Monthly Archives: January 2009

friends

15 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by in cancer, friends, health & happiness, life stuff

≈ 11 Comments

hug.jpg

“Remember, no man is a failure who has friends”
(It’s A Wonderful Life)

They say that you can tell who your real friends are in times of crisis, and there is nothing quite as crisis-making as having a possibly terminal illness. I’ve heard stories from friends in similar situations who have been terribly hurt and let down by people who turned their backs in times of serious need. I was lucky that this only happened to me once [ * ] during this whole cancer ordeal, right at the beginning of it, and that since then I have felt nothing but love and support from the people I am fortunate to call my friends…

[ * ] well, my immediate family also dumped me (Joe & Olivia excepted) but as Nog says, that’s what families are for.  😉

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“cured!” (for now)

14 Wednesday Jan 2009

Posted by in cancer, friends, health & happiness, hospitals, life stuff

≈ 32 Comments

no-cancer

Actually, the correct term to use is NED (No Evidence of Disease) – cancer survivors tend to steer away from that other C-word. But imagine my surprise, after spending almost two hours with Ricardo yesterday morning, with him very patiently explaining everything about my case, to find out that I’ve been NED since the biopsy reports came back last October, which was then reconfirmed by the third operation. This is the short version of el caso az …

  • primary stage IV colon tumour and surrounding lymph nodes removed
  • two secondary tumours found in liver
  • two months of chemo
  • liver resection aborted after discovery of peritoneal lesions
  • all biopsy results negative
  • PET scan shows liver metastasis eliminated after chemo
  • third operation to “clean up” liver and peritoneum
  • peritoneal lesions turn out to be benign scar tissue
  • all biopsy results negative
  • “wait & watch” – testing every 3 months
  • high probability of recurrence

It ain’t perfect, especially that last bit,
but at least for now I feel like I have my life back …

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bonus phone

12 Monday Jan 2009

Posted by in gadgets, home

≈ 7 Comments

nokia-2630

Remember when I mentioned over here that Telefónica had done Nog a favour by not getting in enough 8GB iPhones to meet the demand of their “customer loyalty” bonus points offer, which expired on December 31st?  This was because we ended up getting the same  great deal at Fnac without points (though I had to apply as a “new customer” and get a different phone number), which meant I still had all the normal points I’d accumulated over the past three years.  And since Nog was interested in taking over my old phone number and account we got to use these points last weekend to get him a brand new – and totally free – mobile phone.  This very sleek and slim Nokia with a camera and mp3 player. Bonus!

And as an extra bonus, we’ve put Nog’s pre-paid card into my old mobile phone, so the next time someone comes to visit they will have a phone to use (are you reading this, zoomer? Rain?).  This will also work out better for staying in touch with friends who visit with their own mobile phones as the rates will be much cheaper than their “roaming” ones, plus the card is set to call our numbers at a special discount rate.

So all in all, a win-win situation.  🙂

girls’ night out

11 Sunday Jan 2009

Posted by in films, food & drink, friends, photos, restaurants, sevilla, tapas

≈ 13 Comments

toast

The other day I saw that there was a chick flick on at the cinema – in English! – and asked Pipocas if she wanted to see it. So we made plans to go on Saturday (last night).  Then it occurred to me that not only was I going out to the cinema (something I don’t think I’ve done since before my first operation last May) but I was also going out on a Saturday night and that it was going to be a girls’ night out…

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