tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12260329958332120992023-11-15T23:11:15.678-08:00The (B)reast is Yet to comeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-56468842502948698182016-05-07T06:12:00.002-07:002016-05-07T06:12:47.456-07:00The long and the short<br />
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<br />
I admit I'm vain, and with all the problems associated with cancer, losing one's hair shouldn't be top priority, BUT it was what really, really bothered me.<br />
<br />
For years I'd been a red head using L'Oreal's 66.6. I liked my hair to cover my face as well.<br />
<br />
I was the one who shaved my head, wanting to control my own destiny.<br />
<br />
And I did have fun selecting a wig, although I went for one more conventional then the one below.<br />
<br />
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<br />Because I had a friend whose hair did not grow back, I worried until hair began appearing. Should I go back to my red locks?<br />
<br />
I've opted for a whole new look and this weekend, I rolled it out.<br />
<br />
Having coffee at the <i>marché </i>I co-opted a friend with really long hair (and she just cut off 18 inches) for a photo of contrasts. The long and the short, hair today, gone tomorrow, the sublime and the ridiculous...call it what you will. I'm happy.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-51599627388445117052016-04-02T09:25:00.002-07:002016-04-02T09:25:42.847-07:00Hair growth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeNqu6-pvzachan4PT9pNUX0V5ny-4aXcfuYNyOR4AYOqSvfrhyphenhyphenT5tbH9_f92FXXgM71qEn3FVr85wqoTOzjjGDQSKCbxa9ZCEHAKGwiVOZf5rxiI99dChzmV4K7aeAzPhtAdFSKyr7lm/s1600/jpb+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKeNqu6-pvzachan4PT9pNUX0V5ny-4aXcfuYNyOR4AYOqSvfrhyphenhyphenT5tbH9_f92FXXgM71qEn3FVr85wqoTOzjjGDQSKCbxa9ZCEHAKGwiVOZf5rxiI99dChzmV4K7aeAzPhtAdFSKyr7lm/s320/jpb+006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I know of all the things to worry about with cancer, hair should be the least important. Hair does not cause death unless you get it caught in some kind of moving apparatus.<br />
<br />
But I am vain. I didn't like being bald. Even my husband's wonderful offer to shave his locks didn't make me like my bald head even more. And if I couldn't have hair, he should have his. <br />
<br />
So, when sprouts began to show on my head a few weeks after chemo ended, I was thrilled. Over the years I wondered what my real color was. And deep down I've always admired and wanted white hair. However, I was too vain to spend months with real color roots and red ends. <br />
<br />
Well, my sprouts seem to be gray or white.<br />
<br />
And I so appreciated this gift from Swiss friends sort of a pro-voodoo hair preview.<br />
<br />
Chocolate--good.<br />
<br />
White hair--good<br />
<br />
Curly--good<br />
<br />
Let's see if my head will match the gift. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-16639262824774932662016-03-18T01:35:00.001-07:002016-03-18T01:35:24.719-07:00Fuzzy Wuzzy<h2 class="date-header">
rch 18, 2016</h2>
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fuzzy wuzzy
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he?</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>I admit it. </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>I'm vain. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>One of the hardest things for me about
chemo was being bald. Harder than feeling so weak that walking across
the room was a challenge. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Granted I have two lovely wigs which are prettier than my own hair. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Not having to blow dry my hair did have
its advantages, and I tried to think of it as a silver lining, albeit a
tarnished silver one.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>People tell me my hair will grow back
better than before, but still the image of one friend whose hair did not
grow back haunted my 3 a.m. nightmares.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Now I have fuzz on my head. Not a lot,
but fuzz nevertheless. Rick can call me Fuzzy even if it is too early to
worry about an increased household budget item for shampoo.</b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-62654403378308960122016-03-10T09:07:00.001-08:002016-03-10T09:07:10.670-08:00Radiation and humorThe radiation treatment I am undergoing involves special heat lamps trained on my chest which is alleged to lure any microscopic cancer cells to my chest then once they are there they will be attacked with short shots of radiation.<br />
<br />
For 45 minutes I lie there, delightfully warm listening to the machine click off whenever my skin reaches 41°C and on again when it is drops below.<br />
<br />
The doctor is in the room with me. I was so worried he would be a stuffy Swiss German who spoke n English, no French. He is fluent in both along with five other languages and two more where he is functional.<br />
<br />
He's anything but stuffy. We chat off and on about the treatment, languages, books, art and music. He has a delightful giggle.<br />
<br />
Last treatment he told me a joke after I asked him if he understood the expression "piece of cake" which is how I think of the treatments especially compared to chemo. We tested each other on different expressions...then he told me a joke.<br />
<br />
A Brit, a Frenchman and a Czech went hunting in Canada during the winter even though the RCMP had warned them how dangerous it was.<br />
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The hunters didn't return and the Mounties started a hunt. They came across footprints in the snow leading to a cave where they saw a female bear with an extended stomach far too big to be just carrying baby bears. They killed the bear and cut her open and found the Brit and the Frenchman.<br />
<br />
"Let's keep looking. There may be another bear that got the Czech," Mountie 1 said to the other.<br />
<br />"I'm not so sure," said Mountie 2. <br />
<br />
They kept searching and found more footprints, another cave and another fat bear only this was a male. They killed that bear too.<br />
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When they cut him open they found the remains of the Czech.<br />
<br />
"I told you the Czech was in the male," Mountie 1 said to Mountie 2.<br />
<br />
Who says radiation can't be fun?<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-28627059681037743842016-03-10T08:44:00.002-08:002016-03-10T08:44:39.851-08:00Radioactive datesThroughout the entire treatment for cancer, I have tried to make the best of whatever. Sometimes it is easier than other times.<br />
<br />
Now at the end of the process, it is getting easier and easier.<br />
<br />
I have had to go from Geneva to Bern six times: One consultation,
five radiation treatments. It is about 1.5 hours away on the highway,
but the train is far nicer because we can read, snooze, relax. We catch
the 9:12.<br />
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The scenery is beautiful. <br />
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Rick calls them our radioactive dates because we get a chance to explore the city as if we were on a date before I'm nuked.<br />
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<br />
<br />
When we arrived on Tuesday a good band was playing Ave Maria and then the William Tell<br />
