I Planned A Quiet Year; Life Said “Plot Twist”

Chaos doesn’t check your calendar. Right after sharing a favorite story on Roanoke, life veered hard: my grandmother’s second cancer diagnosis pulled our family into caretaker mode across an ocean, and my own endometriosis battle hit a point where surgery was the only option. What followed was a season of hospitals, long-distance updates, and the strange quiet that comes when you’re waiting for news you can’t control.

Chapters

• 0:00 Apology And Hiatus Context
• 0:14 Roanoke Recap And Sudden News
• 0:42 Grandma’s Diagnosis And Care
• 2:16 My Endometriosis Ordeal
• 3:37 Surgery, Recovery, And Writing Class
• 4:42 Posting Schedule And Sign-Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hello gang. I know it's been a few months since I've posted anything, and for that I sincerely, sincerely apologize. A lot has been going on in my life, and it's just been utter chaos. So the last time I posted was on Roanoke. And it was a great episode, I have to say. It was my favorite episode so far. And as soon as I posted it on that Wednesday, my mother came home from her family vacation with her friends. Obviously, I would have been there if that was her family. Just kidding. So, um, humor is how I cope. It's my coping mechanism. I apologize. So, what happened was she got a text message from our family overseas, and they said that uh just come right away because it doesn't look very well for grandma. And so it was discovered that she uh had cancer. Uh this would be the second time she had cancer. She had it once already for um breast cancer. So my parents went over there. I was here just chilling, not really losing my mind if I'm being honest. Losing my mind every day. I didn't know what was happening. Yes, I had connection with them and I was interactive, you know, and I spoke with them almost daily, but like it's different when they're over there and you're over here. I it's hard to actually put it into words. So anyway, she had surgery, yes, she had cancer. They got rid of it all, thank God. And so what happened was my mom and dad had to stay there for quite a few months, and they had to help her get back to her new normal. They were changing her bandages, feeding her, etc., etc., what have you, being her take carers, her caretakers, excuse me, for a number of months. So during that time was literally May through August, roughly, that they were there. I, in June, had to have surgery myself. Uh it was a surgery that I knew was coming, and then I pushed it off for far too long. Um, and it was just the worst scenario, because I was planning on having the surgery in May before my parents went on their vacation for a month. And unfortunately, because of grandma and her cancer diagnosis, uh, she obviously took precedent. There was no there was no doubt in my mind she was coming first. Like I didn't care what I had to do. I wanted to make sure my mom and dad were there for her and that they weren't, you know, scared for me because my surgery was nowhere near as big as hers. Hers took hours. Mine took hours as well, but it wasn't as large. Mine was for endometriosis. For those of you listening, it is a annoying, annoying diagnosis. For months I didn't know what I had. And I almost lost my job. I lost friends. I my mom and dad were severely upset at me, thinking that I was just like calling out of work for no reason. No one believed the amount of pain I was in, and I didn't know what to do. So then I switched doctors, we had ran all these tests, tests upon tests, colonoscopies, endoscopies, all the oscopies you can think of. We ran allergy tests and blood tests and nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing until I switched my one doctor, and she was like, Let's try this pill. And for two years, that pill helped me. And for two years that pill saved my life. And for two years that pill sustained me and made me whole again. And then those two years were up, because those that pill is only good for two years. And it was finally time for me to have surgery, and unfortunately it s so did grandma. So I had mine in June. It took about a month, two months-ish, I would say roughly three months to heal, if I'm being honest with you. And I finally started feeling like myself, and then I decided to take a class on creative writing. So I took the class on creative writing along with going to work full-time, and I completely was oh in over my head, but I aced the class and I learned a lot about myself through that class. So that's where I have been for the past forever and a day, and like I said, I'm apologizing so much for ghosting all of you. It was definitely never, ever my intention. I have scripts ready to go, and I plan on posting again every other Wednesday, if you'll have me, of course, um, on the Sanctum of Strange podcast. I am Nikki, and I do appreciate all of you being here, and I hope you all have a fantastic New Year's, and thank you so so much for sticking with me up until this point. Have a fantastic night. And also as always, thank you for making me and the Sanctum of Strange podcast your home for the strange and spooky.