Call me slow but perhaps I am finally getting this. When you have surgery, you need to take it easy to recover. If you over do things, you get weird little pains from where they poked around inside you that don't necessarily coincide with your incisions. (This can also happen if the cat walks on the area of your surgery.)
Yesterday morning I was very tired but I went to an interview for a walk, the grocery story, and got my nails done. I also managed to do a lot of nothing (translated to wasting time on the internet) between all that. Then I even went to bed early. Well, I was tired and I was going to watch the debate in bed. They started talking about the economy so it was time to put cotton in my ears and listen to the blah, blah, blah. Then I fell asleep. That was restful until the cat invaded and decided to stretch out with his paws in my ear...
Today I feel a little better, not as tired but once again I have a busy day - but at least I have light pink fingernails and dark brown toe nails - so I can be tired in style. No I am not obsessing about a manicure/pedicure. It is my one indulgence these days. I don't buy clothes and make up. I don't get my hair cut (because of the Lorax issue) but I do get my nails done because I want to. That's enough of a reason.
This morning I am working from home (and wasting time on line) until I go to work early. Then a friend is coming in from out of town, we will go for a walk and out for Mexican food. I haven't had Mexican food since last spring either. I can't wait. They have the BEST guacamole (and no I am not going to tell you where this restaurant is because its tiny and is really good and really cheap and I don't want to have it end up being crowded).
A busy weekend of fun things is planned but we really don't have a schedule - just call us unorganized. But we will have fun which is the most important thing.
In the meantime, here is another inconclusive sound bite. Nicotine spurs breast cancer growth. Hmmm... Well if you read the article you will learn that at least they plainly state that this is what happened in a lab dish but they don't know what this means for humans. So why publish this so it can be picked up, taken out of context, and distorted if it only proves that it has any effect in a lab dish. Perhaps they should wait until they can say it has an effect on humans.
The other day I mentioned something about an article on there being no breast cancer/caffeine link. Well, then yesterday someone pointed out a different article on drinking four or more cups of coffee daily and its impact on developing breast cancer. I think they publish these things regularly just to keep us all confused.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Blog Action Day: Poverty
Today is Blog Action Day. The organizers want all bloggers to blog about poverty. People in need often do not get the medical attention they need. I personally know people who have said to my 'I dont have insurance to cover these treatments' and skip recommended treatments for their cancer. This is very unfortunate to hear. I have also heard the social workers at the hospital I go to tell these patients that there are special arrangements that can be made for people who's insurance will not cover their cancer treatments.
While I am all for health insurance for all, I also am not sure we would be better off with a national health care system. I used to travel to the UK on business frequently. I was not a patient in the health care system I heard about it from many. Everyone I knew paid for a private dentist because the national health care ones were awful. It took a long time to get an appointment in the national system.
One time, there was a major flu epidemic going on to the point that hospitals were overloaded. People's regularly scheduled surgeries were postponed because of lack of hospital beds. One woman was in the news because her cancer surgery was postponed four times due to lack of beds. When they could finally get her in, it was too late and there was nothing they could do. She was given only a few months to live.
I do think there needs to be a safety net so that those in need can receive regular checkups and can get the medical care they need. Poverty should not make people choose between food and medical care. This could mean life or death. The system needs to be changed.
Yesterday I had a long day and worked until 9 pm. Very late for me. Today I am tired. Partly because it took me a while to fall asleep and partly because I didn't sleep very well. This morning I have an interview where I need to be perky and wide awake. I think I will indulge in extra caffeine to get me through it.
While I am all for health insurance for all, I also am not sure we would be better off with a national health care system. I used to travel to the UK on business frequently. I was not a patient in the health care system I heard about it from many. Everyone I knew paid for a private dentist because the national health care ones were awful. It took a long time to get an appointment in the national system.
One time, there was a major flu epidemic going on to the point that hospitals were overloaded. People's regularly scheduled surgeries were postponed because of lack of hospital beds. One woman was in the news because her cancer surgery was postponed four times due to lack of beds. When they could finally get her in, it was too late and there was nothing they could do. She was given only a few months to live.
I do think there needs to be a safety net so that those in need can receive regular checkups and can get the medical care they need. Poverty should not make people choose between food and medical care. This could mean life or death. The system needs to be changed.
