Yucky Sunday

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night feeling not-so-well, so I slept in, but I still ended up feeling poorly all day, and didn't really do much of anything, other than sleeping a bunch and taking a long steamy bath. I'm feeling mostly ok now, so I'm hoping that it was just a passing thing.

Tomorrow I have to get up early and drive an hour and a half south for one of my semi-annual doctor's exams. This one is at the Dartmouth medical center, and I normally don't mind the trip, except that tomorrow's weather is supposed to be what the weather "experts" call a "wintry mix" . . . which basically covers anything that can possibly fall out of the sky (way to pin-point the forecast guys!). So my drive in the morning is going to be like no fun at all . . . pure white-knuckle stuff for me. But my trusty old (as in 9-years-old) SUV is pretty good on bad roads, so I should be ok.

Doctor visits have been a part of my life for so long that it's hard for me to think of them as medical exams. I do have to give blood tomorrow, but mostly I'll just be talking with my doctor, who is has become more like a trusted friend than a doctor. We've been through a lot together . . . and it hard to believe now that I had to fight with him for my treatment at first (due to some misinformation on his part, from a colleague who misjudged my case entirely). But that happened years ago . . . since then he has been nothing but helpful and genuinely cares about me. I was even invited to be a guest speaker for his intern class (which I was happy to do).

Goodness, that was nearly 3 years ago . . . back when I was seeing like 9 doctors and having all sorts of operations, so going to the medical center just to talk with a bunch of interns was a piece of cake (compared to the painful stuff that I was normally there for). At that time, surviving was all I really thought about . . . I didn't even dream that I would be able to start college in a few years (and neither did my doctors). Life can still be really tough at times, but it is sooo much better now.