I feel I've been looking through the hourglass of my life lately. I am an 18 year survivor of Stage 4 appendix cancer. Yes, you can get cancer of your appendix, and no, they can't fix it by just removing your appendix. By the time we have symptoms of appendix cancer it has already spread, we are all diagnosed at Stage 4. Appendix cancer is similar to ovarian cancer, it spreads throughout your abdomen. When I was diagnosed, I was told by a university cancer center in Chicago that I was untreatable, that my cancer would kill me. But it didn't.
After I had survived 5 years, I created a website to help educate newly diagnosed appendix cancer patients. In 2008 I founded a 501c3 non-profit, The Appendix Cancer Connection. The web site is www.appendix-cancer.org. I had no trouble getting that domain name as most people have never even heard of appendix cancer! I'm blessed in that I was a nurse so was able to find the correct treatment for my disease and to learn from all of the research and medical journals. I wanted to share what I learned.
But I am now a long term survivor. They don't call us cured nowadays. That used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore.
I've survived long enough that I no longer think much about cancer, I no longer fear it recurring.
But I do think now about getting older. Not fear of dying, but thinking about all of the changes I've seen in my life. In one month I will be 60 years old. For a long time I never expected to age.
I've seen so much change. We went from the black rotary phones to cordless phones, then to cell phones. My first cell phone was about the size of a brick and had an antennae. It had a 30 minute talk time and stayed charged for a maximum of 8 hours (if you didn't use it). Then I had a flip phone and could text, and now I have a smart phone and can communicate with the world. There are no more long distance charges. When I grew up our extended family all lived in other states and we had to pay per minute to talk to them. Phone calls were always timed. Now I can call anywhere in the country (and sometimes to Mexico) for free!
I think about music. I had a record player and vinyl records growing up. I used to use my allowance to buy 45s (do my kids even know what those are?). Then we went to 8 track players, my parents got me one for my 16th birthday. Then to cassettes, then to CDs. Now CDs are even outmoded. Everything is on a flash drive. I have at least 100 CDs I now longer use. I rarely use my stereo now.
I think about computers. My first computer was an Apple 2GS. It had no hard drive, programs were on floppy drives ( yes, 6 inch discs that were really floppy). Every time you wanted to use a program, you loaded the floppy drive for that program. There was no internet then.
I remember when we first had internet. I was in heaven. I'd spent lots of time in my life in the library, now I could just ask my questions and get answers online!
And then books. I've always been a voracious reader. Back in the day, I'd join book clubs. You got 12 books (hardback) for free and then you had to buy 3 to fulfill your membership. Once I bought the three books, I canceled my membership and joined another club. My bookcases were overfilled and I had boxes of books in the basement. I also got lots of library books and always had overdue charges.
When the Kindle came out, I said I never wanted to read electronic books. I wanted a book in my lap, I wanted to turn the pages. Well.....someone got me a Kindle for Christmas one year. Ok....now I'm addicted. I love a font size of 4, so all my books are now a perfect font size. And I don't need a dictionary anymore, I touch a word and the definition appears. I have a paperwhite, so don't need a night light when I read in bed at night ( my husband loves that) or when I am camping and reading in my tent at night. I also like to backpack and used to bring heavy books (and burn them in the campfire when I finished them). Now I can take several books with me for under a pound! I think I have 1500 books on my Kindle now? I've actually lost count...but no more boxes of books in my basement!
Maybe I'm thinking so much of change because I think of all the changes I might have missed had I died like I was supposed to in 2001. I've been given the gift of aging.