Overture.<br />
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And we visited a museum, had a nice lunch before heading to the hospital.<br />
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As always we were on photo safari wherever we go.<br />
<br />
Back
at the train station we had only a few minutes to catch the train or
wait an hour so we couldn't buy one of the great pretzels that are
nothing like the kind the supermarkets sell. Next week hopefully on our
next radioactive date.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-27546400190294672016-03-10T07:20:00.002-08:002016-03-10T08:42:33.484-08:00Good bye Dr.M<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></b> said good bye to my surgeon, the woman who operated on my </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">right breast twice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She is a
beautiful woman, not in the Hollywood glamour sense. Her blond hair,
blue eyes and balanced features might make movie town status if she
bothered with make up but even without it there is a still a beauty.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What makes
her truly beautiful is when she walks into a room she brings with her a
sense of calm. The same calm is shown whether bringing good or bad
news.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This
appointment is one of good news. All my signs, my scar are good. I
won't need to see her again even if I have one breast that still could
be chopped off. Neither of us wants that. Better to greet in the street
or over a cup of coffee.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I am also
saying good bye, because she is leaving HUG and La Maternié where I have
received such wonderful care, physically and emotionally and will still
have follow up check ups.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She is
going to start a new breast cancer clinic in a private hospital, a
challenge and change is looking forward to after ten years with HUG.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She
explains that she could only do that because of Swiss law. Now the
obligatory insurance can be used at public or private hospitals rather
than just the public. The public ones like HUG are world class teaching
hospitals and many of the private hospitals are also good but before the
legal change the required insurance was much more expensive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"I didn't
want to only treat the rich," she said. She wanted to be available to
anyone who would need her. "Money isn't that important to me." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I thank her for her care, for her patience when I didn't like what she told me and for everything.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We hug at HUG.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-1023476408877198932016-03-05T04:23:00.000-08:002016-03-05T04:23:21.055-08:00Baldness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56Vk36k1O83M-2fg1baNFIv4D1OPm-RdxkY8q0pxo7yuNSqD_f0uSvHAC9BzqA8_3HL67vS3Kz-KAKZYikzOfV7UItrxPyxMmsT_zfzWcioKD1Dp6zeTZkEvvbG0nRDRSoehPDJw4of9q/s1600/henna.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56Vk36k1O83M-2fg1baNFIv4D1OPm-RdxkY8q0pxo7yuNSqD_f0uSvHAC9BzqA8_3HL67vS3Kz-KAKZYikzOfV7UItrxPyxMmsT_zfzWcioKD1Dp6zeTZkEvvbG0nRDRSoehPDJw4of9q/s320/henna.JPG" width="257" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It has been six weeks since my last chemo and I had hoped to see more fuzz on my head. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I do worry about hair regrowth and although people tell me it will be better than before, I do have one friend whose hair never regrew.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now I have liked having a couple of wigs where I can change my hair length instantly, and it is ever so easy in the morning to towel dry my head instead of blow drying my hair but I STILL WANT HAIR.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Rick called attention to the photo above.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hmmmm...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If my hair doesn't grow back would that be a solution?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"We could get Pauline to do it. Or Miloud." He was referring to two beloved Argelès artists.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Or Marco."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe not Marco. Lovely man when sober. Not sure what he would do when he wasn't sober.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then I realised, although I love the henna design, I don't have to be limited. I could have scenics, portraits, geometric designs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I did look at the internet for products but I still hope my real hair regrows. At least I have plan B.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://ashemag.com/art-and-science-of-body-painting/">http://ashemag.com/art-and-science-of-body-painting/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_6817026_make-waterproof-body-paint.html">http://www.ehow.com/how_6817026_make-waterproof-body-paint.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://blog.bodyjewelleryshop.com/index.php/colourful-body-paints/">http://blog.bodyjewelleryshop.com/index.php/colourful-body-paints/ </a></span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-48532494033150527832016-03-03T08:13:00.004-08:002016-03-03T08:13:54.912-08:00Haikus and radiationBecause of earlier radiation, the 25 nukings were not an option. Instead they proposed the following.<br />
<br />
Go to Bern, about two hours from Geneva. I was a bit worried. My German is bad and my Swiss German worse, but the charming doctor spoke seven languages with English and French being two of them. He was anything but stuffy.<br />
<br />
He heats my skin with lamps for 45 mins. Then I get nuked for 28, 35 and 3 seconds. The concept is that if there is a microscopic cancer cell it will move to the heat and a lesser radiation will zap it. In place of the five times a week for five weeks it is one time a week for five weeks.<br />
<br />
A piece of cake.<br />
<br />
What do I do when I spend 45 mins with my eyes covered and heat lamps aimed at my chest warming my chest for the radiation?<br />
<br />
I write haikus in my head. I don't claim they are poetic but they fit the form.<br />
<br />
Rain batters the roof<br /> Creating a melody<br /> During my treatment<br />
<br />
he machine clicks on<br /> The machine clicks off<br /> Warming my bare chest<br />
<br />
The doctor and I<br /> Talk of typewriters and more<br /> It passes the time<br />
<br />
Crayon colors my chest<br /> In swirls and other designs<br /> Target radio.<br />
<br />
