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Category Archives: change

hope 2016

03 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by azahar in cancer, change, chemo, hope

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

cancer, hope

hope_2016

Continuing the “tradition of hope” started back on January 3rd 2009 when I posted my first ever Photohunt entry. The theme that week was “hope” and I put up a photo of my daybook turned to January 3rd 2010 with the words “STILL HERE!” written on it. I had finished a second stint on chemo just a few months previously and hoping felt like a very bold thing to do. Since then I have posted a similar photo on this date and – as always – hope with all my heart that I’ll be here to turn the page and see this next year.

This year is especially meaningful because in October I joined the “5 Year Club” marking five cancer-free years. But I know better than to assume anything and I feel just as tentative writing this as ever. But hey, it’s good to have hope.

5 year celebration

29 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by azahar in cancer, change, friends, hope, tapas

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

5 year club, cancer, friends, health, hope

celebration (1)Celebrating 5 years of being cancer-free with Peter, Kyran & Claire.

celebration (2)First stop La Azotea…

celebration (3)Then we went to La Pepona…

It is still slowly sinking in. And in some ways it’s as much as an adjustment as when I did this in reverse. Except I hope this new feeling doesn’t ever go away – that feeling like it’s Christmas when I wake up in the morning.

the 5 year club

28 Tuesday Oct 2014

Posted by azahar in cancer, change, friends, health & happiness, hope, hospitals

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

cancer, friends, home, hope, hospitals, pet scan

pet tac

Today marked a very important milestone for me. I had my “5th anniversary” PET scan – which came back clear! – marking five cancer-free years (I finished my last chemo at the end of July 2009). I almost couldn’t believe it when Pilar texted me while I was out having coffee, saying that everything was okay. In fact, I burst into tears. This one is a game-changer. I won’t know exactly what they have in store for me now until I see the oncologist again next month, but today should be the last of the every-six-month PET scans (will switch to either once a year or possible every 10 months) and I will finally be able to get the chemo port out. That last one will be a relief and I won’t have to make my monthly visit to the hospital to get the thing cleaned out. So it’s all good.  I mean, I’m not “out of the woods” yet. The 5-year mark is kind of random and my case is more baffling than anything. Most stage-IV people don’t stay in remission for this long. But hey, I’ve made it this far and at least for now I am fine, so it really does feel like a fresh start.

As always I want to thank my amazing Nuclear Medicine team – Pilar and Isabel (Ricardo retired last year) – and also all of you for being there with me through all of this. You can all take the next year off.  😉

A side note: October 28th is the saint day of Santo Judas Tadeo (Jude the Apostle) patron saint of lost causes. Coincidence?

back to school

08 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by azahar in azahartravels, cancer, cats, change, chemo, hope, tapas tours, websites, work

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

health, home, plans, september, work

printingMorcilla overseeing the printing

I’ve often thought that September feels like the real “new year”, rather than the first of January. Summer holidays are (mostly) over, shops and bars have reopened, there are lots more people out and about. This week especially has a distinct “back to school” feel to it as I get things organised for the whack of Sevilla Tapas Tours booked over the next couple of months and settle back into a routine of getting chores done and going to the gym. Meanwhile I chip away at the iceberg of blog posts and articles that need to be written or updated, including editing the 3000 or more photos I took over the summer. Any spare time is being spent on putting together my new Trip Planning biz, which is pretty much ready to go but still needs fine tuning before I properly launch it.

It’s also a time for taking care of practical matters like tax stuff (ick) and finally seeing the dentist. I had planned to put the latter off until the next PET scan, but after having lost a fourth filling (plus much tooth) last month, another fell out over the weekend and, well, FIVE half-gone teeth seems like too much to ignore. I’ve got my oncology appointment on the 22nd, so blood work will have to be done before that, and then the quite possibly scariest PET scan of all will be sometime in October. So much hinges on this one coming back clean as it’ll mark five years since my last chemo and – if all is well – a change in how I’m monitored. Most likely I’ll switch to having annual PET scans instead of every six months and maybe they’ll even remove the chemo port. Both of these would be such much-needed positive changes in my life (I can’t even bear to consider the alternative) that I’m almost too scared to hope. I’ll let you guys do that for me. 😉

But at least so far, it’s all good this September. Lots to do, lots of new stuff coming up. Very exciting. How about you? How’s your “new year” coming along?

a little bit gay…

08 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by azahar in change, humour, video

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

canada, gay rights, olympics, video


Every now and then I still feel proud to call myself a Canadian. Well done!

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