambulance following my car wreck two years ago which was near her house in Kona at the time. Then she sat at the hospital with me and fed me ice chips for 7 hours and put vaseline on my swollen and bruised lips. She was there with Menehune Man and I and offered much support and comfort. She had been in a bad accident a year before. Flipped her car....rolled it and skidded on the pavement while trying to hold her head off of it! She knew what I was going through!
So with that background info said, I called her but she didn't answer and a day went by...then two days before my phone rang. She was calling from the hospital in Seattle. Only two weeks previous, she had discovered that she was pregnant and on this day, had been rushed to the hospital for an emergency C-section. She now has a tiny, 1 lb 1oz baby girl to add to their family. Yes, that weight is correct! 1 lb oz.!!! It was touch and go for a time and my friend nearly lost her life due to complications of the pregnancy. That does still happen, even in this age!
Somehow, hearing of her brush with death, helped me to put my own ailment into perspective. Funny how that works. I guess a premature baby and pre-eclampsia trump skin cancer any day! I am just thankful that both momma and baby are doing so well. Infact, baby Mikayla has almost doubled her weight in one week! Everyday I wait to hear updates on her and was thrilled with a photo of her yesterday.
So to my customers, I share this as an explanation for why my bag production was down this past 2 weeks. Sometimes, life just happens. I am still looking at about 71 bags on order that I hope to have done before Christmas. Keeping my hands busy also helps to keep my mind occupied while I await surgery.
According to the USPS the last day to ship to the mainland US is December 17 and shipping interisland has a cut off date of December 22. Knowing that, I am planning to close shop from December 23 - January 4th to take inventory, clean house, enjoy MM and regroup for a BUSY new year!
a hui hou
6 comments:
You are so brave, ambitious, and have such a positive attitude. Good luck with the procedure. Best wishes to you.
Aloha from a fan of Sasaki Bags!
Jana,
Thank you. I am a fan of the philosophy that "everything happens for a reason". So what are you going to do but "roll with it" and try to figure out what lesson you are supposed to be learning from this so that you don't have to repeat it! I have so many wonderful things happening in my life that I refuse to let one "humbug" thing interfere with my joy and determination. I am just too busy!
Years ago, I lost a dear friend to breast cancer. I was 29, she was 32. Our daughters were in the same class in school. That year she taught me more about life, through dying, than I ever could have learned on my own. I believe we came into each others lives for a reason. She lived and died with such grace. I only hope to live my life with so much as a pinch of the grace that she displayed. When I see so many going through so much....I say, "what do I have to complain about?".
Barb Sasaki
Barb, I am so sorry to hear about your leg. I send my prayers your way for a successful recovery. And just something to try to give your body optimum strength, I had a friend with cancer who was able to shock the doctors with a complete recovery by switching his diet to fresh juices daily- he made vegetable & fruit juices & he feels all the live enzymes helped turbo-charge his body's own defenses so they could conquer the cancer cells.
You continue to amaze me! Stay in good spirits- there is nothing you can't handle! And if there is anything I can do for you- let me know.
Hi Barb;
Best of luck with your upcoming surgery, I hope it all goes really well. Keep your good cheer and spirits up, I know this will help your recovery.
Thinking of you here, from Sydney :)
Cheers and best wishes,
Kim
Stephanie, Thank you so much. I do appreciate your support.
Kim, Thanks for sending your well wishes from so far away! I am believing that all will be "fine". I am glad that time is passing quickly. A month from now it will be over with.
Thanks everyone!
Once again things in common.....We have a granddaughter who was born two months prematurely & weighted 3 lbs. at birth. She is now 4 and full of it! We lost a granddaughter two years ago to Factor V Leiden; she was born almost 2 1/2 months prematurely & died of kidney & lung failure.
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