As I went through my list of blog subscriptions today, I found several "cancer blogs" that haven't updated in awhile. Of course it's likely they are like me, and so busy living life they don't think to update, but I always have a moment of concern and prayer for them.
So my update is that things are great here! I'm working on gaining my overall health back. I started walking several weeks ago, and am up to 2.5 miles a day! I'm ready to move up more but trying to force myself not to overdo it. I am eating 99% clean, healthy foods. I also realize that food is given by God for our enjoyment, so there is very little I will "never eat again". My eating plan is low carb, but without the processed carb replacements. I eat clean, natural, fresh foods. Once a week I have a "cheat day" where I don't go overboard, but may have cake, potato, etc. My sweet tooth is really gone. Most sweet things taste disgusting to me. I have gone down from 12 drops of stevia in my coffee to 6.
I do enjoy plenty of healthy fats, such as coconut and olive oils, butter, avocado, and yes BACON!
I feel healthier than I have in years. My blood work is awesome, and you would never know my knee had had terrible arthritis. I am even losing weight! Slowly, but steadily.
My family has a lot going on and I am busy, but will try to check in more often! Life is good!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
It's July!
Not October.
Bad enough we have to be inundated with pink crap during one whole month of the year. I was disheartened to see this on several of the food blogs I keep up with.
So, Kitchenaid gets to look good by getting others to do the work for them, all while hawking more pink crap. As a marketing idea, it's genius.
You know, Kitchenaid, you could look even better if you chose a charity that many breast cancer patients don't despise, one that will actually do good with the contributions and one that will actually HELP in the "fight against breast cancer".
From the Kitchenaid site:
I'm really curious about this statement:
"Susan G. Komen® is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease"
From everything I've learned, this is absolutely NOT true. So how can they say that? Have they doctored their percentages to look better? They certainly do NOT fund more research than anyone else, in fact they fund hardly any at all. I suspect their legal loophole is the "real-time help" angle. Most research foundations provide, well, RESEARCH. There are other groups that provide help. I am not aware of any others who do both, so technically even if $1 goes to research and $1 goes to "real-time help", the statement is not a lie.
They do, supposedly, provide "real-time help". The testimonials on their site say so. However, of all the cancer blogs I have ever read, the only ones who tried to get "real-time help" from Komen were brushed off or calls went unanswered. I don't know where the testimonials came from. I'm sure there are actual people out there who have received actual help from Komen; I'm not saying they do nothing. I am saying that other than the testimonials on the Komen site, I haven't heard it from anyone else. Even among the people who adore Komen. You would think that there would be bloggers out there sharing all the great things Komen has done for them, shouting it from the rooftops, if they were out there. (I would dearly love to one day be able to say Komen has turned it around and is doing what they say they do!)
(Edited to add: I did a Google search for "What Komen has done for me". I did find one good story, on page two. I didn't look any farther than page two, but in the first two pages there was one good story.)
Instead, the general public will do all the real work for you, collecting money from their friends by doing something they were going to do this summer anyway - party with their friends. Oh, and buy a cute new pink toy with which to cook. No real work on their part and they get to feel good, too, and think they are doing something of real benefit to those they love who have been touched by cancer.
Hopefully anyone who cares about me will know that this is no way to honor me, although I doubt it.
Slow clap, can't wait to see what you have planned for October. (<insert rolling eyes here)
Bad enough we have to be inundated with pink crap during one whole month of the year. I was disheartened to see this on several of the food blogs I keep up with.
So, Kitchenaid gets to look good by getting others to do the work for them, all while hawking more pink crap. As a marketing idea, it's genius.
You know, Kitchenaid, you could look even better if you chose a charity that many breast cancer patients don't despise, one that will actually do good with the contributions and one that will actually HELP in the "fight against breast cancer".
From the Kitchenaid site:
"In 2014, KitchenAid will donate $450,000 or more to Susan G. Komen® through the Cook for the Cure® program to support the fight against breast cancer. Product sales will not affect this donation. Susan G. Komen® is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease. Since its founding in 1982, Komen has funded more than $800 million in research and provided $1.7 billion in funding to screening, education, treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people in more than 30 countries worldwide. Komen was founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. Cook for the Cure® is a registered trademark of Komen®."
