Hi all!
I'm a great aunt again! Little (and I do mean little) Brooklyn Grace was born to a weary but happy Mom (Deanna) and a happy Dad (Tim). She's adorable from the photos I've seen and I can't wait to hold her.
Instead of posting today on my own blog, let me refer you to the guest blog I did on the Beyond Breast Cancer website, run by a delightful woman named Marie.
There's lots of interesting posts on her blog, so take some time to explore, if you've got the time to spare. (Tim and Deanna are exempt...new parents and all.)
(To be sung to the tune of "Reunited.")
I did a bit of noodling around some interesting political articles today, but don't have the oomph to write about them (or respond to posts) yet. And I've got questions to write out for the surgeon still. So this disconnect blurt will have to do.
I did have a productive day. Met with my sister-in-law Cindy this morning via Skype. Worked on the first draft of another section of Golf on Monday, Chemo on Tuesday. Did some catch up on emails. Had lunch with my lovely Mom.
Now it's off to the couch to write questions, do some reading, and maybe watch some television. My body's really wanting a break, so I'm gonna give it to me.
Cheers! Fingers crossed and prayers uttered, please, for the visit with the surgeon tomorrow.
It's a gorgeous, long summer evening. The sun is just taking its bow on the horizon. A cool breeze is skipping over the mountains and in through my 2nd story office window. And I feel like my feet are going to fall off.
We did a little patriotic duty this morning (aka retail therapy at the local mall). I bought some new pans since I've been wanting to get away from my nonstick, potentially carcinogenic, cookware. So I bought a small frying pan in the stainless steel and a larger one with the copper core/stainless steel option. We also needed a new waffle maker and new tea kettle, so Williams Sonoma was quite happy with us.
After shopping and a bite of lunch, we decided that since our home course (the gorgeous Aliso Viejo Country Club) had very few tee times this afternoon, it was also our patriotic duty to play a little golf. 18 holes and 105 strokes later for me, Dan and I were the last two back to the clubhouse. We gave the sunburned young cart guy a nice tip and headed home.
Now for some feet up time. Then, if we're still awake in an hour and a half, we should be able to enjoy several fireworks shows from our back yard and balcony. Hope all of my American friends had a wonderful 4th of July!
Today is the first day I've worn shorts this summer. It's also the first day this summer that the June gloom we have (and I enjoy so much) in Laguna Niguel burned off before 9:00 a.m. Which means that it's been fairly warm so far...but not so warm I've turned on the air conditioning. (Gotta save that for the really hot days with NO breeze.
We had a little celebration of my scan news. Last night it was a bit of bubbly (just a bit...gotta preserve that liver) and dinner out at a favorite Italian restaurant. Then this morning the celebration continued with the wild abandon only found in sticky buns.
We had previously been turned on to Trader Joe's sticky buns, but those have mysteriously vanished from the marketplace. So we're now onto Williams Sonoma sticky buns (pricey, I know, but you get 12 in 3 packages of four). Not quite as sticky as TJ's but amazingly flakey and so, so good.
By lunchtime, I'd recovered myself and had a macrobiotic lunch at the local vegan place. We ventured really far from the normal post-chemo agenda (i.e., the couch) and went to see The Hangover. I laughed harder at that movie than I have in quite some time. It's like watching a slow motion series of pratfalls, all elegantly crafted, with unexpected twists when you're expecting veers.
Last weekend, Lynne and I saw The Proposal. More of a chick-flick, it was also funny but in a more dignified, and somewhat more predictable way. There were times that the plot veered dangerously close to another favorite Sandra Bullock movie, While You Were Sleeping. But leading man, Ryan Reynolds, and supporting actress, Betty White, both pulled the movie out of romantic comedy predictability with charming performances.
I ask you, what's better than a summer day, wearing shorts, hanging with your honey (or an amazing friend) and laughing out loud at a funny movie?
(I couldn't think of anything either.)
Today was a very good day in that I got a lot accomplished, had zero nausea and good energy. Still, there were a lot of little things that didn't make sense to me. Here's a list:
1. Since it's my body and I drank the barium on Monday and stayed still for the PET/CT scan, why is it that my test results can't be released to me until my Doctor approves their release?
2. How is it that service reps at the Toll Road won't let me deal with Dan's account (when I've got all of his information including last payment, account paid from, our car registration numbers, etc.) in order to fix their silly error?