Yesterday I had a long day and worked until 9 pm. Very late for me. Today I am tired. Partly because it took me a while to fall asleep and partly because I didn't sleep very well. This morning I have an interview where I need to be perky and wide awake. I think I will indulge in extra caffeine to get me through it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Another tiny possibility
Okay, there is a tiny possibility I overdid it yesterday according to the rumor mongers around here. But first, here is the latest video of the day. John Cleese on Sarah Palin's ability to run the United States. I do wish to say I don't agree with his labelling of McCain as a cancer survivor. John McCain's medical history has no impact on his ability to be a senator or US president.
Also in the news this morning is a story about how caffeine intake is not shown to cause breast cancer. So we can all now drink our morning coffee in peace.
Yesterday, I went for a walk, planted bulbs, got Walter to dig holes for the last 35 bulbs, and worked from home. I was informed that once again I had Dr Seuss character hair - possibly Yertle the Turtle hair. Today I am working then meeting a friend for a walk and then going to work. I am actually going to work this evening - which means I need to stay awake. I plan to actually focus on doing something to my hair to prevent the Yertle look.
But back to my tiny possibility (I needed to build some suspense), that I might have overdone things yesterday. When my incisions hurt, this is a sign that I have overdone things. But when you over do it, you do sleep very well at night and sleep late in the morning.
Also in the news this morning is a story about how caffeine intake is not shown to cause breast cancer. So we can all now drink our morning coffee in peace.
Yesterday, I went for a walk, planted bulbs, got Walter to dig holes for the last 35 bulbs, and worked from home. I was informed that once again I had Dr Seuss character hair - possibly Yertle the Turtle hair. Today I am working then meeting a friend for a walk and then going to work. I am actually going to work this evening - which means I need to stay awake. I plan to actually focus on doing something to my hair to prevent the Yertle look.
But back to my tiny possibility (I needed to build some suspense), that I might have overdone things yesterday. When my incisions hurt, this is a sign that I have overdone things. But when you over do it, you do sleep very well at night and sleep late in the morning.
Monday, October 13, 2008
More hair issues
Yesterday, my husband said to me 'you look like a Dr Seuss character!' because the hair on my head was standing up straight, just like the Lorax or Cindy Lou Who or Sam (as in Green Eggs) or any number of other Dr Seuss characters. These days it is definitely uncooperative.
It finally is appearing like it might return to its normal color but has some curl on the end which means it does its own thing - no matter what I do. And its too short. The next cut will probably remove all the remaining curl, but will, obviously, make it shorter. So my dilemma is how long do I fight with the stupid Dr Seuss prone hair so it is longer before getting what I hope are the last of the curls cut off? This will be a test for me. I will continue to suffer in silence.
Now to continue our key numbers from yesterday - there are now less than 100 days of George Bush in the White House. What ever your leanings, I think most Americans will be glad to see the end of him. Another key number 22 days until the election and counting. This means 22 days until we stop hearing about political ads and campaigns and can return to worrying about the economy, the war, and all the other issues we are all avoiding these days.
Yesterday I did survive our bike ride. I think I will be going again in the next week or so. It did give me some pains and cause me to take a nap yesterday but otherwise went well. I probably went 10-12 miles tops at a speed that was not breaking any records - Walter pointed out that he was coasting most of the way... I also dug holes for more bulbs but have many more to dig... what was I thinking when we bought so many? Oh I know, that Walter would dig the holes. I will have to work on that.
Speaking of exercise, in today's newspaper, there was actually an article I agree with for once (this does happen occasionally). Exercise helps prevent fatigue, especially for people who are sick with things like cancer, in addition to the common cold. I could gloat but I won't. I will just go for a walk today.
It finally is appearing like it might return to its normal color but has some curl on the end which means it does its own thing - no matter what I do. And its too short. The next cut will probably remove all the remaining curl, but will, obviously, make it shorter. So my dilemma is how long do I fight with the stupid Dr Seuss prone hair so it is longer before getting what I hope are the last of the curls cut off? This will be a test for me. I will continue to suffer in silence.
Now to continue our key numbers from yesterday - there are now less than 100 days of George Bush in the White House. What ever your leanings, I think most Americans will be glad to see the end of him. Another key number 22 days until the election and counting. This means 22 days until we stop hearing about political ads and campaigns and can return to worrying about the economy, the war, and all the other issues we are all avoiding these days.
Yesterday I did survive our bike ride. I think I will be going again in the next week or so. It did give me some pains and cause me to take a nap yesterday but otherwise went well. I probably went 10-12 miles tops at a speed that was not breaking any records - Walter pointed out that he was coasting most of the way... I also dug holes for more bulbs but have many more to dig... what was I thinking when we bought so many? Oh I know, that Walter would dig the holes. I will have to work on that.
