When you’re a kid, you can’t wait to grow up to be in charge. It’s a shame that the price you pay for all that independence is overwhelming responsibility and the byproducts of getting OLD.
Sure, you can stay out as late as you want but once you hit your mid 40s, your vision turns to crap, your metabolism tanks, and the only bottles popping, are bottles of ibuprofen and prescription pills.
Last month (5/8/26), I finally took care of having several legal documents for my mom and sister signed and notarized.
- Durable Power of Attorney
- Medical Power of Attorney
- HIPAA Authorization
- Advance Directive
- Last Will in Testament
I am grateful for my friend who is a notary. She scheduled time to come to our house to check off this morbidly uncomfortable task that has been lurking on my to do list for months!
That same day, after all the documents were signed, I rushed my sister to a doctor appointment. We established my sister as a patient with a new doctor because the prior one was not taking my requests for genetic testing seriously. To simplify things, my sister and mom are now patients at the same practice. I can login to a patient portal and communicate with both their medical teams. This is WINNING in your 40s!
These last few months have been filled with a barrage of medical appointments for my mom, my sister, & myself. Dentist appointments, well-women exams, mammograms, blood work, a biopsy procedure, oncologist appointments, an urgent care visit, CT scans, PET scans, ultrasounds, and on and on. Unfortunately, in the month of June we have even more excitement to brave:
– a cardiologist appointment for me
– genetic counseling / testing for both my sister and I
– physical for my sister
– additional dentist appointments for my mom and sister
– and the icing on the cake, a 3 hour full hysterectomy and omentum surgery for my mom.
Why surgery?!? Well the biopsy (5/20/26) of the mass identified in my mom’s PET scan was not cancerous. Ironically it is probably inflammation or a collection of dead cells caused by the chemotherapy. As planned, after my mom finished her chemo sessions, her oncologist referred her to a gynecologic oncologist. We had a video conference with this new doctor on 5/27/26, and she recommended surgery for my mom. Her cardiologist will have to give his approval but my mom’s surgery is scheduled for 6/22/26.
My mom is understandably freaked out and is considering not going through with the surgery. Honestly, I’m not sure if her cardiologist will even clear her for it. I called her cardiologist 3 times over the past 3 weeks and have been unable to get a green light from him. My mom has two oncologist appointments this week, Tuesday with her new doctor and Thursday with her original doctor. I encouraged her to share her concerns about surgery and next steps with them. We should know more after this week.
Toys “R” Us had the right idea, I don’t wanna grow up!
WorkingTheTechWorld 