Baby Steps

I know I know, I'll stop talking about this any day now. It bears mentioning though, that I do feel much better. Not 100%. Not by a long shot. But the main squeeze and I went out for a long, leisurely walk around the ol' national mall yesterday (it was 60 degrees WTF) and on the whole it was a fantastic and healing day out. We started at Lincoln, made an important stop at Vietnam, Ambled past geese and ducks to Washington, Swung all the way around past my man Jefferson again, and strolled back to the car. It took us about 2 hrs total.

Admitteldy it was ambitious for a first day out. I set myself back a few steps pain-wise but emotionally I am about ten thousand steps forward.

Today, I'm on low-doses of Ibuprofen and I'm not as huddled over as I've been.

Let me repeat this fact for my readers who are freaking themselves out: The LEEP procedure is a smart choice, and a healthy choice, and the RIGHT thing to do for anyone with the same test results that I had. HPV or no. It is a procedure that for most women is honestly no big deal. Honestly.

For me it wasn't. BUT I'm still glad I did it. Precancerous cells is nothing to screw around with and no amount of deep breathing, fish oil or aluminum triangles would have gotten rid of the tissue that was harvested with solid medical science. Prayer, good intentions and a healthy diet move so many people toward happy lives and amazing health-turnarounds. I was at a point, however, where there was nothing to do but get in there, get rid of what was there, and now test the tissue to see what manner of dragon we're dealing with.

Please - if you are faced with the decision to go forward with the LEEP... do so. It's scary, yeah, sure. So is a lot of stuff. So is dying of cancer and leaving your friends and family to wish you had acted differently. If I can get through that - feeling everything for the entire ordeal - you can too. If you want I will hold your hand. In person. Call me. I promise.

If I can do it, you can.

And if women out there can bear children, over and over again, and go back to work and life thereafter... then I can probably survive this business too.

When I get results, I'll share them.

Until then, do me a favor and think twice about skipping your next annual exam.