Miro and Calder<br /> That is how my chest looks now<br /> Radiation marksUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-80586959536152647062016-02-17T08:19:00.003-08:002016-02-17T08:19:46.024-08:00So much for stereotypes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqp1P3tkmpdoIY1NYQ-SRVoBy_Ew7ptrZkmcmoQ1JI-cDdo0KOQFFoVqxANVcbE91hdgcekqrnn5292KbJ6EQQMIReor7k4pq4c3DeJiDGRWbEjO3_GbmUBGbrvTf3Y8iKpeOzjxIJK3FU/s1600/claret+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqp1P3tkmpdoIY1NYQ-SRVoBy_Ew7ptrZkmcmoQ1JI-cDdo0KOQFFoVqxANVcbE91hdgcekqrnn5292KbJ6EQQMIReor7k4pq4c3DeJiDGRWbEjO3_GbmUBGbrvTf3Y8iKpeOzjxIJK3FU/s320/claret+034.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had two concerns about radiation in Bern, which is about 2.5 hours from Geneva. Distance wasn't one of them.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1. I have done most of my medical stuff in French. My German, once quite good has descended into shopping German. Sometimes I can get the gist of a conversation, but not enough to deal with treatment details. I have even less understanding of the dialects of Swiss German. My daughter, when she was going to university in Germany would cross the Swiss-German border and often not understand what she was hearing nor would she be understood.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. I had an image of a stuffy doctor. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Entering reception, the smiley receptionist with short blond hair said, "Frau Nelson?" before I could say a word and we spoke French until she wanted to practice her English. Forms were completed quickly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I waited for the doctor to call me. He appeared: I am not sure of his age, somewhere maybe in his late 40s. He wore jeans under his white coat. "Madame Nelson?" </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Not Frau.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He spoke in French until he heard my accent and switched to English. I don't think he knows the meaning of the word stuffy in any of his three languages (four if you consider Swiss German a separate language). I quickly replaced the idea of stuffy with warm, competent, understanding.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He managed to add two appointments for that afternoon so the first of five weekly treatments could start on the 23rd. Realizing the distance he will schedule the appointments early afternoon. I may just set the alarm for 3 a.m. so I can appreciate not having to get up on treatment days. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">He, too, is a history buff which I discovered when he explained that breast cancer had been treated with hot clay in ancient Egypt. That is known because of the hieroglyphics on tombs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So what will they be doing?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My skin will be warmed to 42° for 45 minutes. Then the areas where the cancers were will be nuked for a few seconds. The heat causes any microscopic cells that might be lingering to come closer to the radiation. In other words they take on a kamikaze trait, which is fine with me. The radiation will be milder and do less damage to me. Instead of 25 nukings.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">During the other two appointments, the attendants said they preferred English to French. They decorated me with pretty red designs as markers. I was photographed inside and outside my body.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I am ready for this last step soooo ready. So ready to get back to a normal life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-46635831368971211952016-02-12T02:17:00.002-08:002016-02-14T06:32:36.911-08:00Life after chemo<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFwKdDPXGzv_CcyTyJWXQKEyFP0XXkxpQ6LPnBG5yG5l8OQINJ7sYdOeIwY_WzobfOiQg_FRk95ODlPphINaihv0bycr7pMvAKoh8onnkpJ7D4BJgMqOq40tF6k-cZ0LXMBGHVPmZh8TA/s1600/chemo.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrFwKdDPXGzv_CcyTyJWXQKEyFP0XXkxpQ6LPnBG5yG5l8OQINJ7sYdOeIwY_WzobfOiQg_FRk95ODlPphINaihv0bycr7pMvAKoh8onnkpJ7D4BJgMqOq40tF6k-cZ0LXMBGHVPmZh8TA/s200/chemo.jpe" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Four </span><span style="font-size: large;">weeks ago today I had my last chemo treatment, a killer dose 4x normal strength for many reasons which made sense as the good doctor, Nathalie B, explained it to us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">However, the side effects were a challenge. Exhaustion like I've never experienced sometimes made walking across the room a challenge. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I never felt sick. If I were in bed, I felt fine, would get up to do all the things running thru my head and have to go back immediately.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The simplest thing was too much.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"This too will pass," became my mantra. I kept repeating other things, over and over in my head. The problem is from the chemo. It could be worse. No wonder I feel tired. I've been poisoned. If the chemicals are making me this useless and if there are any cancer cells hiding anywhere in my body, the poison better find them. I'm a wuss. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The exhaustion mimicked the tides. There would be hours that I felt just normal tired. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I worry that the feeling won't come back to my hands and feet and remind myself my mouth is no longer numb and my taste buds are no longer on holiday.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I worry that my hair won't grow back. That the first hair reappeared on my chin is little comfort. That my wig blew off solicited little embarrassment. The expression on the faces of the two teenagers standing nearby was worth it. I let Rick photograph my bald head. He wants to do it weekly to track growth.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I did make it to my landlord's for dinner and passed out. Missed dessert. I slept thru the night in the hospital: poor Rick did not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There would be surges of feeling almost good. We made it to Argelès, which was medicine for my soul. A day didn't go by that some friend didn't drop in. I was able to free-write with my writing mate sitting on my bed. Sorta like a literary pajama party.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4S3T3W3OxXhx-u5joRhdk5yROvP_hoXo4IqGUTt6CaQiQ5Csz7aG2j0yJrc2GP3ENksY6qPIg05ZHB94dqn9S6ozcJ9orwJraNb0eDy4a5YGkaIsualcoMLcm4fqKjGhwGZ3KaklFiuiv/s1600/La+Noisette.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4S3T3W3OxXhx-u5joRhdk5yROvP_hoXo4IqGUTt6CaQiQ5Csz7aG2j0yJrc2GP3ENksY6qPIg05ZHB94dqn9S6ozcJ9orwJraNb0eDy4a5YGkaIsualcoMLcm4fqKjGhwGZ3KaklFiuiv/s200/La+Noisette.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">On better hours we made La Noisette for an English breakfast and coffee with friends.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">My husband was always there to help me thru the rough parts like walking up stairs and taking a shower.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">He made wonderful meals, beautifully presented. Some days he was a short order cook and he brought back </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">my favorite veggies</span></span> from our local green grocers . </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">For me the biggest frustration was being dependent and not doing most of the things I wanted to do. Making my own breakfast or emptying some dishes out of the dishwasher were major victories. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">The meals I would love to cook will have to wait until April when we return as will checking out the gardens as will organizing the things we moved from Geneva. