Wow

How the world has changed since my last post here. I’ve been keeping people up to date on things through facebook and completely neglecting this blog. My vision is slowly starting to come back and Barrett very kindly adjusted my computer settings so that everything is much bigger and easier to see, so now I don’t have to have him transcribe my notes for me all of the time.

I think most of the people who read this post are probably my friends on facebook and know what’s been going on, but I’ll put in some details here for the few of you who aren’t.

Things that have happened since my last post:

Signed with a superstar literary agent == woo hoo!

Went to a naturopath for the headache and vision business and ended up in the ER, then the ICU strapped to a table where I wasn’t even allowed to like get up and go to the bathroom by myself without causing a major incident involving mutliple medical personnel. This, by the way, was not the most fun I’ve ever had.

Got lots of bad news, one thing after another. !) there’s something wrong with your liver and lungs 2) it looks like cancer 3) of the three types of cancer it could be, it’s the worst kind 4) in fact, it’s stage four of the worst kind of cancer 5) we’re going to have to take out a hunk of your colon 6) your next step is nasty chemo that will go on indefinitely and will be no fun at all.

So much for thinking that my little trip to the naturopath would end up with a bottle of herbal supplements to sooth the head. Or that my trip to the ER would end in them sending me straight back home with a bottle of aspirin. Oy.

I would like to add in here that I am a super super healthy non-smoking, non-drinking, carcinogen avoiding young vegetarian who wears sunscreen every day. I looked at the list of risk factors for colon cancer and it turn out that I don’t even have one. Not one risk factor.

So that was a surprise.

Then Barrett and I decided to get married. He proposed on my hospital bed, it was terribly romantic and we were married by the hosptial chaplain the first possible moment we could be.

We had a second wedding when they let me out of the hospital — this was the Ring Exchange. We have big plans for a finale wedding in Port Townsend in September.

If you aren’t on facebook, you should be — the full romantic details and pics are up there.

Let’s see, what else, well, I’m on a low residue diet that involves eating a lot of food without fiber. Ice cream is encouraged. Broccoli is not. I’m gradually starting to eat more fiberlicious foods now, but I’m supposed to take it slow. This has not been the easiest diet for me. I LIKE fruit and vegetables and whole grains.

I’m supposed to eat a lot too. Fattening up for chemo. It’s harder than you think. I feel like I eat all of the time, but the docs’ scales showed me losing five pounds over the last week. It was two different docs though, so maybe their scales are just different. Still, I’m doing my part. Ice cream time is a regular meal time here at the Zinn-Dowell household.

I should mention that I”m still on morphine from the surgery. I’m weaning off of it, but there’s still enough in me that I don’t always make 100% sense and things like typos just don’t seem to bother me in the slightest right at the moment.

It’s been a crazy month and a half. The great parts have been so over the top wonderful — the wedding, all of the support that’s come flooding in from our family and friends, the absolutely fabulous agent who’s helping me get my novel ready for sale even while all of this is going on and going above and beyond what any writer could ever expect, and finding out how much fun it is to be married.

8 replies on “Wow”

  1. Been keeping up on facebook, but thank you for this post. Drink milkshakes as snacks!

    Your wedding photos were beautiful and I’m glad you got to do it again, and will again! Congratulations to both of you.

    🙂

  2. I am so glad you are doing better. I met you at the Tigard LIbrary and then in a few days heard about your illness. I was wondering if it was you they were writing about or somebody else! Hope you continue to feel better. And Congratulations on your wedding.
    Enjoy the sunshine!

  3. Hi Bridget,

    I heard about you through a librarian blog I read (I am a perhaps aspiring librarian, and a writer as well), and “wow” was my thought exactly.

    But how awesome to be able to temper this struggle with the beauty of marriage. 🙂 Congratulations!

    I will keep you in my prayers, and I hope you have a gentle and lovely week.

    Robin

  4. Bridget,

    Wow what a shock. I have not seen you since high school but know that you are in out prayers and I hope you get healthy soon!!!! Take care of yourself and congrats on the wedding!!

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