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Tag Archives: cancer

red meat kills!

14 Wednesday Mar 2012

Posted by azahar in cancer, death & dying, diet & nutrition, food & drink, health & happiness, wtf?

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

bbc, cancer, death, red meat, scare mongering, tapas, vineria san telmo

First of all, read this very silly article – supposedly Health NEWS – from the BBC:

Red meat increases death, cancer and heart risk, says study

Now I ask you… who out there with even half a brain doesn’t know that eating a balanced diet is the healthiest option? Who hasn’t heard (all their lives) that it’s best to eat red meat in moderation? Same goes for fried food, rich sauces, bacon, butter, pâté, fatty cheeses … you know, all the good stuff. And so when I read that a study of over 120,000 people over almost 30 years “suggested red meat increased the risk of death from cancer and heart problems” I clutched my head in despair. In all seriousness, there is probably more “risk of death” every time you cross the street. And, although I don’t eat much red meat myself, I still ended up with colon cancer. So go figure. I honestly don’t see how articles like these are beneficial to anyone – must’ve been an especially slow news day at the BBC.

Meanwhile, that tasty looking dish up there is a divinely decadent combination of perfectly fried eggs (with slightly runny yolks), grilled spicy chorizo Ibérico and potatoes, topped with thin slices of gorgeous jamón Ibérico. But as delicious as it is, I wouldn’t dream of eating that every day. Why? Because I’m not stupid.

I still can’t believe that after years and years of going to the Vineria San Telmo I only tried that dish for the first time during my marathon tapas tours the other day. It truly is to die for. So to speak…

chemo port cleaning

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

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

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

cancer, chemo port, hope, hospitals

It was that time of the month again today – chemo port cleaning time! It’s actually been a bit better since they changed their system and I go to the blood lab next to the main hospital building rather than the room where everyone is getting their chemo infusions done. Doesn’t *quite* feel so much like going to the hospital. But I still taxi there and back. A bit of a splurge, but it takes the edge off by going in comfort rather than having to get on a crowded bus, etc.

So after today’s procedure (you can see a tiny white bandaid in my cleavage there – dig that crazy shirt!) I decided to pop over to the Nuclear Medicine department to see if either Ricardo or Isabel were there and ask them if I could get a copy of my last PET scan results. Ended up having a nice visit with Ricardo, talking about travelling and this & that. Finally got around to discussing the whole cancer thing and when he asked how I was feeling I said I felt quite okay, but also felt I should be taking better care of myself. His reply was that we all should and that, although I still have this thing looming over my head, something else could come along and “get me” so probably best to just get on with things and not dwell on it. And you know what? He’s right. He’s also one of the very few people on the planet who could actually say that to me and not make me want to rip their head off.

But the chemo port cleaning is a monthly reminder that I have this port imbedded inside me FOR A REASON. Which is that I’m still considered very high risk for recurrance. Hard not to think of that sometimes, but today talking with Ricardo helped.

Now I’m off to meet a group of 8 people from Thailand and take them on a tapas tour!

What did you do today?

friday foto finder – trust

17 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by azahar in cancer, friday foto finder, photos

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

cancer, friday foto finder, trust

This week’s Friday Foto Finder challenge is “trust”.

Every six months or so I put my trust in this machine (and the people in charge of running it) to accurately show that I am still cancer free. This is the newest PET-CT machine that I got to try out a couple of weeks ago, with the desired result. It may not be a pretty picture, but it means a lot to me.

happy dance

14 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by azahar in cancer, change, health & happiness

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

cancer, friends, happy, hope, hospitals, pet scan

Turns out yesterday wasn’t a slow news day after all!  🙂

Just after lunch I got a text message from Ricardo saying that he and Isabel had gone over my PET scan results and everything was all clear. Yay!

These past few days of waiting have been so hard and so stressful and I didn’t even realise how much until I got the good news. I am so relieved and absurdly happy and have been doing this happy dance ever since!

So, look out world… I have a whole six months ahead of me until the next scan and I am going to make them count big time. Have already dropped some dead weight crap out of my life that’s been dragging me down, and am looking forward to new opportunities.

But first I just want to dance a bit more…

my home team

08 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by azahar in cancer, cats, friends, hope, hospitals

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

cancer, cats, friends, hope, hospitals, PET, scan

Right, I’m really scared. Will I be spared for another six months or has my luck finally run out? Also, the PET scan is in a different place this time, so no Team there, nothing familiar. I’m not even sure where it is, so will take a taxi. I think María Paz is coming with me but she has a bad cold and might not be able to make it, and Peter is working, so I might end up going all alone. But at least I’ll know that my Home Team will be here waiting for me.

See you on the other side…

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