Category Archives: health & happiness

reorganising my life

16 Friday Jan 2009

Posted by in health & happiness, home, teaching, work

≈ 9 Comments

new-studio

This is what I did yesterday (with Nog’s help).

All the while I haven’t been able to work (since last May) I’ve been thinking about what I was going to do once I was able to get back to work again.  Which was something I thought wouldn’t come to pass for a few more months because of being on post-op chemo, but suddenly it’s now! And although I’m still not totally sure about what’s going to happen, this hasn’t stopped me from taking immediate action. And the first point of business was to create an “easy-to-work-in-multi-concept space” … as in, I have no idea what the fuck I’m going to end up doing, but I want to be able to do any or all of it as easily as possible. 😉

The biggest room at casa az is the livingroom. To the left of these tables are the bookshelves and my computer desk, to the right is the sofa, as well as the TV and exercise bike.  This is what it used to look like …

Continue reading →

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.  😉

Continue reading →

“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 …

Continue reading →

yoga

09 Friday Jan 2009

Posted by in cancer, health & happiness, yoga

≈ 8 Comments

yoga-lotus

Damn but it’s good to be back at yoga class!

Well, except for the having to get up really early bit and leaving the house while it’s still dark … not to mention the freezing cold (it went down to -2º last night!). But it was great being in class again and seeing all my old yoga buddies.  I had texted Ana the instructor beforehand and so she had “reserved” my favourite spot in the corner for me.

So the deal is that I’ll see how it goes this month before I commit to the monthly payments again. I stopped by the gym yesterday to sort all that out because when I had called them at the end of last May and explained what was happening (this was before I knew there would be two more operations) I thought I’d be returning in September. And because I had paid for May but hadn’t been able to go I was told that my first month back would be “free”.  And so that “free” month is now January.

I thought it was especially nice because the guy at the desk was new and when he looked on the computer to re-activate my card he said there wasn’t any mention of a free month, or what my payments would be when I started back. I’d also noticed that the monthly payments had gone up so I told him what I had been paying before and he said no problem, that he would put that in as my usual amount and I could start paying again next month.

Anyhow, just home from class now and feeling much taller!  🙂