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">I totally lost it over a garbage can and even as I was doing it, the words "idiot, it isn't important," were in my mind. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thru out this entire process we've <i>carpe diemed</i> all over the place. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXU6FU9kYUcRFMU5XSmo2hIGQXV-ChVdsya-Ya9e3NWP_qD7eHju82g663lGitu2-81Ot9oQJ-ajDD5Ggr-qw7nqUrFydZ9eKeTTnpupwMgbDbH_3hOISlQBjxfvFz2qFN0F0HlNBcM0-/s1600/snow+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXU6FU9kYUcRFMU5XSmo2hIGQXV-ChVdsya-Ya9e3NWP_qD7eHju82g663lGitu2-81Ot9oQJ-ajDD5Ggr-qw7nqUrFydZ9eKeTTnpupwMgbDbH_3hOISlQBjxfvFz2qFN0F0HlNBcM0-/s200/snow+015.JPG" width="150" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Snuggling while watching Doc Martin or British mystery, making a snow rabbit (use your imagination, we are writers not sculptors) on the stairs outside our door, reading to each other from whatever book or article we think the other would like...these things were/are a reminder of what is good. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">My radiation treatment has been changed from 25 times for five weeks in Geneva to five times once for five weeks in Bern, a bit more than two hours away. Bern is a beautiful city. I want to share it with Rick. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have booked into a hotel Monday night before my first appointment on Tuesday. It promises a Frühstück with homemade jam. The rest of the appointments we will go up and back on the same day but we thought the first time should be special in a healthy way.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">For the first time since June 2015 we are beginning to plan trips: Normandy to join my college friends leading a tour, Paris to see my Syrian friend and her husband, back to Argelès. Rick is heading for the States, my daughter is coming from Boston. These are things that normal people do. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">I want normal...I sooooooooooo want normal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-50537702495520460542016-01-18T06:56:00.002-08:002016-01-18T06:56:42.054-08:00toilet seats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHezF3GceoLvuOimonaaui0Lhni6qcp0YjUKDuR-9UE6kBDrm6O38LMWBMSF8Cqa9VOzp2H3hbgWtWX_pta-NFcLWitqC35nh80eH2qWEOyQrT91PbAG33rM0cMWXcmoFbGPF9-gH7ll_7/s1600/toilet.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHezF3GceoLvuOimonaaui0Lhni6qcp0YjUKDuR-9UE6kBDrm6O38LMWBMSF8Cqa9VOzp2H3hbgWtWX_pta-NFcLWitqC35nh80eH2qWEOyQrT91PbAG33rM0cMWXcmoFbGPF9-gH7ll_7/s1600/toilet.jpe" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>For years in the past, present and most likely the future, women complain when men leave the toilet seat up.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>I am grateful to Rick's mother for training him to put it down.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>But with chemo the roles have been reversed.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>My chemo is so toxic that I was told to wash and dry the toilet seat twice after I used it in case I left perspiration on the seat. I wouldn't kill the person who used it next but it wouldn't be good for them either.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />Rather than worry about it I started using the rim. And I left the seat up for Rick. When he sits down he puts the seat up for me.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>After three days, the nurses said the toxicity will have passed. </b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>But will our confusion over gender roles and toilet seats?</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-36611395448683025492016-01-09T01:08:00.004-08:002016-01-09T01:08:51.510-08:00Never the same"Life is never the same after you have cancer," J said.<br />
<br />
We were in my old bedroom with the woman who will provide my prosthesis and my sexy new underwear.<br />
<br />
J was referring to the fact there is a missing breast and sometimes pain in the arm. There is also the niggle that maybe, just maybe somewhere inside the body a nasty little cell will set up housekeeping.<br />
<br />
J is right, but life is never the same after lots of things:<br />
<ul>
<li>Having a child</li>
<li>Marrying</li>
<li>Changing homes, towns, states or countries</li>
</ul>
The list is endless.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile neurotic me won't have the underwear I want immediately because I can't get the sets I want until the new catalogue comes out next month. I really feel uncomfortable if my underpants do not match my bra and I want pretty underwear. It can be cotton or something else, but I want pretty.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile I have a plan B on temporary balancing of my chest with my old bras and matching panties.<br />
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<br />
No matter what happens with my underwear, I am not a refugee facing winter in a tent with an uncertain future.<br />
<br />
I would add that this is a detail not a problem.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-49093763291099602902016-01-09T01:08:00.002-08:002016-01-09T01:08:30.479-08:00Me and the train<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
When I was a little girl, my grandmother read this to me many, many times. This little engine was able to bring milk to all the good little boys and girls in the city where another bigger engine had failed.<br />
<br />
Never mind that I hated milk, I was impressed that the train kept saying, I think I can, I think I can over and over.<br />
<br />
In response to yesterday's post where I admitted being discouraged, someone wrote "You CAN do it"<br />
I don't think I can, I know I can. All without drinking milk.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-48113060541679901152016-01-09T01:08:00.000-08:002016-01-09T01:08:00.233-08:00<h2 class="date-header">
<span></span></h2>
<div class="date-posts">
<div class="post-outer">
<div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="1691608517793253098"></a>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://lovinglifeineurope.blogspot.fr/2016/01/helicopter-husband.html">Helicopter Husband</a>
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1691608517793253098" itemprop="description articleBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLUeHqieCFUZIMYLwxIIEciCijE5rRU1HlKwZpDfbPy6EAaBHq494cFhzBiJzRPTJdQt7vuJb1auZzWwMHrh4Uxqh9ne8oEv4Rd0gem5-70FjrtYbc6BYd9Ab5b33fyE1yfpcf7UYYIg/s1600/helicopter+husband.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqLUeHqieCFUZIMYLwxIIEciCijE5rRU1HlKwZpDfbPy6EAaBHq494cFhzBiJzRPTJdQt7vuJb1auZzWwMHrh4Uxqh9ne8oEv4Rd0gem5-70FjrtYbc6BYd9Ab5b33fyE1yfpcf7UYYIg/s400/helicopter+husband.jpg" width="286" /></a></div>
This is a dueling blog. My version follows<br />
<br />
When I first came to Europe to start our relationship, D-L's friends, as
well as her daughter, warned me vociferously not to "hover" around
Donna-Lane in the manner of a protective boyfriend/fiance/spouse. After
all, she had lived on her own for years, decades, and not only was well
capable of fending for herself, she has the sort of alpha female
personality that tends to do first and communicate later. For the first
few months (maybe even now), I was fearful that I would say or do
something to offend her independent spirit and she'd send me packing.<br />
