Open mouth, insert foot

I think we are all guilty of that from time to time. We say something and immediately realize we were rude, insensitive, or just plain stupid. No one is immune to this problem. Particularly when faced with a newly diagnosed friend or loved one.

There was an article on CNN Health the other day about how to talk to cancer patients. Before my latest diagnosis, I was probably just as bad as everyone else. I think we mean to say the right thing but really don't know what to say. This article sums it up nicely. I think the only thing I want to add is that treat sick people (no matter what is wrong with them) the same way as you treat anyone else.

Sick people want to know what is going on in the world, the stupid thing your child/spouse did, and what you did on your vacation. We don't want to know how your second cousin's neighbor's hair dresser's uncle's prostate cancer was treated because it doesn't have any bearing on our treatment. We don't necessarily want to talk about what is going on with our treatment because we have already said it 100 times to everyone else and frankly we are already thinking about it all the time and we really might welcome the distraction. Also, don't tell us how great we look because if we are in treatment we look like crap (and no you can't tell us we don't) and any weight loss or hair changes were not as a result of a desire for change but simply a side effect of treatment. Okay, rant over.

So yesterday I took my weird squash and sauteed it with onion, a ton of garlic (all vegetables are improved by garlic), olives, capers, and tomato sauce. Quite yummy. Leftovers tonight but its farmers market day so I will see what new weird veggies I can get. Also, I think I have three ripe cucumbers out in the garden. Unfortunately if I go to the farmer's market, I have to park right near my favorite consignment store. I told myself I couldn't go back until July. Well, its July. I am going back.

Today I have to take more garden pictures to bore you all. Lots of things are starting to bloom nicely. I also need to go to work, for a walk, run errands, work at home. I think I'm kind of busy today.