Speaking of exercise, in today's newspaper, there was actually an article I agree with for once (this does happen occasionally). Exercise helps prevent fatigue, especially for people who are sick with things like cancer, in addition to the common cold. I could gloat but I won't. I will just go for a walk today.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The numbers are adding up
The numbers are definitely adding up. I didn't realize it but yesterday was my 500th blog post! Wow! And there are still people reading it.
Another milestone, earlier this month I reached over 1000 miles in driving to my 73 doctor appointments to date this year. I keep track of this as it is deductible in our taxes (I don't know all the details, I just give the information to our tax guy and he figures it out for me...) considering its a 13.5 mile round trip to the doctors I usually go to, that's a lot of trips.
But the real number of the day is that there are now pop tarts which are whole grain and give you 20% of your daily fiber in a serving. I didn't think pop tarts had any nutritional value outside of the sugar food group. (I just want to clarify, I don't think I have eaten a pop tart since college and have no plans to try to eat these nutritional ones. I am sure they now taste like cardboard with sugar on top.)What next? Will they add fiber to twinkies? How mouthwatering.
Yesterday I attempted to plant bulbs. Unfortunately I only got about 25 planted before I got tired. Later today Walter can do the digging. I think I have about 100 to go. I also went for a walk and went out to lunch for a friend and did a little shopping.
Today our big adventure is a bike ride. We are going to attempt to ride our bikes out the bike path. We live right near the bike path. We never ride on it. We walk on it. But for a change, we think we should actually use it as a bike path. Actually, we had fun biking in Maine so we want to go again. Then because we will have burned up so many calories, we will get to go to the diner for breakfast. This is all assuming that biking is not a bad thing to do after surgery.
Another milestone, earlier this month I reached over 1000 miles in driving to my 73 doctor appointments to date this year. I keep track of this as it is deductible in our taxes (I don't know all the details, I just give the information to our tax guy and he figures it out for me...) considering its a 13.5 mile round trip to the doctors I usually go to, that's a lot of trips.
But the real number of the day is that there are now pop tarts which are whole grain and give you 20% of your daily fiber in a serving. I didn't think pop tarts had any nutritional value outside of the sugar food group. (I just want to clarify, I don't think I have eaten a pop tart since college and have no plans to try to eat these nutritional ones. I am sure they now taste like cardboard with sugar on top.)What next? Will they add fiber to twinkies? How mouthwatering.
Yesterday I attempted to plant bulbs. Unfortunately I only got about 25 planted before I got tired. Later today Walter can do the digging. I think I have about 100 to go. I also went for a walk and went out to lunch for a friend and did a little shopping.
Today our big adventure is a bike ride. We are going to attempt to ride our bikes out the bike path. We live right near the bike path. We never ride on it. We walk on it. But for a change, we think we should actually use it as a bike path. Actually, we had fun biking in Maine so we want to go again. Then because we will have burned up so many calories, we will get to go to the diner for breakfast. This is all assuming that biking is not a bad thing to do after surgery.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Avoidance
If you ignore and avoid the icky things in life, they will go away. Well, sometimes. This is the very mature route to handling stressful things. The stock market is having a 'bad time'. I'll just leave it at that because all the other words that are floating around (crash, depression, meltdown, etc) are just too nasty. Therefore, I recommend avoiding and ignoring it. Stop watching the news or mute it when they talk about the markets. Skip the business section of the paper. Don't open your IRA and investment statements, leave them in a nice tidy little pile where they can sit until the market turns around. Then when you open them, you will know they are already on their way back up. (If you insist on opening them, I recommend a stiff drink to accompany them.)
Another thing to ignore/avoid is the election. There are only 24 days to go unless you believe the evil rumors that the White House is going to impose martial law and delay them so Obama wont get in. (I am not making this up, it was in today's newspaper.) I really dont think they should postpone it because it ha been dragging on for so long already, we all just want it to be over. We all just want to vote and get it over with so we can get back to our lives and stop having our favorite TV shows cancelled because of debates and other political chit chat.
Instead of these two headline grabbing situations, I recommend focusing on more fun things like fall foliage, computer games, cooking shows on TV, Netflix DVDs, shopping (that's helping the economy), gardening, sports (the Red Sox are in the play offs, hockey and basketball are starting, and foot ball is going on too), home improvement projects (also good for the economy), and vacations. Just think a three week vacation would be great about now. If the economy isn't better by then, we may all be on a permanent vacation and the election will finally be over.
