Health concerns and the death of a friend

February has been the month of bad health for me. I started out with a cold, and I was proud to knock it out in a week. Then I landed in the ER with 8 hours of severe abdominal pain. I had two other hour long attacks, and at other times I think there's pain there, though it's not as bad. The doctor suspects my gallbladder. I have now been for an ultrasound, which was inconclusive, and next week I go for a Hida scan, where they will inject me with radioactive dye and I will have to lie still for 2 hours while a camera takes pictures of the dye going through my system. Sounds like fun, huh?

In the meantime, I contracted what we're calling the Consecration Crud, a respiratory illness that acted a lot like bronchitis. Many clergy came down with it after our new Bishop Consecration and Diocesan Council weekend. At one point I had 102 fever and a nasty chest cough. I'm pleased to say that I'm almost completely over that. I'm hoping March will be a better month for health.

In other sad news, an old friend, Kathy Backlund, the wife of my favorite professor from college died from lung cancer last Saturday. I've been friends with Dan and Kathy for almost 20 years. (Yikes! Is that possible?) Kathy taught me voice lessons in college and was the person to tell me that I needed to take up more space in the world because the world needed more of me. She was a wonderful singer and performed in many plays at Sewanee. Whenever I visit Sewanee I stay with her and Dan, and we share stories over drinks and dinner and laugh and talk late into the night. She was bright and caring, quick-witted and talented, a devoted wife and mother, and a truly good person. The world needed more of her. She was a gift to those who knew her. Though I know she is no longer in pain and that all of us have to die sometime, still, I am very sad that she is gone.

Rest in peace, Kathy. You are missed.