Doreen McGettigan

Another Day, Another Month, Another Year…

               A personal series on medical gaslighting, cancer, forgiveness, and healing. New posts in this series will appear on Wednesdays.

I used to be such a devoted blogger. Even when life was hard, good, or too busy I was committed to those two posts a week. But the end of 2021 & 2022 nearly broke me, not nearly it did break me.

“You have a large cancerous tumor, and it is strangling you.” I was relieved to finally have a diagnosis after two years of feeling sick and numerous hospitalizations. Relief quickly turned to terror. I’ve heard the “C” word before. Recurrence can’t be good.

What happened?

For four years I had some form of abdominal pain every single day. I pretty much convinced myself I was a hypochondriac. For two years I had reflux occasionally, then once a week, and then every single night. ER doctors said it was caused by my Celiac disease, and or diverticulitis.

My primary doctor said my bloodwork was all good. He prescribed anti-acid medication. It did nothing.

Was I being Gaslighted?

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 I met Allison through the Facebook group Moms Who Write.  She’s fabulous, I hope you think so too! About the Author

Allison Wells is a wife, mother, and sweet tea addict. She writes in two genres – Christian Women’s Fiction and Sweet Romance. “Gritty Christian fiction,” is what she calls books that show the hard truths of life but ultimately are stories of redemption in the end. Her sweet romances are clean and fun with a dose of laughter (the best medicine). She loves to bring words of hope to readers worldwide. Her motto is, “Life is short, eat the Oreos.”

Interview Questions What was it like to hold your first and your latest published book in your hands? Where was the first place you put them and photographed them once you could put them down? 

Holding my first book was surreal. I had written it something like 14 years prior to it being published, so it was a crazy feeling! My last book is in e-format only right now, so I haven’t held it at all! I think I photographed my first one in my hands with my mouth wide open! Ha!

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I grew up vegetarian. As a teenager after school friends and I would gather at Jack in the Box, or a bowling alley and I became a fan of hot dogs and hamburgers. A few years ago I was diagnosed with Celiac and less than a year ago was diagnosed with colon cancer. The diagnoses have had me researching and reading anything I can find on healthier eating. I was excited to receive A Taste of Plant-Based.

The Author

After watching a life-changing PETA video as an impressionable teenager, Kris Ernst stopped eating meat but admitted she was not much of a cook.

 

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THE BOOK: Choices Change Everything: Choose to Get Up When Life Knocks You Down

Cheryl Ecton, an inspiring author, and entrepreneur knows all about adversity and how to push onward, even when life goes sideways. She has encountered more than her fair share of obstacles but has always landed on her feet at her next destination.

  Ecton built, from the ground up, a thriving business in a male-dominated industry despite only having a high school diploma. She navigated the serious medical needs of her daughter with grace and fortitude.  

She faced a crumbling marriage and bitter divorce head-on and came out the other side stronger than before. No matter what she’s confronted, Ecton has found a way to live a life that is true to herself with humility, humor, and hard work.

 

Her book shares Ecton’s experiences from all parts of her life and the lessons she learned along the way, she offers helpful advice about starting a small business, leading with your values, and knowing when to change your mind.

 

Using her personal experience and insight, Ecton teaches us to understand how to overcome obstacles and disappointments as we follow our path to success.

“It has been said that life is not a ladder, it’s more like a lattice. My life has been like a lattice. The goal isn’t always up. The path isn’t truly straight,” Ecton explains in her book. “Eventually, I know I’ll reach my destination, but there will be some unanticipated twists and turns along the way.”

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FALL BACK

As I started to get older I began to realize I was becoming more and more negatively affected by the change of seasons. Fall has always been the toughest of those for me.

The Fall season was always a reminder that Winter is approaching quickly. Here in the Northeast, Winter is cold, damp, and windy. It’s also dark and can be lonely. For me, the thought of Winters dreariness wasn’t much to look forward to.

My feelings of sadness always started around Labor Day and if I’m being honest as the weekend approached for the Fall Back or the scheduled time change I would be in a full-blown depression.

When do we turn the clocks back in 2021?