"Susan G. Komen® is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit while providing real-time help to those facing the disease"
From everything I've learned, this is absolutely NOT true. So how can they say that? Have they doctored their percentages to look better? They certainly do NOT fund more research than anyone else, in fact they fund hardly any at all. I suspect their legal loophole is the "real-time help" angle. Most research foundations provide, well, RESEARCH. There are other groups that provide help. I am not aware of any others who do both, so technically even if $1 goes to research and $1 goes to "real-time help", the statement is not a lie.
They do, supposedly, provide "real-time help". The testimonials on their site say so. However, of all the cancer blogs I have ever read, the only ones who tried to get "real-time help" from Komen were brushed off or calls went unanswered. I don't know where the testimonials came from. I'm sure there are actual people out there who have received actual help from Komen; I'm not saying they do nothing. I am saying that other than the testimonials on the Komen site, I haven't heard it from anyone else. Even among the people who adore Komen. You would think that there would be bloggers out there sharing all the great things Komen has done for them, shouting it from the rooftops, if they were out there. (I would dearly love to one day be able to say Komen has turned it around and is doing what they say they do!)
(Edited to add: I did a Google search for "What Komen has done for me". I did find one good story, on page two. I didn't look any farther than page two, but in the first two pages there was one good story.)
Instead, the general public will do all the real work for you, collecting money from their friends by doing something they were going to do this summer anyway - party with their friends. Oh, and buy a cute new pink toy with which to cook. No real work on their part and they get to feel good, too, and think they are doing something of real benefit to those they love who have been touched by cancer.
Hopefully anyone who cares about me will know that this is no way to honor me, although I doubt it.
Slow clap, can't wait to see what you have planned for October. (<insert rolling eyes here)
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Checking In
When I was sick, I read so many blogs that just ended. Most of them suddenly, sort of like mine seems to have done. A few had some sort of explanation, like now that they are healthy, they don't feel the need to blog anymore. I loved that, because the ones that ended suddenly scared me!
So I would like to try and check in now and then. If you are finding and reading this blog, please know that if anything does happen to me and I can't write, my husband will post an update (at least as a comment. I should probably leave him my password. ha). I remember how scary it was for me to be reading some random stranger's blog, everything looks good and all of a sudden - NOTHING. I don't know if a normal, healthy person would be able to understand that. We know people die - of this disease or something else - I think it's the not knowing.
All morbid stuff aside - I am doing fine. I passed my 3rd anniversary last month with hardly a thought. My checkups have all been great. I'm on a 6 month cycle now and if all is well in July, will likely be released to a longer one. Overall I feel pretty good. What health issues I do have, are in no way cancer related.
I still don't like pink stuff. I still don't like the language of cancer - survivor, battle, journey. It's just LIFE. I've learned to smile and nod, and hopefully those close to me have learned to use different words.
It's just life. Life is short, cancer or not. Life is good. I'm enjoying it. :)
So I would like to try and check in now and then. If you are finding and reading this blog, please know that if anything does happen to me and I can't write, my husband will post an update (at least as a comment. I should probably leave him my password. ha). I remember how scary it was for me to be reading some random stranger's blog, everything looks good and all of a sudden - NOTHING. I don't know if a normal, healthy person would be able to understand that. We know people die - of this disease or something else - I think it's the not knowing.
All morbid stuff aside - I am doing fine. I passed my 3rd anniversary last month with hardly a thought. My checkups have all been great. I'm on a 6 month cycle now and if all is well in July, will likely be released to a longer one. Overall I feel pretty good. What health issues I do have, are in no way cancer related.
I still don't like pink stuff. I still don't like the language of cancer - survivor, battle, journey. It's just LIFE. I've learned to smile and nod, and hopefully those close to me have learned to use different words.
It's just life. Life is short, cancer or not. Life is good. I'm enjoying it. :)
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
A Great Blog
This is not a new entry, but it says everything so well. Please read it!