3. Why is it a "security issue" for Dan to send a fax to UPS allowing Chad to pick up the jeans that we sent to him?
4. Why do we settle for "news" organizations who chase their tails over a governor's infidelity but don't seem to be capable of actually reporting any substantive news?
These are just a few of the questions running around my noggin. And this is on a good day...just imagine if it had been a tough day!
Hope that your day was "Huh?" free.
Howdy, ya'll. I had quite a fun day today. Breakfast with Dan. A nice long shower (to last me 3 days). A 2 1/2 hour infusion followed by lunch with my long-time friend, Peggy Edwards.
She and I chatted about various projects she's been working on and the book I've begun working on (click here for the Introduction to Golf on Monday, Chemo on Tuesday: One Woman's Approach to Advanced Cancer.) Then it was home for more chatting before Peggy headed for the Santa Clarita Valley.
I spent the afternoon working on the first of 20 recommendations for folks who've been diagnosed with cancer. And then I had the ultimate summer pleasure of going for a sunny walk at 5:00 p.m. Since then I've had dinner and now am talking to you, dear readers.
One other thing that made the day most pleasant was reading a positive article in the LA Times about South Central Los Angeles and the folks who are making a life for themselves in what some would consider one of the worst places to live in L.A.
Fascinating to see how the story these folks have about where they live and how they invest time and energy in making their homes beautiful reflects the lessons I've learned about thriving even though I have cancer. It's so very much about the stories we tell ourselves.
It's been quite a day. I had a hybrid CT/PET scan this morning (surprise barium, yum-yum!), shopped for chemo week, had an appointment with my acupuncturist (Dr. Ho) this afternoon and in between read various articles that piqued my interest.The shopping included a purchase of peonies. I thought the full blooms would cheer me up this week (even tho it's chemo-lite, it never hurts to have a few "pick me up" items around the house). I got the flowers home from the store...directly home I might add...and all but one of the five flowers immediately dropped its petals.What a disappointment! So I kept the one peony that didn't burst and went back to the store with the leavings of the rest. The manager gave me my money back. So I have a free, if lonely, peony on my dining room table.When I got back from my hour with needles, I happened upon an article about teaching in the prison system. The author, Robert Garmong, taught philosophy to prisoners in Virginia. His experience transformed him and his perspective about prisoners while providing some of those same prisoners with valuable tools for lucid, ethical thinking.It was interesting to read something that affirms my thoughts on what's at least part of the problem with California's penal system: almost all of the money spent on the system goes to the guards. Imagine a world where we spent a little of that money on critical thinking skills.Sure, many of the prisoners might still end up back in prison. But how many wouldn't? And how great if some of those that don't ended up living contributive lives.One other article I read talked about the California State Budget and the "kabuki" theater that will soon happen as Dems put forth a budget and Repubs kill it because it contains some tax increases. Just what we need...theater instead of well-thought out, bipartisan plans for sharing the pain of getting ourselves out of this mess.Instead, we'll likely end up with draconian cuts across the board to services that primarily benefit the lower third of our citizens. And folks that got their yacht taxes reduced will sail on. Surely some kind of compromise would be better.Last, but not least, was a thought provoking article about "California 2.0"--a constitutional convention and just how we might go about selecting members for the constitutional convention.The author, Rt Hill, makes a persuasive argument for having the conventioneers randomly selected. This would provide for a cross-section of the citizenry and leave out the opportunity for spots to be purchased, either with expensive campaigns or with influence.Now that would be something to see. It's about time for a convention, I say. What's going on clearly doesn't work.So I'll hope for a groundswell of support for the constitutional convention and for a seat (by random selection) on the committee. Hey, a girl can dream. Especially one with a free peony.
I just read a very interesting article by a man who wrote the book (literally)on Fish. An advocate of eating this healthy alternative to beef and chicken, he's coming to see that many of the fish we consume are either not good for the environment because they're farmed, or not sustainably fished right now.
He ended the article by talking about his new personal guidelines for eating fish. One of them is "not to let perfect become the enemy of good." I found his statement really resonating in my head around two things:
1. The up-in-the-air status of my liver resection surgery (due to my surgeon being in the Ukraine and my oncologist having questions about the strategy).
2. The DOMA brief filed by the Department of Justice against the plaintiffs (and supporting the Defense of Marriage Act) and its relationship to President Obama's stated aims of repealing DOMA and "Dont' Ask, Dont' Tell."
Trust me, these all work together!
