Something's Got To Give

Recently I started to get stressed out thinking about all the things I've got on my plate:

Working full-time; school part-time; 2 incomplete courses to make up; new courses starting January 24; dietetic internship application due February 15; surgery February 18; Tamoxifen & IUD to adjust to...aaahhh!

Just over a week ago I came to terms with the fact that I knew I just could not handle it all. It would be too much for anyone, let alone someone being treated for, recovering from and coming to terms with their cancer. I was at home drinking wine (no surprise), watching an episode of Thirtysomething on Netflix (hey, that was an award-winning, critically-acclaimed show that I was too young to appreciate or even have permission to watch at the time it was on the air!) and generally puttering around trying to figure out what to do. Almost as soon as D walked through the door I blurted out something like "I just cannot do it all! It's impossible! Something's got to give!" (Maybe all that Thirtysomething & wine made me a little more dramatic than I needed to be?) After staring at me with total calm and lack of any reaction, he casually suggested "Well, maybe you just don't take classes this semester," pointing out that the Master's level courses I was about to take were not necessary in order to continue moving toward my internship and RD exam. (Why does he always have to make everything look so easy and obvious?) He was right. If I couldn't do it all, I needed to make a move and taking a semester off was probably the best course of action.

So that was toward the end of last week; however, it wasn't until the weekend that I felt absolutely certain that I needed to do this. Monday was a holiday so first thing Tuesday morning I set to making about a million phone calls to find out exactly what I needed to do and make sure I wasn't going to be penalized in any way. Was a medical leave of absence the right choice or were there other options? Could a leave be processed in time for me to drop courses by Monday the 24th (the last day to drop and get all your tuition & fees back)? Would I still have access to my online account (the portal that gives you access to your school e-mail, all the information you need for your courses and all the library materials available electronically)? What would happen to my loans? What would happen to my scholarship? What did I need to fill out or provide in order to process the leave of absence? Believe it or don't believe it, getting the answers to all these questions and getting a doctor's note from my doctor took much of the last four days (including today). Just now, in the process of writing this, I received confirmation that my doctor's note was received, my leave will be processed and my classes will be dropped for me. Phew.

So, what's next? Well, did you SEE that To Do list above? I've got about 3 weeks to get my dietetic internship application completed and submitted, so I'll be working on that. Also, 3 days after that is due I have my next surgery, so I'll be spending the next few weeks preparing for that, both mentally and with pre-op and follow-up doctor's appointments.

Meanwhile, I don't know if you even want to watch this, but this is the story, aired on the Today show (gotta love Meredith, Matt, Ann & Al), of a little 3-year-old girl who was diagnosed with a very rare juvenile form of breast cancer. Thankfully, she is now cancer-free and her prognosis is good. Insane.