Thursday, June 25, 2009

A final sad chapter in an interesting life

It was reported yesterday that Jerri Nielsen, the doctor who diagnosed and treated her own breast cancer at the South Pole ten years ago, has died from a recurrence of the disease five years ago. Now I need to go back and read her book that she wrote about her adventures in self treatment.

I remember hearing about her story when it happened - it was international news that a doctor at the south pole had diagnosed herself with breast cancer, after the last flight out for the season. I remember thinking that she was pretty incredible to go through that in such an isolated place but also since it was in such a small community, she couldn't hide it and I'm sure she would have gotten support from the others there. When you lose your hair and are nauseous all the time, you can't hide it from people you live with. But now that I have read the very nice obituary, I need to read the rest of the story and learn what really happened.

Yesterday I actually had a decent day. My back mostly cooperated, I wasn't overscheduled, managed to fit in a walk, and the cat proved he is returning to normal by tossing his toys all around the living room and throwing up on the carpet.

Today, I slept okay for about 7 hours but Walter now has a cold. I have to take kitty to the vet to check his glucose levels again. I would be surprised if they need adjustment as he is very normal (meaning a pain in the butt at times). Hopefully we will get the good news that he doesn't need to go back for six months.

The big news is that today summer is supposed to appear. But there is more rain and gloom this morning and its a sultry 60 degrees. They (meaning the weather forecasters who are paid to be wrong) claim that there will be clearing today and it will turn into a nice day. There are mushrooms in my garden. The front lawn is a jungle because all it does is rain. My flowers and vegetables need sun - but I have some tiny peppers and green tomatoes.

But I do need to get moving so I can get out of here to get kitty to the vet on time.

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