04 Saturday Jul 2009
Today’s Photohunter theme is “pink”.
Am bending the rules a bit as this photo was taken for me not by me (I also posted it here last month, but what the heck). My friend Sara and her mum – both cancer survivors – took part in the central London Race For Life at the end of May. Sara’s husband Steve took this photo and sent it to me. It made me cry happy tears and feel very loved indeed.
I’m Shawn.
01 Wednesday Jul 2009
I proclaim today as the beginning of my summer holidays!
Back when I mentioned my need to take some Time Out there were still several matters to attend to and get organised before I felt I could really relax and focus on taking some quality healing time. So most of June was spent “taking care of business” and getting through some pretty rough chemo. To wit, I have also decided that I’m done with the infusions and won’t be taking the sixth one. If they let me I’ll still do the sixth round of chemo mid-July, but only taking the dreaded Xeloda, which has a slightly less toxic effect on me. After the last infusion I got a very clear message from my body that it was DONE with that shit and really couldn’t take any more. And since my last PET scan was clear, I think I can take my body’s advice on that.
So for the next two months it’s going to be all about healing, yoga, long walks, healthy diet, cats, friends and – most importantly – taking time to breathe. I also have a few projects to work on, but just poco á poco when I feel up to it. And Nog & I want to get casa az de-cluttered and set up so we can both work here in comfort come September.
What will you be doing this summer?
29 Monday Jun 2009
Posted in animals & pets, change, friends, home
This photo doesn’t even begin to show the recent upheaval and mayhem at casa az due to the departure of Susan (aka Pipocas) and the disbursal of her belongings – although I am not one of nature’s little housekeepers, the livingroom does usually look a wee bit tidier than this. In fact things were looking quite a bit worse about an hour before I took this pic, and Nog’s teaching room is still jam-packed with large plastic bags filled with I can’t quite remember what. But things are slowly coming together, oh, and I also have some news …
22 Monday Jun 2009
Posted in culture, food & drink, friends, health & happiness, hope, restaurants, sevilla
Yesterday was Susan’s last Sunday in Sevilla and she treated me to this fabulously decadent lunch at Manolo León. Some of you may remember that after the erroneous second prognosis last October, when I was told that I maybe had a year to live, we (Nog, Pablo & I) went to Manolo León for a “post-prognosis party” in order to, well, eat like there was no tomorrow and get shit-faced. And so it was nice to go back there under more pleasant circumstances.
Yesterday was also the summer solstice, which ended up feeling a bit like Christmas…
21 Sunday Jun 2009
Two down, one to go (well okay, one & a half …)
So okay, remember last week when I told you the wonderful news about my friend “Bob” very generously sending me a donation that was enough to see me through a whole month, so I could spend that time focusing on healing and getting through the chemo? Well, guess what? I have just been given another month!
casa azahar 