Choosing To Listen and Feel.

As I acknowledge the trauma I have been through.

Welcome to Denyse Whelan who has a free space (thank you Substack!)

to Write Here!

Thank you for following, reading and commenting. This is why I write…to connect!

My Choosing to Listen and Feel Resulted In Me….

HAVING A VERY UNCOMFORTABLE TIME!!

Images and words after my walk around the block!

Oh my goodness I did have this recently.

A time in which days seemed to stretch out forever and they were NOT pleasant.

It began with a G.P. Appointment - I get on well with my female G.P. - and my coming up 75th birthday….

This occasion is, for health and welfare purposes, one for some checks and balances.

First:

1. A driver’s licence medical. Nothing to note. All OK. BUT, it’s the slippery slope..ha!

2. Blood tests and more ‘just checking’ all good within last 12 months..but she said ‘take you time’ getting them done, and as you have a BP monitor at home, I want you to check your B.P. each morning before breakfast, and do in a few minutues apart. She mentioned B.P. is often higher in the doctor’s rooms and yes I can attest to that. I have been on B.P. meds (all controlled) for over 40 years.

3. And after your birthday, late November, book into the Nurses’ to have your Medicare Medical. Cognitive and Physical checks..(weight too, which I still have triggers about)

4. And I left with the pad (not quite) of updated prescriptions for hormonal help, B.P. Cholesterol, Reflux, Osteoarthritis …”blah blah”

Thank her, and we are grateful to have reached the Medicare safety net so the private billing is not too painful.

Second:

I have a big emotional trigger to do with my mouth, and going to the dentist. NOTHING really changed this, even getting oral cancer and going through so much…and on the same day I was seeing the G.P. at 9.30. I woke with some sensitivity in one of my remaining 7 teeth on the bottom.

I had a fear of what it could be, might need…blah blah but practical me kicked in, and the local dentist I have seen since early 2023 could see me at 10.30. I figured I could make it on time. I did,

Verdict is: tooth is fine. Phew. However, as I explained to my dentist (who knows my prosthodontist and surgeon) I had been given a more lengthy mouth clean/tooth clean regime on 1 October and maybe that might have been a reason for its sensitivity.

Then I heard words I don’t recall ever hearing from a dentist:

“You are doing a great job keeping that tooth and area clean”….

And switch to Sensodyne tooth paste for those 7 teeth, and dear reader, all has settled.

Third:

I have a bit of F.O.M.O. at times and recently what I thought I “might be missing out on” was the opportunity to have some ‘filler’ from my fat added to my upper lip to give me some fullness. I saw a friend (20 years younger, with similar post surgery issues for me) had that, with ‘my’ surgeon, and I began to consider it.

THEN….as I digested what it would mean for me to go through with that SURGERY and RECOVERY along with possibility it might compromise what good my team had done to at least get my upper prosthesis attached (I have a very small space between teeth and top lip)…I decided, “NO thank you” because I did not need/want it for cosmetic reasons as my friend needed.

I let my HNC team know, I would be fine and they were lovely.

In 2016 I was anxious & had IBS…my mouth was sore…

WHAT I HAVE CHOSEN TO LEARN FROM THE ABOVE …

• I acknowledge I am getting older …and into my mid seventies and that comes with extra challenges

• I accept that I have come this far thanks to awesome healing from my body

• I appreciate that all of the health matters have been handled well by me

And that trauma can be for some reasons listed here too:

And I have awesome people I can count on.

This one most of all…..Have been together since the day we met October 1970.

We went away from what I felt was ‘home’ for 8 years & came back in early 2023. I am grateful. Always to B.

WHAT I HAVE TO REMEMBER FAR MORE THESE DAYS…

• I have faced enormous and sometimes very scary times in my health challenges relating to my type of head and neck cancer.

• I acknowledge this lasted for over 8 years, and will always be somewhere within

• I understand at times my body will remember and remind me with a twinge or shout of anxiety

• And that I have the ability to change that to one of self-compassion and understanding for all I have managed

I CHOOSE TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCES…

to help me and maybe raise awareness for others.

I was an Ambassador for Head and Neck Cancer Australia from its early days, joining in late 2018 when I was in my first year of recovery.

I spent the next 5 years being a presence on-line and in real life events to spread the awareness of a cancer that affects the head and neck (not the brain) and oral cavity. Mine happened to be in the upper gums and under a top lip. I live with the consequences of that cancer the ways in which reconstruction had to occur using parts of my leg (fibula) and thigh as well as skin and flesh.

Even writing this reminds me that it WAS hard coming to terms with my oral cancer treatments and resulting lifestyle changes BUT…having the diagnosis in May 2017 answered a LOT of questions that had no answers from the medical and dental people I asked..until I insisted the bridge of teeth was removed and we knew what I had underneath.

But I am well.

And I choose to live gratefully with what I have now. I am now approaching my 75th birthday on the last day of November with more positivity to be ALIVE and WELL.

I never miss writing what I am grateful for each day…do you?

This photo was taken by B after my recent haircut!

Thanks to the hosts of What’s Been On My Calendar.

Take care everyone,

Denyse.

UPDATE: I saw my G.P. last week and was reassured by her that the records she got me to keep of my ‘at-home’ Blood Pressure readings were not only perfect (for me) but showed all the different readings she would expect! And I made the appointment for my 75 year old Medicare medical for early December (my late Mum’s 100th Bday)…and requested the nurse I really like to do it.

And I went out to view nature in the area where we used to live many years ago feeling grateful to be almost 75 and alive!

What’s Been On My Calendar.

Thank you to the team who run link up, What’s Been On Your Calendar.

Deb 

https://debs-world.com

Sue 

https://www.womenlivingwellafter50.com.au

Jo 

https://andanyways.com

Donna 

https://retirementreflections.com