Click
You may have noticed I'm not griping about stupid pink crap this year. It's definitely not because it doesn't bother me anymore. No, it bothers me exactly as much as before, maybe even more.
The truth is I am tired. After a couple of discussions with people, including my baby brother, whom I know loves and cares about me an awful lot, I realized there is absolutely nothing that will happen by griping about it other than making me MORE bitter and angry about it. Yes, that is a fatalistic attitude, and I don't really believe it, but for now I need to leave it to the experts. Those like Gayle at Pink Ribbon Blues, and the good folks at Think Before You Pink.
I just can't do it this year. Interestingly, I am not the only one. Several of my favorite "cancer bloggers" feel the same way and are staying out of it this year. I just don't have it in me. But if you think it's because I'm coming to terms with it, I am not. I want to write a letter to my local cancer center complaining about the huge pink ribbon they hung outside the building, AGAIN, stating "we care". We know they care! It's their business to care. But no other cancer gets a ribbon hung on the building. No other cancer gets the lighting changed to a not-so-subtle shade of pink (or whatever) for a month. I was getting chemo during October 2 years ago, and every single person in that chemo room felt the same way, no matter what kind of cancer they had. IT IS OFFENSIVE. And it needs to go.
So. Please read the entry I linked above, and that's probably all you will hear from me this month.
Click
You may have noticed I'm not griping about stupid pink crap this year. It's definitely not because it doesn't bother me anymore. No, it bothers me exactly as much as before, maybe even more.
The truth is I am tired. After a couple of discussions with people, including my baby brother, whom I know loves and cares about me an awful lot, I realized there is absolutely nothing that will happen by griping about it other than making me MORE bitter and angry about it. Yes, that is a fatalistic attitude, and I don't really believe it, but for now I need to leave it to the experts. Those like Gayle at Pink Ribbon Blues, and the good folks at Think Before You Pink.
I just can't do it this year. Interestingly, I am not the only one. Several of my favorite "cancer bloggers" feel the same way and are staying out of it this year. I just don't have it in me. But if you think it's because I'm coming to terms with it, I am not. I want to write a letter to my local cancer center complaining about the huge pink ribbon they hung outside the building, AGAIN, stating "we care". We know they care! It's their business to care. But no other cancer gets a ribbon hung on the building. No other cancer gets the lighting changed to a not-so-subtle shade of pink (or whatever) for a month. I was getting chemo during October 2 years ago, and every single person in that chemo room felt the same way, no matter what kind of cancer they had. IT IS OFFENSIVE. And it needs to go.
So. Please read the entry I linked above, and that's probably all you will hear from me this month.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Pain
I'm having a lot more pain than I expected from the port removal. I figure it's probably because as soon as I got it put in, I started chemo the next day and didn't have time to think about it. it feels like someone punched me. It;s really sore at the incision and hurts to wear a bra.
On the bright side, it means the end of chemo! I can live with that. :)
On the bright side, it means the end of chemo! I can live with that. :)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Bye-bye, Port
I had my port removed yesterday. Of course I could have, should have done it long ago. I procrastinate, what can I say? But it's gone now.
I am very grateful for the technology. I have uncooperative veins, so chemo would have been hellish. More hellish.
I am glad it's gone. I hope I never need one again.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
My Second "Lumpiversary"
Two years ago today is when I found the lump. I can't believe it's been that long already. As much as time seems to crawl sometimes, it flies even more.
it's a gorgeous spring day like it was 2 years ago. Full of promise and beauty. I feel like I've wasted so much time not feeling great or just not wanting to do anything, while on the other hand sometimes I do too much like I am overcompensating.
I would like to slow down and enjoy life and the people in mine. In the recent past I have taken some steps to do just that.
Life goes on, no matter what we do. The only thing I can control is how I live mine.
it's a gorgeous spring day like it was 2 years ago. Full of promise and beauty. I feel like I've wasted so much time not feeling great or just not wanting to do anything, while on the other hand sometimes I do too much like I am overcompensating.
I would like to slow down and enjoy life and the people in mine. In the recent past I have taken some steps to do just that.
Life goes on, no matter what we do. The only thing I can control is how I live mine.
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