<br />
Circumstances have changed recently, albeit temporarily. Since July, D-L
has been going through chemotherapy treatments following both
gallbladder and breast cancer surgery. The chemicals leave her pretty
fatigued most days of the week (after a good day or two immediately
following a treatment) and most hours of the day. She does well to sit
at the computer for maybe an hour before she has to crawl back into bed
to rest and ease her shakiness.<br />
<br />
I've transitioned from being her toy boy to being the family chef,
butler, opener of the heavy door (that sticks halfway) between our
bedroom and the bath, and steady hand when walking up a flight of stairs
or through the hospital corridor on our twice-weekly visits.<br />
<br />
Because she has passed out once and almost a second time from low blood
pressure, I am rarely out of earshot or more than a few feet away. Yes, I
hover. So a few days ago D-L dubbed me her "helicopter husband." Like a
"helicopter parent" who is over-protective of their kid. (I was that
too - when my daughter was learning to drive as a teenager, I first took
her to a large, empty parking lot. Since the car we had at the time
"idled" at about 20 mph, I saw no need for her to touch the gas pedal!)<br />
<br />
Donna-Lane vows that once she is through the chemo and the radio, she
wants to balance the scales by waiting on me for awhile. I'll settle for
turning in my rotor blades and returning to our normal no-hover
lifestyle. </div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1691608517793253098" itemprop="description articleBody">
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1691608517793253098" itemprop="description articleBody">
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://theexpatwriter.blogspot.ch/2016/01/helicopter-husband.html">Helicopter husband</a>
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yFO3pK4dm8TBgGPWScbKk7vjK1qXgrmybznUrGQ_5NH82OvHJ9CnARcfzK3LhgGZrt-WE7us0UYJUItvmbI-zChR5LAQk2qk2J4K2AyMlIQcR2Z2bP10vQ0euDHwPLk2DXxkDlfhPhTW/s1600/Navy_squirrel_helicopter_acrobatics_display.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yFO3pK4dm8TBgGPWScbKk7vjK1qXgrmybznUrGQ_5NH82OvHJ9CnARcfzK3LhgGZrt-WE7us0UYJUItvmbI-zChR5LAQk2qk2J4K2AyMlIQcR2Z2bP10vQ0euDHwPLk2DXxkDlfhPhTW/s320/Navy_squirrel_helicopter_acrobatics_display.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">My mother could have created the manual
for the helicopter mom a half a decade before the term was created. I
hated being over protected.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Fast backward to three years ago when
Rick and I were getting together. My friends who approved of him and
actually thought he might be good for me took him aside and said, "Don't
smother her. Give her freedom. She's very independent." The underlining
message was "Or you'll be history."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">My daughter added another message, "And she'll steal your socks."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">He believed both. Some of his socks disappeared. He didn't hover.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I developed breast cancer. I made
sure he attended all my appointments, although in most there was only
French spoken and I had to translate. He had said this is a motivation
to speed up his learning process. I wanted him to not feel left out.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">We went thru the bad news, the good
news, the bad news, the good news. They think they got it all. Chemo and
radiation would be preventative. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After surgery, I still was able to
maintain my full independence. But with chemo, I was less brave. There
have been times walking across the room has left me without energy.
Doing chores that should be ordinary were/are exhausting. Unloading a
dishwasher shouldn't leave me shaking, but it does on the bad days.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">He took over.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"You are a helicopter husband," I've told him as he worried about leaving me alone.</span> For whenever I was weak, his blade rotated at full speed making sure I don't faint on him as I did one day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">He didn't deny it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now chemo is almost at an end. Radiation
will be tiring but not like this. In a few months I will regain my
strength and we will be back to normal. I've promised him that I will do
the cooking for months rather than our alternating under our previous
arrangement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />"We'll see," he said. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hate being dependent, wanting to do
stuff but not having the energy. I have learned that it is okay to ask
for help, to not always be 100% strong. I have learned that having a
hovering, helicopter husband is a good thing when needed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Because on my good days, when I do feel
normal, he lands his helicopter and shuts off the hover mode, I know our
lives will resume.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile I need a clean pair of socks, and when he isn't looking I'll check out his drawer. </span><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://theexpatwriter.blogspot.ch/2016/01/helicopter-husband.html">Helicopter husband</a>
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yFO3pK4dm8TBgGPWScbKk7vjK1qXgrmybznUrGQ_5NH82OvHJ9CnARcfzK3LhgGZrt-WE7us0UYJUItvmbI-zChR5LAQk2qk2J4K2AyMlIQcR2Z2bP10vQ0euDHwPLk2DXxkDlfhPhTW/s1600/Navy_squirrel_helicopter_acrobatics_display.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7yFO3pK4dm8TBgGPWScbKk7vjK1qXgrmybznUrGQ_5NH82OvHJ9CnARcfzK3LhgGZrt-WE7us0UYJUItvmbI-zChR5LAQk2qk2J4K2AyMlIQcR2Z2bP10vQ0euDHwPLk2DXxkDlfhPhTW/s320/Navy_squirrel_helicopter_acrobatics_display.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">My mother could have created the manual
for the helicopter mom a half a decade before the term was created. I
hated being over protected.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Fast backward to three years ago when
Rick and I were getting together. My friends who approved of him and
actually thought he might be good for me took him aside and said, "Don't
smother her. Give her freedom. She's very independent." The underlining
message was "Or you'll be history."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">My daughter added another message, "And she'll steal your socks."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">He believed both. Some of his socks disappeared. He didn't hover.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then I developed breast cancer. I made
sure he attended all my appointments, although in most there was only
French spoken and I had to translate. He had said this is a motivation
to speed up his learning process. I wanted him to not feel left out.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">We went thru the bad news, the good
news, the bad news, the good news. They think they got it all. Chemo and
radiation would be preventative. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">After surgery, I still was able to
maintain my full independence. But with chemo, I was less brave. There
have been times walking across the room has left me without energy.
