Unusual Parallels

I am my father's daughter.  I act like him and have a similar personality.  We have some weird connections at times.  


Like when shopping with my mom, I had a stabbing pain in my thumb that wouldn't go away.  My dad had a been working on a job site and had a metal shard pierce his skin at his thumb that he had to have removed.  Or, when I get weird pains in my knees or sometimes my foot, to find out he's been having the same pains just opposite side.


Unusual Parallels.


At the age of 33, my dad was diagnosed with throat cancer.  He's a non-smoker, and something like this was unexpected.  He had the full course of chemo and radiation, lost his hair, but never gave up hope and made a full recovery.  


I am now my dad's age.


I've said before this summer hasn't shaped out to be what I'd hoped.  But, I think I kind of knew that before the month of May had ended.


In mid May, I'd been to the dentist where I showed him a spot on the underside of my tongue.  It was white, was in a place where it hits a molar, but never really hurt and didn't really change shape.  I did have like a white "haze" that covered that area.  My dentist was concerned and sent me to a specialist.


Early June, I saw the specialist.  He was very concerned due to my age.  Normally, they see this kind of thing in older people.  The good news, it wasn't red and didn't hurt.  The bad news, he was still doing a biopsy.  


I got the results two weeks later.  Severe Epithelial Dysplasia.  The good news, not cancer.  The bad news, it's pre-cancer.  As it was explained to me, dysplasia can never go back to normal.  It can either stay dysplasia or become cancer.  I would need to have a laser procedure done to get rid of the pre-cancerous cells.  Oy.


I had the procedure done yesterday.  They used a CO2 laser to basically burn the area.  (After LOTS of numbing agents!)  It's like the worst charred marshmallow-burnt hair smell/taste ever.  But worth it.  


Plus, I was a "guinea pig" for some of the other doctors who came in to check out my tongue before surgery.  The nurse apologized.  I told her, "No worries...I'm a teacher, I get it!"


It'll take a while to heal.  I go back in two weeks to see how things are healing.  Then, I'll have a standing date with my specialist every 3 months for the first year, then every 6 months to a year after that.


In the words of my father: "You gotta take the good with the bad!"


I'm pretty lucky to have a supportive family and a positive outlook on life.  It is what you make it.  Lucky for me, I have a bit of a heads up!  Thanks, Dad!


I'll end this with a cute pic (slightly out of focus) of my parents.  

Yep.  I'll take the good with the bad.