Early Days

So many of us experience multiple medical issues in our lifetimes. Some are pretty straight forward, while some feel like Lombard Street.

In the beginning I didn't even know I owned a parotid gland, or two as it turns out. This journey started almost a year ago when I first heard the term. I'm nearing (I hope) the bottom of the hill and thought I'd write about the journey in case it is helpful to anyone else.

I'm going to have surgery in a couple days. I'm not sure what to expect, but lately I've been scouring the Internet for information about the procedure and recovery. I've come across 3 different blogs that were quite helpful to me which is what gave me the idea to start this one.

The open-ended nature of writing about a future event boggles the mind. Even looking back examining how I got here is strange. I'm hoping I'm finally able to put this event into my rearview mirror and move on to some other thing that occupies space in my brain.

As happy as I am that the day is nearing, it also means the fear is increasing. This isn't a big deal really, I tell myself. As odd as this condition is, it is also fairly common surgery. In the end I'm hoping that my fear is just a whole lot of nothing.

I'm not an author, but I enjoy composing words. This creates chaos in my everyday life since those words seem to get trapped in my head where they fester ad nauseum. Almost every author that I read about says something similar, however for them it is all about plots that they want to write and characters that talk to them. I get none of that. My thoughts involve hashing and rehashing my life. Mostly I think about things I would say to people if only I felt safe enough. I rewrite my words a thousand times and yet still come back to the position (as many parents say today)… that would be a very bad choice. So I'm left with all those words with no place to go. Honestly, at times it makes me crazy.

I've written blogs before on my weight loss journey and my favorite hobby, Quilting. I found the process soothing while quieting the elephant in my head, the thing I want to banish. I even wrote about that. It was cathartic, but a blog best left for only me. Perhaps this will fill a gap, move me on to another journey in my life while encouraging others that they are not crazy after all. Or, maybe we all are... how do we know for sure?

Enough about me, let's learn more about the Parotid.