Doing chores that should be ordinary were/are exhausting. Unloading a
dishwasher shouldn't leave me shaking, but it does on the bad days.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">He took over.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"You are a helicopter husband," I've told him as he worried about leaving me alone.</span> For whenever I was weak, his blade rotated at full speed making sure I don't faint on him as I did one day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">He didn't deny it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Now chemo is almost at an end. Radiation
will be tiring but not like this. In a few months I will regain my
strength and we will be back to normal. I've promised him that I will do
the cooking for months rather than our alternating under our previous
arrangement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />"We'll see," he said. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hate being dependent, wanting to do
stuff but not having the energy. I have learned that it is okay to ask
for help, to not always be 100% strong. I have learned that having a
hovering, helicopter husband is a good thing when needed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Because on my good days, when I do feel
normal, he lands his helicopter and shuts off the hover mode, I know our
lives will resume.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile I need a clean pair of socks, and when he isn't looking I'll check out his drawer. </span> </div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-87522790159448616382016-01-06T01:26:00.000-08:002016-01-09T01:06:23.954-08:00It stopped<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOObWzD0kmFIjEif7uBHhC_JV0yRZWVAWoKNusQiT-lcLA1ffXQKtWsiHJiCHzatWmp4gvbnSaAzy8eQgl3GkaJs9YgXAAFYLVzA6M6oxHQjDmxtCP0QVYj2pdAzsSt1dc69deNzg9GBDr/s1600/fire.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOObWzD0kmFIjEif7uBHhC_JV0yRZWVAWoKNusQiT-lcLA1ffXQKtWsiHJiCHzatWmp4gvbnSaAzy8eQgl3GkaJs9YgXAAFYLVzA6M6oxHQjDmxtCP0QVYj2pdAzsSt1dc69deNzg9GBDr/s200/fire.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>"Call the coup feu," my landlady said to my complaint that it felt
as if my hands were on fire, a reaction to the Taxol chemo treatment.</b><br />
<b><br />She wasn't the first. My physio had said the same thing when I had had radiation only none of the burning predicted happened.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I'd heard that even doctors had recommended a coup feu, a person you telephoned to relieve pain.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>After a sleepless night, I did.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>She immediately put me thru to her daughter whose English was much
worse than my French, but I gave my name, address, birthdate in both
languages. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I was handed back to the mother and we spoke French and understood each other without a problem.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>She told me to be still.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Nothing but quiet for I don't know how many minutes. I felt my hands cool.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>"Call me back if you have more problems," she said.</b><br />
<br />
<b> When
I told my oncologist, she raised her eyebrows. "I don't understand how
it works," she says."But I've seen it work in burn units."</b><br />
<br />
<b>I don't understand either. I don't care. My hands are still cool. </b><br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-3250836365141685712016-01-01T02:31:00.000-08:002016-01-01T02:31:18.973-08:00Tuesdays and Thursdays<h2 class="date-header">
<span></span></h2>
<div class="date-posts">
<div class="post-outer">
<div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="1659464452255647480"></a>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
A guest post by my husband. <br />
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1659464452255647480" itemprop="description articleBody">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFe7EOce_DRv1qN-eGaRWoFS1A2ImyVSCApcW4PmtVMYxUGmUvtFdy0fZ_Cb0gIkwZwYZ_0oe5w569VdZmnRuBZndiD5A7d05ZxG8RbVLSO2X8i0un0FFdeNujlX6sz1l4GRJHQSh5xM/s1600/20151223_082521+donnalane+chemo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUFe7EOce_DRv1qN-eGaRWoFS1A2ImyVSCApcW4PmtVMYxUGmUvtFdy0fZ_Cb0gIkwZwYZ_0oe5w569VdZmnRuBZndiD5A7d05ZxG8RbVLSO2X8i0un0FFdeNujlX6sz1l4GRJHQSh5xM/s400/20151223_082521+donnalane+chemo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thursdays, lately, have been the best day of the week. Tuesdays have been the worst.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In between, on Wednesdays, Donna-Lane receives her weekly chemo treatment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">By the way, the treatments are almost done. Depending on how the doctors interpret her condition, next Wednesday could be D-L's <i>final </i>chemo.