Sunday, November 7, 2021, 2:00:00 am clocks are turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, November 7, 2021, 1:00:00 am local standard time instead. Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour earlier on Nov 7, 2021, than the day before. It will be lighter in the morning. Also called Fall Back and Wintertime.

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WRITING WEDNESDAY 

I LOVE introducing you to fabulous authors and great books. Elaine and I met in Nashville and again in Las Vegas where we were both presenters at the BAM Conference.

She is so talented, lovely and hysterically funny! 

About the book:

Melody is an amusing ten-year-old girl with Down syndrome who loves to daydream beneath a catalpa tree in the backyard. She narrates her story and explains, “I can do almost everything other children can do, and I’m happy.”

She loves her teacher, going to the library, and playing with her little brother as he tells knock-knock jokes. After a sad day, she meets an enchanted talking bird, and they use a 3-D printer to create a flying machine pulled by two dragons.

Melody soars over the playground to amaze her friends and confront a group of bullies. Melody’s energetic talent in storytelling empowers her to educate others about Down syndrome while sharing her tall tales and strong hugs. Caroline Zina’s pencil illustrations are beautifully textured and shaded, with a magical quality that deftly matches the text.

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Insecure Writers Support Group Purpose:

To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting:  The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can’t find you to comment back. Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

 

Remember, the question is optional!

December 2 question – Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?

Most definitely! I’ve always been a procrastinator but I also work well with deadlines. For those reasons, I think during the month of November, I always start to feel twinges of anxiety and regret that I haven’t accomplished the goals I wanted to that year. January 1st is looming and I need to come up with NEW goals! My choices are to kick it into high gear and finish, or roll a few goals into the new year. Let’s face it, this year sucked on SO many different levels. I’ve faired well, I don’t have much to complain about and so much to be grateful for. I wish it was the same for everyone but it hasn’t been:(

My 3rd book was released on March 17th. Two days into the Pennsylvania and pretty much the entire worlds shut down. Was I devastated? Yes, of course. But the book Realize your Writing Dreams is a book on writing, publishing and marketing. So many people that were laid off from their jobs decided it would be a great time to write that book they always wanted to write! It turned out to be the perfect time for that books release.

The New Year, January is always a productive writing month for me. I always want to have a better year than the last, and am motivated to get off to a good start. That usually last a month.

For as long as I can remember late Spring, Summer and early Fall have always been my most creative and most productive writing seasons. I’m a Pisces, so during those seasons I spend a lot of time at the beach, it’s my favorite writing space.

One of my 2020 goals was to host a writing retreat at the beach. I planned it and was so excited. Sadly, I had to scale it way back but it still happened and it was amazing. Another reason to be so grateful. I’ll be writing about the retreat next week!

How about you? Are you cramming in writing time to complete your 2020 goals? Has this year been a curse or a blessing in disguise? Have you chosen 2021 writing goals or at this point are we going to be happy to arrive in 2021 in one piece?

Have a Blessed Holiday Season Everyone!,

Doreen

The awesome co-hosts for the December 2 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre! Please stop by and thank them.

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Insecure Writer’s Support Group

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

September Question – If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

What a tough question! After giving it some thought, I would love to meet and have a conversation with Nora Roberts. Having her beta read for me would have me so nervous, but what an honor it would be.

Nora has written more than 200 romance novels! She also writes under the pen names, J.D. Robb, Jill March, and Sarah Hardesty. Can you imagine having your novels on the NYT Best seller list for 861 weeks, 176 weeks in the #1 spot.

She write’s eight-hours a day, even when she’s on vacation. That’s impressive! Writing mostly trilogies, Nora doesn’t write from an outline but creates a short first draft with all the elements of the story and then adds texture and color in her second draft, something I’d love to learn more about from her.

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WRITING WEDNESDAY

For the next 30 days Realize Your Writing Dreams is ONLY 99 cents!!

Thank you SO much for reading, reviewing, sharing and calling your library and asking the to order the book. I LOVE you for that xxxooo!

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Writing Wednesday

This is a place for writers to express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

We post the first Wednesday of every month.

This is our official Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. You can also choose to answer the question of the month if you’d like.

Join in here:

Be sure to visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer –

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