Thanksgiving Dinner of a Different Sort

This year I planned to be the American emissary of Thanksgiving to Canada. Yes, Canada has thanksgiving but it’s on a Monday and doesn’t get near the respect that the American version does. So I had planned a big Thursday dinner with crowds of the Fiancé’s family and teaching them how overstuffing yourself on a Thursday with plenty of leftovers to last through the weekend is an American tradition. Alas, that was not to be.

The Monday before turkey day, at the insistence of my fiancé, I went to the doctor for a painful nagging problem that I thought was fairly minor but had been bugging me for a couple of months. Turns out I was wrong. I spent Thanksgiving day preparing for a colonoscopy on Friday so instead of turkey with all the trimmings I had Jello and a ‘tasty’ (and sadly effective) bowel cleansing cocktail. If you’ve never done that particular procedure, I wouldn’t recommend it. There is something just wrong about fasting and cleansing when the fridge is stuffed to bulging with holiday feast fixins! I’ve heard about these Hollywood, ‘cleanse’ fads and diets – who the hell would willing do that to themselves?

Anyway, I did make the feast on the following Sunday so all was not a loss! We had turkey ala Alton Brown, panetone dressing, Madeira pan gravy, scalloped potatoes with wild mushrooms and bleu cheese, pan roasted brussel sprouts, homemade herbed bread, cranberry/orange/ginger/currant compote, Caesar salad, hot apple pie and homemade French vanilla ice cream!

From there I went on to a tissue biopsy and CT scan and then the final word came in from the Doctor that it was indeed the big C. Yes cancer. I have to say that I was quite shocked. I’ll tell you more about the cancer in another post but suffice to say that it is a stage 3 tumor that will require radiation and chemotherapy. I have never been a big fan of pain or of being poked and prodded by all sorts of medical professionals but then I guess no one really is - except maybe those crazy Munchausen people. Since then I have endured many indignities in the name of medical tests with just a final MRI left to do this week in the diagnostics regime and a meeting with the oncology team.

I will say that with the tests looming large in my mind on our Sunday Thanksgiving dinner, I was truly thinking about what I am thankful for. What I found was that I have many people who love me. Family, friends, extended family the thought of all of them brought tears to my eyes as we went around the table and expressed our thanks. I am blessed to have a loving family, though their desire to ‘help’ can drive me nuts and I am fortunate to have great doctors and medical staff that have moved so quickly to get me excellent care.