I’ve just had my 6 month check-in with my oncologist Dr. Cusnir. Like all hospital personnel, he’s wearing a mask and scrubs. Last time we met it must have been 9 months ago or so, in between which I had a remote consultation with Karen, so there were no masks required. Scrubs are a new look for him, I’ve only ever seen him in a suit and white coat before, but apparently it’s now hospital policy.
We were both extremely happy to see one another. I’m doing great, and he agreed with my self-diagnosis (even after properly examining me). I’m currently on a 6 month schedule, so the next time I’ll see him will be in September. Before then I’ll have to get a new CT scan to make sure things look handsome on CD, and a colonoscopy with Dr. Szomstein. My original plan was to do this at the beginning of the year, but since the appointment is a bit later, I’l push it into the summer. It’ll be great to see Dr. Szomstein again too.
After reviewing my blood work, Dr. Cusnir renewed my Synthroid prescription. Up until now I was on a 30 day rolling refill, but since my 150mcg dose has been stable for so long, he’s given me a 90 day refill. I didn’t know this until I got to Walgreens to collect it. I nearly fell over when the pharmacist told me it was over $100, thinking that my monthly refill is usually about $36. Turns out I now have a bottle that comes straight from the manufacturer, rather than the orange one that’s filled by the pharmacist.
This new type of bottle, and the very spaced out appointments really drive home that I’m in a completely different stage of of this journey. It’s post cancer monitoring rather than active treatment. My life seems back on track, and it’s going better than ever.
The Day Job
I have some news in regards to my job at the supermarket. Ever since March 2020, I was officially “off sick” with a certificate from my doctor stating that I shouldn’t work in a crowded space and risk contracting COVID. Instacart kept me on the system, so should the situation change, I could have started working again if I wanted to. That’s a good deal.
Recently the company have announced that they’ll discontinue in-store operations in Florida, which means my whole job won’t exist any more after June.
While that’s very sad on the one hand, it doesn’t really matter all that much for me. I’ve always seen my YouTube/online ventures as my “real full-time job”, and it’s going better than ever. Julia and I had been calculating that lately, these ventures make as much as me working for Instacart anyway, with the added benefit that doing YouTube is more fulfilling for me than packing groceries while watching a timer on my iPhone. I had been fully focussing on this venture since I stopped working in March, and I haven’t regretted it. I’m busier than ever with plenty of exciting projects and ideas to explore.
Nevertheless, it feels a bit like the end of an era for me, and also as if The Universe has made the decision for me of seeing my online ventures as a side gig or the “main course”. It’s remarkable how fluid these things can appear.
Website changes
While we’re on the subject of things changing, I’ll have to tweak the design of this website. Currently (April 2021) I’m using the Divi theme from Elegant Themes. It served me well when I wanted to put this site together, but it requires a $40 annual subscription to receive updates. It’s one of three sites I use this theme on, and I must admit that it’s slow and feels bloated. The site takes over 10 seconds to load, and that’s not because I’m using a slow server.
My plan is to bring it in line with my other two main sites, visually as well as in regards to functionality. Under the hood, these sites use a different premium theme (GeneratePress), they perform faster and look much nicer. Over the coming months I’m planning to make the change, which will be a week of coding and inconsistencies – so apologies in advance. It is for the better, it will streamline my online life and will also make it cheaper.
I feel that it fits right in with marking the occasion of changing into a different chapter.
As always, thanks for reading, and thanks for taking an interest in my journey.