One last thing to ignore is the fact that yesterday I made a clear violation of the do not lift more than 10 lbs rule while recovering from abdominal surgery. I tried to open a window that I didn't realize was locked. So it caused a little pain. Not too much and I plan on ignoring it until it goes away.
Today I am going for a walk (for a change, Walter might go with me), then a friend is coming over and we are going out to lunch and consignment store shopping. I need to plant bulbs (meaning Walter needs to dig me a million little holes so I can fill them back up.) A busy day while I ignore icky things.
Another thing to ignore/avoid is the election. There are only 24 days to go unless you believe the evil rumors that the White House is going to impose martial law and delay them so Obama wont get in. (I am not making this up, it was in today's newspaper.) I really dont think they should postpone it because it ha been dragging on for so long already, we all just want it to be over. We all just want to vote and get it over with so we can get back to our lives and stop having our favorite TV shows cancelled because of debates and other political chit chat.
Instead of these two headline grabbing situations, I recommend focusing on more fun things like fall foliage, computer games, cooking shows on TV, Netflix DVDs, shopping (that's helping the economy), gardening, sports (the Red Sox are in the play offs, hockey and basketball are starting, and foot ball is going on too), home improvement projects (also good for the economy), and vacations. Just think a three week vacation would be great about now. If the economy isn't better by then, we may all be on a permanent vacation and the election will finally be over.
One last thing to ignore is the fact that yesterday I made a clear violation of the do not lift more than 10 lbs rule while recovering from abdominal surgery. I tried to open a window that I didn't realize was locked. So it caused a little pain. Not too much and I plan on ignoring it until it goes away.
Today I am going for a walk (for a change, Walter might go with me), then a friend is coming over and we are going out to lunch and consignment store shopping. I need to plant bulbs (meaning Walter needs to dig me a million little holes so I can fill them back up.) A busy day while I ignore icky things.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Avoidance
A year ago I was avoiding dealing with my health issues. I felt like crap, had no hair, and was in chemo. Today I am avoiding the economy. Actually I think everyone should avoid thinking about the economy and listening to news about the economy. Its very depressing. We should all take the responsible way out and avoid thinking about it - maybe it will go away. Well it definitely will since there will be a presidential address on the economy today. I am sure that will solve all the problems the $700,000,000,000 (too many zeroes) bill didn't solve. I am not sure why the politicians think a speech can solve the problems of the world. On to avoidance.
Yesterday, because I could, I stayed in my pajamas until 11 am. I also watched four episodes of Sex in the City - these were the ones where Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer. I actually think they handled it rather well. She says she can't go visit Miranda in Brooklyn because she has cancer. Their depiction of chemo is pretty good too. I now have to watch the rest of the sixth season to see how it goes.
I actually got some work done yesterday too. I didn't watch TV all day. I waited until it was warm enough to go for a walk in shorts and then got motivated. Also, I was talking on the phone to a friend yesterday and guess who got out. There he was la-di-dah sitting on the stone wall waiting for furry things to destroy. (Just call him the 'Enforcer' - no one is getting near his house.) This actually happened three times. I can't wait for snow to end all this.
Today I am meeting a friend for a walk and then another friend is coming over and then I need to get some work done too. Maybe I should motivate this morning and work? That would be a good concept but it requires motivation and not procrastination.
Yesterday, because I could, I stayed in my pajamas until 11 am. I also watched four episodes of Sex in the City - these were the ones where Samantha is diagnosed with breast cancer. I actually think they handled it rather well. She says she can't go visit Miranda in Brooklyn because she has cancer. Their depiction of chemo is pretty good too. I now have to watch the rest of the sixth season to see how it goes.
I actually got some work done yesterday too. I didn't watch TV all day. I waited until it was warm enough to go for a walk in shorts and then got motivated. Also, I was talking on the phone to a friend yesterday and guess who got out. There he was la-di-dah sitting on the stone wall waiting for furry things to destroy. (Just call him the 'Enforcer' - no one is getting near his house.) This actually happened three times. I can't wait for snow to end all this.
Today I am meeting a friend for a walk and then another friend is coming over and then I need to get some work done too. Maybe I should motivate this morning and work? That would be a good concept but it requires motivation and not procrastination.
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