Today is our third Thanksgiving observance since Diagnosis Day. Considering how grim the picture was at that time (2006), it is a miracle that I’m even here, and THAT is worthy of celebration!
We are thankful for all the nausea; it signals that the chemotherapy is at work. That side effect is now mostly gone so we celebrate the strengthening of basic health. One signal of health is the “WNL” results on the quarterly blood analysis. Within Normal Limits means that, except for the cancer markers, my blood looks just like any normally healthy person’s blood. Let’s celebrate!
The cancer markers are less consistent. The overall trend since starting with the AstraZeneca chemotherapy (8-13-07) is down to within celebratory levels: The general cancer activity marker, CEA, is down 66% since then; the specific thyroid cancer marker (Calcitonin) is down 71% in the same time frame. Down is good because it means a lowered level of cancer cell activity. Let’s celebrate!
Your support, prayers and affirmations have been a wave bearing us up through scary, uncertain times. There aren’t Thanks enough in all the world to adequately express our gratitude for your staying the course with us. Our constant love goes to you and your family with wishes that your Thanksgiving is as bright as you have made ours.
So let’s go directly to the bottom line and serve the turkey!
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 25, 200
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Down Days
At this time of year my spirits droop, weighed down by added hours of darkness, the preponderance of days with anemic daylight and chill breezes. Too few are the days that elevate my spirit with the joy of being alive: crisp, clear skies, bracing gusts and sunlight warming my face. It is time for a seasonal inventory of my arsenal of weapons to combat weather- and spirit-weariness.
My criteria for inventory assessment: Antidotes must be able to be started within hours if not minutes, completed in less than three days, and have a lasting effect. Bingeing on antidotes is not the answer; the point is to savor the process and extend the enjoyment of the outcome. For fellow seasonal sufferers here are some pre-tested suggestions that have worked for me.
Bake cookies for a neighbor. (Choose a different culinary strategy if your neighbor happens to be a dentist.)
Simmer up a pot of soup for a shut-in (and save some for yourself). The chicken soup “myth” is actually true!
Find out about light visors to compensate for fewer hours of natural daylight. The one I use is Bio-Brite (www.biobrite.com)
Find an interactive blog site and post an opinion. Someone is reading responses.
Visit a resident of an assisted living facility. Everyone has a history; some are spellbinding.
Telephone a classmate you haven’t seen since high school. Have they lived their dreams?
Invite a sister/brother/cousin/friend to visit for a few days. (Specify length of stay.)
Write a Letter to the Editor of your hometown newspaper. Find a forum for your (printable) opinions.
Read some Ogden Nash poems.
This is only a partial list to get the creative juices flowing. Add more from your own experience. Pick one, mix with a dash of sunlight and let a smile break through.
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 20, 2008
My criteria for inventory assessment: Antidotes must be able to be started within hours if not minutes, completed in less than three days, and have a lasting effect. Bingeing on antidotes is not the answer; the point is to savor the process and extend the enjoyment of the outcome. For fellow seasonal sufferers here are some pre-tested suggestions that have worked for me.
Bake cookies for a neighbor. (Choose a different culinary strategy if your neighbor happens to be a dentist.)
Simmer up a pot of soup for a shut-in (and save some for yourself). The chicken soup “myth” is actually true!
Find out about light visors to compensate for fewer hours of natural daylight. The one I use is Bio-Brite (www.biobrite.com)
Find an interactive blog site and post an opinion. Someone is reading responses.
Visit a resident of an assisted living facility. Everyone has a history; some are spellbinding.
Telephone a classmate you haven’t seen since high school. Have they lived their dreams?
Invite a sister/brother/cousin/friend to visit for a few days. (Specify length of stay.)
Write a Letter to the Editor of your hometown newspaper. Find a forum for your (printable) opinions.
Read some Ogden Nash poems.
This is only a partial list to get the creative juices flowing. Add more from your own experience. Pick one, mix with a dash of sunlight and let a smile break through.
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 20, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Exercise Evolution
My exercise plans evolved in halts and starts through the years starting before the fitness revolution was a gleam in Jane Fonda’s eye. After graduation ended my high school sports programs, and feeling fidgety without regular exercise, I took up jogging.
While living near San Jose, California in my mid-thirties, my friend Judy and I decided to train together to prepare for the Bay to Breakers race, a 7.46 mile (12K) cross-San Francisco route from the eastern waterfront ending at the Pacific Ocean in the west. We trained for months at a local high school track, gradually extending our distance and endurance.
