New Year

I have been working on this entry for a very long time. I have written words, I have erased words, I have deleted it completely. This has not been a easy one to write, but I felt I needed to do it, so I kept to it...perseverance above all. Now with the start of the new year, could there be a more perfect time for me to get on my soapbox?

We have been going through some tough times over the last 2 1/2 months that I do not want to get into here for privacy sake. However, I need to tell you a little bit about the goings-on in order to stress some things I think all of us should do. About 6 months ago, I decided that we needed to get all of the medical tests that people of a certain age should get. As I have somewhat mentioned here and here, I lost my mother, I lost my grandmother, and Dino lost his father to the "c word". That ugly nasty word that is still hard for me to write. So, long story short...we got tests, we got touched again, we stopped it in time, and hopefully it is over now.

So here is the public service announcement. Talk to your doctors...get the proper screenings and tests...especially if you have a history of disease in your family. I am talking all...colonoscopy, mammogram, dermatological, Pap test, blood pressure, prostrate, diabetes, cholesterol...and do not let them tell you "you are too young". Do not wait for signs, because as we have found lately (at the risk of sounding overly dramatic), you just never know...and it could save your life.