Fingers crossed. It would be what I'm calling a super chemo, the
equivalent of 3 or 4 treatments in one - with a different chemical than
she has been receiving - and will likely make her very tired for days or
even weeks afterward. But it should not have the side effect she is
having now of burning hands and numb fingers and toes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The
day after each chemo treatment, Thursdays, tend to be relatively good
days. D-L has reasonable energy for much of the day and sometimes into
Friday. That may be due in part to the slight dose of cortisone they
give her with the chemo drip.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">But
by Friday afternoon, certainly Saturday, the cortisone is probably worn
off because the fatigue catches up with her. She'll be able to sit at
her computer and work for maybe an hour or so, but then she hits a wall
and needs to crawl into bed and pretend to read, often falling asleep
within minutes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">By
Tuesday, a week after the chemo treatment and the morning we head to
the hospital for the weekly blood test and oncologist consultation,
Donna-Lane's energy level is at a low ebb. One time, a few weeks back,
she passed out from low blood pressure and we called the paramedics. By
the time they arrived, she was back in bed resting, and her vitals were
sufficient so there was no need to go to the hospital. This past week,
she had the severe light-headed sensation again but fortunately did not
pass out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It
was good that Christmas Eve was on a Thursday. We spent a great day in
Hermance strolling through the village and along the lake. Christmas
morning, Friday, was pretty good too.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now
it's New Year's Eve, a Thursday, and we're hoping to spend it with
friends. Maybe not as late as midnight, but that's okay. The new year
will arrive whether we're awake to celebrate or not.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's
been a challenging year in several aspects. There have been positive
developments - my Permis B, a new job in Geneva for someone very dear to
Donna-Lane, a publication date for her new novel (<i>Murder in Schwyz</i>),
and during treatments she managed enough energy to finish editing a
non-fiction book for a former colleague. Instead of traveling around
Europe, we've found joy in driving along the edge of the lake or along a
ridge where we can see a panorama of the lake, the city, and the
mountains beyond. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Most important, D-L is beating the cancer ... for the second time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We're
looking forward to a return to 'normal' in 2016, as if the two of us
could ever do 'normal.' Certainly we're eager to spend more time in our
other home in Argeles-sur-mer and to seeing, in person, friends we've
only been able to keep up with online. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-74236375038457084632015-12-15T08:26:00.001-08:002015-12-15T08:26:59.977-08:00New treatmentLow white blood cells and burning hands helped the doctor decide I needed a week off from chemo.<br />
<br />
Two weeks letter my white blood cells were better but my hands still had problems.<br />
<br />
"We'll change the treatment."<br />
<br />
Her proposal instead of seven more taxols I would get three. Than I would get a mega dose of another drug that equalled the 4 Taxols. Bettter for my hands, but it would leave me more tired and perhaps with muscle pain.<br />
<br />
For an earlier finish, I said, yes, yes, yes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-11832925457736477492015-12-12T07:54:00.000-08:002015-12-12T07:54:28.371-08:00A hard weekEven if I often write about my treatment for cancer in a light vein, it doesn't mean I don't take it seriously.<br />
<br />
This was not the best week.<br />
<br />
Between my low white blood cell count, my burning hands and bloody noses, I did get a one-week reprieve from my next dose of taxol. And yes, I did miss the time with the wonderful nursing staff. And it will delay the finish and my reward of time in Argelès as well.<br />
<br />
I also felt really, really tired all week long.<br />
<br />
I had to keep chanting my positive list.<br />
<ul>
<li>Great hospital</li>
<li>Excellent affordable medical system </li>
<li>Great nurses</li>
<li>Great doctors </li>
<li>Not metastasized</li>
<li>Preventative</li>
<li>Loving husband to support me </li>
<li>I have everything I need including food, shelter</li>
<li>No one is dropping bombs on me</li>
<li>I've come a long way since the lumps were found in early June</li>
<li>I can see the end of chemo</li>
<li>I've done radiation before</li>
</ul>
Maybe it helped. By Saturday I was able to do a writing workshop and then go to lunch with my husband to a place that was new to him, not new to me. Chez Cousine has a limited menu but good and profiteroles for dessert.<br />
<br />
Seven more treatments. <br />
<br />
I can do this.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-7097375258306200772015-12-03T00:29:00.001-08:002015-12-03T00:54:55.401-08:00Bonding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #274e13;"><i>Looking out the restaurant window.</i></span></div>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">"Now you understand," my former colleague and current friend said. We were with our respective spouses in a Nyon, Switzerland restaurant.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">The NGO we are retired from had about 100 employees of about 50 nationalities. He and I were the only two natural Americans. Until 9/11 our communications were the usual good-mornings-have-a- nice-day type.</span></span><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">g</span></span><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">On 9/11 I had brought up CNN to check out the news just after the second plane hit the WTC. I rushed into his office where we followed events.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">We discovered we were of like minds on so much, both activists that regularly contacted congress on issues of importance to us. We marched against the war at Bern demonstration along with my daughter and other friends.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">We were also of like minds to become Swiss so we could actively participate in the society where we lived as full citizens.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then we supported each other thru the horrible, painful experience of renouncing our American nationality when direct and indirect attacks by our government made it impossible for us to have the financial security we needed.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even after I retired, we would meet from time to time to catch up on news, world affairs, writing and other topics. Yesterday was one of those times and it gave me a chance to introduce my new husband who fit perfectly with my friend and his wife.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">After our meal we went back to their flat for ice cream. The word lanky could have been invented for my friend. And he is bald.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">I said, "The thing that surprised me about being bald, is how cold my head gets. I sometimes wear a hat to bed."</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">He laughed. "Now you understand," he said. "And sometimes I wear a hat even in the house."</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: large;">It is another bond.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-78294553514436839102015-12-01T23:04:00.001-08:002015-12-01T23:04:51.810-08:00Fighting Cancer, an allegory<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydLjzRSA-Du2-yksVZJ9AKKvL5LmsXHx_ceaHMQUCPimLk4cOdgHneqT8eUCA9wnaq793K1kOErUmQwjXSd9u8bXDpbNjKgOscyopusNGUcrsS2fQ5Ybbtylb8XGKFfrwZv4syr2N70Jd/s1600/crusa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydLjzRSA-Du2-yksVZJ9AKKvL5LmsXHx_ceaHMQUCPimLk4cOdgHneqT8eUCA9wnaq793K1kOErUmQwjXSd9u8bXDpbNjKgOscyopusNGUcrsS2fQ5Ybbtylb8XGKFfrwZv4syr2N70Jd/s320/crusa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>TAXOLA rides her horse Energy in drops of the cancer-fighting drug stopping at the