The event attracted about 7,000 runners that year with thousands more lining the route to cheer us. Even though we trained on a flat track, Judy and I finished in respectable time for amateur runners facing San Francisco’s daunting landscape. While many runners walked Hayes Street Hill, I am proud to say that Judy and I held to a jogging pace throughout. It may seem a modest achievement to more accomplished runners. But then challenges are relative and this one is the longest run I have ever tackled (or hope to).
The evolution of my personal plan of exercise is apparent in scanning the titles of my collection of fitness VCRs and DVDs starting with Jane Fonda and continuing with Callanetics, Kathy Smith, Richard Simmons, QiGong, Dancing Grannies and Kripalu Yoga, each of which offers it’s own special benefits. A few are catching dust; many find themselves back in favor as I search for variety in my current exercise plan.
Stay well as faithfully as you have stayed the course with us … and keep moving!
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 13, 2008
While living near San Jose, California in my mid-thirties, my friend Judy and I decided to train together to prepare for the Bay to Breakers race, a 7.46 mile (12K) cross-San Francisco route from the eastern waterfront ending at the Pacific Ocean in the west. We trained for months at a local high school track, gradually extending our distance and endurance.
The event attracted about 7,000 runners that year with thousands more lining the route to cheer us. Even though we trained on a flat track, Judy and I finished in respectable time for amateur runners facing San Francisco’s daunting landscape. While many runners walked Hayes Street Hill, I am proud to say that Judy and I held to a jogging pace throughout. It may seem a modest achievement to more accomplished runners. But then challenges are relative and this one is the longest run I have ever tackled (or hope to).
The evolution of my personal plan of exercise is apparent in scanning the titles of my collection of fitness VCRs and DVDs starting with Jane Fonda and continuing with Callanetics, Kathy Smith, Richard Simmons, QiGong, Dancing Grannies and Kripalu Yoga, each of which offers it’s own special benefits. A few are catching dust; many find themselves back in favor as I search for variety in my current exercise plan.
Stay well as faithfully as you have stayed the course with us … and keep moving!
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 13, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Renovation Project
As I become stronger, I am reclaiming bits of my former self by pondering how to rebuild my life and label the process: Recovery, Reconstruction, Remodeling, or Renovation.
Many think of my journey with cancer as a path to recovery. Recovery has come to bear connotations associated with overcoming addictions. My situation differs. I used to believe recovery was a passive process that occurs while lying in bed waiting until health magically returns to its former state.
Reconstruction connotes restoring as perfectly as possible to the previous condition. I emerge from the episode of illness the same as before the onset.
Remodeling constitutes reshaping the original using same or similar materials, a bit of polishing and some rearrangements resulting in a more convenient or agreeable environment.
Renovation differs from the above in not simply returning to a former condition, but rather by “making new” being actively involved in the process. This means thinking myself back to before this illness, examining each component of my persona for aptness to a new vision of “me” including “keepers” and discarding unwanted or unnecessary parts, re-creating each facet of my health, physical and spiritual being. The Katrina survivors of New Orleans’s 9th ward know a lot about this process.
One big “keeper” is my experience of your overwhelming support and expressions of caring concern that will be part of me always.
NOTE: Future blog postings will occur weekly on either Thursday or Friday unless events dictate an “extra edition.”
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 7, 2008
Many think of my journey with cancer as a path to recovery. Recovery has come to bear connotations associated with overcoming addictions. My situation differs. I used to believe recovery was a passive process that occurs while lying in bed waiting until health magically returns to its former state.
Reconstruction connotes restoring as perfectly as possible to the previous condition. I emerge from the episode of illness the same as before the onset.
Remodeling constitutes reshaping the original using same or similar materials, a bit of polishing and some rearrangements resulting in a more convenient or agreeable environment.
Renovation differs from the above in not simply returning to a former condition, but rather by “making new” being actively involved in the process. This means thinking myself back to before this illness, examining each component of my persona for aptness to a new vision of “me” including “keepers” and discarding unwanted or unnecessary parts, re-creating each facet of my health, physical and spiritual being. The Katrina survivors of New Orleans’s 9th ward know a lot about this process.
One big “keeper” is my experience of your overwhelming support and expressions of caring concern that will be part of me always.
NOTE: Future blog postings will occur weekly on either Thursday or Friday unless events dictate an “extra edition.”
Copyright 2008
www.lindalater.blogspot.com
Posted November 7, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
