When I said I was “built Ford tough”, I was referring to the fact that I can generally “handle” anything. Going back and rereading that questionnaire in the past couple of years, I’ve scoffed at myself for thinking I was strong.
But I am strong in one way, and that’s health-wise. Despite being obese (I’d like to call myself overweight, but that would unfortunately be inaccurate), I am able to function for the vast majority of any given year.
There are many people who get sick easily, or have terrible allergies or migraines or periods. I’m not one of them. When I have periods I have cramps, but they’re mild enough to think of as “annoying”. I’ve had a migraine occasionally, but they seem to only arise when I take in too much caffeine, so they’re easy enough to avoid. Since moving to Augusta, I have had to deal with allergies, but it’s only been crippling once or twice, and since then I’ve adjusted.
When I’m sick, it’s rarely enough to put me out of commission. I won’t be happy about it, but I’ll still be able to work.
Monday was one of the few exceptions–I went home after lunch feeling horribly nauseated. As I was a bit run down when I woke up yesterday, I thought to call in, but ultimately I went to work and felt better and better as the day progressed.
Today I feel perfectly fine, with just a little nasal congestion to remind me that I was sick.
Then there was that whole cancer thing. I can give the doctors credit for kicking it out of my system after six months. But it never came back. And I never had graft vs. host disease.
And now, even after being annihilated by chemotherapy, my ovaries are still trying to function.
So I suppose that in a way, that questionnaire response wasn’t a self-delusion.