Sitting here, I try to think about what to do with this writing prompt and I am finding it hard to make my decision. There are so many things in my life that could be referenced as an anniversary; but then they should be considered important dates in my life, but I do not see the point of calling them anniversaries. It actually depresses me a little to place that much importance on such painful memories.

If I called any of my memorable pain filled days an anniversary, it would be the day I found out about my diagnosis of Cowden Syndrome and gangliocytoma, a brain tumor. This is the date that forever changed my life. A day I will never forget.   The brilliant neurologist that was chosen to give me the news, was greatly in need of bedside manner training, instead of Shock and Awe Therapy. It has been my experience, that when the news is bad, the doctor has no tact at all or they tell you the least amount of info possible; the worst thing in the world to do is research on the internet. It will only manage to scare you silly. A bit of info goes absolutely nowhere.

I prefer to keep happy things for anniversaries. Maybe I should look at each yearly anniversary of my illness as a good thing. After all, I am still alive and kicking. But I owe that to the Good Lord above. My life is in his hands, he watches over Barry and I. Our faith keeps us going.

This leads me to what I really consider the important days in my life. The day I met my husband (10/31/1998); the date we started dating (12/15/2001); the first time he kissed me ( 01/02/2002); the date he proposed ( 11/13/2003) my 38th birthday; our wedding date (4/3/2004); and then my diagnosis date (2/25/09); saw my neurosurgeon (4/1/2009); and had brain surgery (4/6/2009) five days after my fifth wedding anniversary.

The other dates are just part of God‘s plan for my life. I know when they are because I have to give my medical history a million times in a week. I should know it by heart, but I do have days I cannot remember brushing my teeth in the morning. So I keep a nice, tidy list of medications and medical history on my tablet. Which is a permanent part of my purse. I call it my brain.

There was a time that I felt like someone or something was out to get me. Through the Grace of God, I have handled my latest illness without feeling like a nut job. I’ll explain a little further; since the year 2000, I have gone under general anesthesia 14 times. My tonsils have been removed 2 times (40+ years apart). When it was discovered I had Thyroid Cancer, it took 3 treatments and full body scans to clear it out of my body. (after my thyroid gland was removed); they were unable to fully remove the brain tumor and I am suffering from after effects of the tumor moving around in my head, pressing into cranial nerves. My vocal chords twitch constantly; I have difficulty swallowing; breathing is difficult at times; my left arm and leg are in constant pain;  my balance was affected by the brain surgery, so I have trouble standing and walking. Trust me, you do not want to see me run!

This is not everything, but it is enough to show you that I am depending on my Faith for survival. It has always been my philosophy, that when you tell me I cannot do something it just makes me want to do it more. Helps me yo fight off those feelings of I cannot do this any longer.

If I need to have an anniversary, I think I would stick to April 6th, 2009. Other than my wedding day, that is the date that changed my life. My sweet husband has been by my side through it all. With our wedding anniversary being so close to “The New Me” anniversary, we celebrate through the month of April. Once the weather is warm enough, we plant a new flower in our “Victory Garden”. We spend the.month of April writing each other love notes and planning what to do on our days. Then we choose a plant to enhance our Garden. I’d share a picture if I had a new one. Nothing is blooming yet, thus far. I’ll snap a shot when it starts.

THANK YOU, BARRY BAYNES, for making all our anniversaries special! I Love You to the moon and back!

Related articles

• Common Symptoms Associated With Metastatic Thyroid Cancer (thyroid.answers.com)
• Coping with a Rare Disease and What It Can Do to Those You Love (gegebearbear.wordpress.com)
• Cowden Syndrome rearing it’s ugly head (gegebearbear.wordpress.com)
• When Peace Makes No Sense (lindalochridge.com)
• Brain tumor awareness month (q13fox.com)