[ChickenNoodleSoup]

Not sure whether anyone cares, but I thought I'd give an update on my situation and therapy.

Old T is doing really well. Trigger warning for health stuff:

Possible trigger:

He did one round of chemo, which helped a lot. He afterwards had some additional radiation therapy of the tumor directly, and is mostly doing okay. Since his cancer had already spread, there's no real way to get rid of everything, but it's pretty much as good as it could possibly be

.
We're still seeing each other, though a bit less. I'm also not struggling with his absence anymore if it happens, he currently took his longest vacation yet in our 7 years of work together, with which I'm doing just fine.

As for flipper, I'm still seeing him, and I really appreciate him. While he clearly lacks some experience from time to time (he recently told me in the last minute of our session that he'd become a dad next year and might take some time off in like a year, which of course immediately led to a crisis for me), he really tries and I appreciate how he brings a lot of "new" things to my therapy. It's different from T and that's exactly what I've wanted. Sometimes he brings a therapy dog with him (which he doesn't own but sometimes takes care of), which is also fun. Thanks to flipper, I've managed to recently move out of a longterm abusive relationship, and while I have to still convince myself to not go back, he's a real support in that.

As for myself, I'm now one year into teaching high school physics and absolutely love it. I couldn't wish for a better job, nor better students. I feel part of a community both with the other teachers, as well as with my classes. It's hard to even pick a highlight of the year, maybe being invited to one of the classes christmas parties (not normal at all for teachers to be invited there), maybe when a student dressed up as me for her final day at school? Or just the accomplishment of making them laugh in most lessons, it's all real rewarding.
I'll be going to japan for 10 days in fall, accompanying about 40 students there with two other teachers. If I manage to stay out of the problematic relationship, I'd like to get a dog some day, I've been looking at shelters in my area. However, I think it will wait until at least winter, so that I'd have some weeks off when he/she first arrives so we can bond properly and figure everything out.

I hope to find you all well and am sending hugs to all who want or need them.

[LostOnTheTrail]

Hey CNS,

I'm glad to hear that Old T is doing OK - thank you for the TW, as I'm not in a position for specifics right now.

Flipper sounds like a good fit overall, even if he does drop the ball occasionally.
I'm glad to hear that you are safe now, and that you've found community.

I hope you can add a dog to your life at some point.

Hugs,

Lost