Chapter 25: In Good and Bad Times
One day when life took a bad turn, I thought of the opening words to Charles Dicken’s novel A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair” The bad turn was I found more cancer. The doctor diagnosed it as metastatic. It took too many tests, two surgeries, chemotherapy again, radiation, a new diagnosis of a serious lung infection that took a year and 1,700 milligrams of antibiotic a day to heal, dental troubles with two root canals, eight crowns, and an unrelated surgery. I spent eighteen months going from bed, to chair, to couch, day in and day out. I thought of my health as the worst of times, a season of darkness, the winter of despair. I felt frustrated about this unpleasant interruption to my good life and felt anxious about my future. (I look back now and ...