Time to Get On With Life
My experience with rare disease — part four
I have been documenting my story of finding out that I had a rare form of melanoma. Unlike what most people want to believe, not everything is hereditary — this is not. I was just the random “lucky” person to draw the winning lottery ticket.
It all started with my need to get my eyes examined because my vision was getting progressively more blurry, and I had more headaches. Since I have astigmatism and am near-sighted, I looked at my medical history and realized I hadn’t had an appointment in 2 years and probably needed one. My prescription had apparently changed.
I was lucky I went as soon as I did. It was much more than I imagined.
There are several things that I realized were good luck (after all the bad luck). My treatment center is only 2 1/2 hours from my home. I have friends and family living around the treatment center. My insurance covered pretty much everything except the main deductibles, and I had the money ready for that.
So, we got through radiation therapy, and I had to have a chauffeur for the first month. It’s tough having to rely on other people when you’re made like I am. I don’t like being seen as weak, and I’m the caregiver normally. So, relinquishing control can be difficult for me. But I’m happy to say…
