My Aha Moment

I’d like to say that when my dad died in 2008 that was my realization that life was short and I had to live to the fullest. Nope. It wasn’t then. It wasn’t when Granny died in 2010 either. Or when my G-Ma passed away in 2012 or when my Aunt Stacy passed away in 2014 and we didn’t make it to the hospital in time. These situations did remind me life was short but did not motivate me to live life to the fullest. It honestly brought me down and created this anger inside me that, “Life just isn’t fair.”

But in January 2016, I stopped dead in my tracks. A little back story. I was having neck pain and decided to go to the doctor. They sent me for an MRI. I have the MyChart app, so the results are sent to my phone. When the results popped up at 6 a.m., I logged in immediately. I was sitting up in my bed and just staring at the MRI report.

There was an unidentifiable mass found in my neck. My dad died from throat cancer in 2008. My first thought was do I have cancer???

The whole process of this scary time took 5 months to end. I was sent for a biopsy. Then I waited the longest 7 days ever in history for the results. I had the conversation with myself that week that whether I was diagnosed with cancer or completely healthy, I was going to cut out the BS and live my damn life.

My results came back negative!! I went out to celebrate with a beer that night. When I woke up the next morning, the whole right side of my neck was swollen and extremely painful.

I was diagnosed with a branchial cleft cyst. Basically we are born with gills and mine never completely dissolved. So yeah, I’m totally part mermaid!

I had a few ER visits, two surgeries and a hospital stay. A cellulitis infection and two months off work. During this time off, I was absolutely grateful for my life.

I started blogging. My original idea was Adventures with Amber and just telling my story. This would soon evolve into Mighty Werthy!

I look back on this whole situation and say thank you. Life can change in an instant and be gone in a second. Life should be celebrated every damn day!!

Go. Do. Live.

Hello, World!