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Thank you again! Your talking to me via Connect is truly a blessing. I think that my family has begun to accept that I am terminal and they must talk to me about what I want to talk about.
Regarding my AML, my doctor has been very frank with me. She said that if I really want to take treatment (chemo) with the goal of remission, she could not order it. It would only make me sicker. (My mother denied chemo herself, and for the same reason.) And I feel the same way. I think that my journey my journey may end sooner than later and I don't want to spend it praying over the toilet (so to speak!)
Briefly, my entire career was spent in education at several levels. I was a teacher and a principal in Michigan and Ohio.
Then I left those roles and entered the non-profit professional association field, first as head of the elementary and secondary principals' associations in Ohio, then to Washington,,
DC as a director on the staff of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and, finally, to Wisconsin to be the executive director of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (for 30 years.)
Replies to "Thank you again! Your talking to me via Connect is truly a blessing. I think that..."
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Good morning. ☺️ You certainly had an exceptionally successful and impressive career! Think how many lives you’ve touched over your lifetime and the impact you’ve had on so many children and their successive generations. Most of us had a particular teacher who left a permanent, positive impression with some little snippet of imparted wisdom. It’s part of the goal and legacy of being a great teacher. Thank you for all of your dedicated work over the years. I imagine your head is spinning over the state of the education in some states right now.
I do hope your family lightens up and can share some of these personal moments with you. When we reach the point where mortality isn’t just a nebulous thought somewhere ahead in time, we become very pragmatic and open. It’s difficult for others, who are not there yet, to understand our desire and need to speak frankly. Hm, as an educator, how many times did you stand in front of the room with your students hearing but not listening? ☺️
I respect your decision to ride out this life without the indignities the treatments might bring for you. Quite honestly, from my experience with AML, it is one of the more quiescent ways to pass in that I had absolutely no pain or discomfort. I simply would have passed in my sleep.
But my pesky daughter and husband had other plans for me and at 65 I was wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. So it was ‘damn the torpedos, full speed ahead”. However, I fully agree there comes a time when we face the reality of the situation. I would absolutely make the same decision as you are if my circumstance were similar and enjoy my remaining without the side effects of treatment.
I’m just curious if you’re currently in an independent or assisted living community where you have shared mealtime with friends for some daily comaraderie?