Bruised

I walked into the door of the open dishwasher a few days ago. I hit my leg right on the shin - all bone without the nice cushion I would have had if I'd bumped my thigh.

It broke the skin and I bled, which is not unusual. But it left an angry bruise, swollen and hard to the touch.

A bruise on the leg is just a bruise on the leg until it isn't.

Months before I was diagnosed, when I was cancery but blissfully unaware of it, I bumped my leg as I was getting out of my car. The pointed bottom corner of my car door hit the back of my calf and left a massive knotted bruise that still hasn't fully disappeared over a year later.

I'm not panicking about my latest bruise. My blood is monitored closely and I trust that the system my medical team has in place will catch any irregularities or concerns before they become serious.

But it's got me wondering. After cancer, is a bruise/cough/pain/nosebleed/ailment ever just a bruise/cough/pain/nosebleed/ailment? Or is it a bruise-I-need-to-keep-an-eye-on-and-might-as-well-have-the-doctor-take-a-look-just-in-case? (I am not going to the doctor for a bruise. But here I am blogging about it, which means I'm thinking about it.)

How do I get back to being blissfully unaware?