Taking the Obama administration first, I just emailed a friend that I'm not surprised that Obama is doing some foot dragging on these issues. I doubt seriously that he read, let alone made suggestions for improving, the relatively offensive brief. But I do believe there's been a conscious decision by his administration to let the culture wars die down in order to accomplish more pressing and far reaching agenda items.
In other words, he's not letting perfect (sticking with everything you've ever said without prioritizing and/or changing your mind) be the enemy of good (accomplishing the most important reforms first and letting others do some brewing before they come to fruition).
In terms of my surgery, there is some question by my oncologist whether or not this strategy (staged liver resection and rfa ablation for those tumors too deep to remove) is the best route, or even feasible. Remember, he's a generalist and I went last week to see a specialist...so it's reasonable that he has questions. Even admirable.
And at the same time, I believe that surgery will end up being my best, if imperfect option. There's a belief that tumors will recur from rfa treated metasteses. Okay, but that's down the road. And who knows what will be at the forefront of the battle against colon cancer then?
I don't want perfect to become the enemy of good when it comes to my health, healing and hope for cure. It's how I've dealt with this challenge from the beginning. Using the best information about this complex system known as Laura Morefield, I choose. Subject to change as new information comes in. Trusting my medical team. But mostly, trusting my own inner, God-given voice.
I've got three things buzzing around my mind this vle-post chemo day.
1. Newsweek's Redesign: Having concluded that "news" is being covered by the 24/7 blogosphere and news channels, Newsweek has been in the process of reinventing itself as a news outlet. Instead of being a "current news" delivery device, they've moved in the direction of offering commentary, in-depth interviews and profiles.
I like the thinking very much but believe they will be better able to engage their audience in this new format if they break things up a bit more. Intersperse commentary (and woo Quindlan back for heavens' sake) with more in-depth articles. Sprinkle the social commentary fluff-stuff throughout the magazine instead of saving it for the end. A few little tweaks and Newsweek may be onto something. Sorta wish Meacham had been in charge of the automotive industry this last decade or so.
2. My at long last viewing of Shut up and Sing, a documentary about the Dixie Chicks and the "long road" they took to come back from lead singer Natalie Maines' off the cuff comment in London, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, that she was embarassed that the President of the United States was from (her home state) of Texas.
The backlash from that comment (mainly from Country Music fans and the stations that used anti-Chick backlash to whip up some publicity) was brutish, ill-informed, and (as it turned out) dead wrong about the war being the right decision.
The film follows these three incredibly talented performers as they navigate the fallout of Maines' comment and their subsequent choices. There are some interesting nuances to the argument about free speech. It seems like the producers of the film were all for Natalie's free speech but not so much for the free speech of those who disagreed with the Chicks. I've been there, to a much lesser degree, when I wrote about abortion rights and came home to a hateful call on my message machine about being a baby killer. It's hard to support someone's right to free speech when it gets personal.
3. Jon Meacham's interview with President Obama. In it, Obama describes his process for deciding to surge troops in Afghanistan. Listening to the way he approached the problem--taking into account historical contexts and lessons learned by other super powers who ventured there, gathering together people from every agency with something to add to the discussion, listening and asking questions, then demanding answers before making a decision--how refreshing in a Commander-in-Chief.
Those Dixie Chicks, they were right on.
Hello Peeps!
As the topper to my whirlwind non-chemo week, Dan and I played golf with Renee' and Tom today. It was not my most stellar round...and I got a LOT peeved for about 2 1/2 holes...but managed to pull up before a full-fledged blow out.
And even with the anger management issue, it was an enjoyable morning. (I'm allowed to get mad these days. Such a nice change of pace and bit of grace to give myself.)
The weather was cloudy and cool until the last two holes. We ate a great lunch at the club, parted ways and then Dan and I came home to find Bob here. We chatted till Erik got back and pretty much chatting sums up the rest of the afternoon.
We're going to build a meal communally in a few moments (pasta with pesto chicken for me and marinara chicken for the rest) along with sweet potatoes, broccoli and whatever other veggies we can scrounge up.
Tomorrow, Chemo on Tuesday. Which will have joys of its own...seriously. I'll get to see the folks at the office (they're amazing, cheerful, funny folk) and I'll get some reading and maybe even a snooze in.
And I'll remember this past week's awesome memories. Too cool. Hope all of you are having an equally stellar day.
RSS Feed
My StumbleUpon Page