vital organs in search of a bad cancer cell.</b></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So
far she has found nothing. She is frustrated.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
she sees a group of white blood cells having a tea party.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
is furious. She and Energy are working so hard. The cells are loafing. Without
thinking which type of cells they are (neutrophil, eosinophil or any of the
other types), she lashes out.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Her
sword destroys many of them, but some escape.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Taxola
leaves the scene and she and Energy plod on to the liver, the bones on their
quest.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
mustn’t give up. For the next seven weeks she will get new liquid to carry her
and Energy around the body, but those white blood cells better begin doing
their job too. The woman, her client, is getting tired of being tired.</span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
</b></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">T</span></div>
<br />
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-1205159620576038562015-11-27T05:04:00.000-08:002015-11-27T05:11:17.117-08:00Roller coaster<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWkzSxejSAB7ybsVNwv4s9P25SzAIeo-XGL0J8PiWKERX7FELGqUKtPlmcs9x4Pvr678-aN0HONB5QF3QRHIxoghCoMVJWsyaNVclArIdm3hFrg1xxpUawzuRGB5mtUYFRuHLIfQ5e4Zl/s1600/roll.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWkzSxejSAB7ybsVNwv4s9P25SzAIeo-XGL0J8PiWKERX7FELGqUKtPlmcs9x4Pvr678-aN0HONB5QF3QRHIxoghCoMVJWsyaNVclArIdm3hFrg1xxpUawzuRGB5mtUYFRuHLIfQ5e4Zl/s320/roll.jpe" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">I've decided that chemo is a roller coaster and trying to predict and understand it, just isn't going to work.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">At one point I was told:</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">One strong dose every three weeks three times. This was the one that turned my pee pretty pink then</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Three weekly doses of Taxol with a week off in between three times a total of 9 doses for the Taxol and 12 chemos together</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first three left me tired but was much better than I expected with the time off to recover. I had good days and less good days. I was tired. It was up and down and okay.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">However, after the first three doses of the Taxol I was looking forward to my week off.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not so fast.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Seems the team thinks that it would be better to do 12 straight so instead of being half way thru I have eight more weeks.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">BUMMER!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">I don't understand that the day after chemo I feel wonderful, normal, have energy.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">The next day less so and until the next chemo I can feel everything from almost energetic to I've-got-to-lie-down NOW. I call it hitting a wall. It happened last night at Thanksgiving dinner, happily after I'd eaten everything I wanted. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Smack. We left the restaurant and went home<br /><br />Today I do a bit of this and stop, a bit of that and stop. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">I never wanted to ride a roller coaster. Now I have no choice.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh well, eight more treatments. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-size: large;">I can do this, but I am still never getting on a real roller coaster.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-90233348043367207112015-11-18T02:33:00.001-08:002015-11-18T02:40:56.336-08:00Tomorrow"Tomorrow," Nurse Cristine said.<br />
<br />
She has promised me a recipe from raspberry tiramisu and forgot it last week. During one of my chemos we had spent most of the time discussing food and cooking, leaving me ravishingly hungry by the end of the session.<br />
<br />
I was at the hospital for my consultation with my new oncologist, Dr. B. My previous one, Dr. V. had rotated to a new assignment. I am cheered dealing with the equivalent of residents. The bad cases go to the profs.<br />
<br />
Dr. B was from Ste. Croix in Canton Vaud. She was surprised that I knew it but when I lived in Môtiers my first three years in Switzerland, it was a short cut from the Geneva airport home. Never mind the winding road up the mountain nor the couple of times in the fog where I drove with the door open to see the center strip.<br />
<br />
It also has a mechanical museum that I've been saying for 25 years I want to see.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUg2Ux5JJj6u-mxgWyilQPONPwDviy6X7gDbZkWZzOac86lrv14oJd0b3wFDyo9pU1EJpSuDgnFkwx4sMU7OvzGpxO3aMd7cghx_PY_ZqTlpKMTD5V0S0idvMr261NRJTuYwBZe_1vbeC/s1600/170px-CIMA_mg_8332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheUg2Ux5JJj6u-mxgWyilQPONPwDviy6X7gDbZkWZzOac86lrv14oJd0b3wFDyo9pU1EJpSuDgnFkwx4sMU7OvzGpxO3aMd7cghx_PY_ZqTlpKMTD5V0S0idvMr261NRJTuYwBZe_1vbeC/s1600/170px-CIMA_mg_8332.jpg" /></a></div>
The new doctor may inspire us to visit as I try and show Rick all the wonderful in Switzerland.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-36361438847866831782015-11-18T02:32:00.001-08:002015-11-18T02:32:21.804-08:00Chemo and tirimaisu <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKAqz1ST0-AZmU942i6bdaDgc_9sI6DstvGV4GYCBOBaSArV-WgF6mBNfZCYRUd0m7mZu9TtKkg2E-syMdFux0fiG8wGkUPriMNAn7GoYK_OlWs1okiQpFpdRFkEt4hcMVPHHYb-1kf6R/s1600/ras.jpe" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKAqz1ST0-AZmU942i6bdaDgc_9sI6DstvGV4GYCBOBaSArV-WgF6mBNfZCYRUd0m7mZu9TtKkg2E-syMdFux0fiG8wGkUPriMNAn7GoYK_OlWs1okiQpFpdRFkEt4hcMVPHHYb-1kf6R/s1600/ras.jpe" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">At my last chemo my doctor said because I was supporting chemo so well that we could eliminate the two weeks off which means I finish sooner. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">YES!!!!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Also Christine, the nurse, remembered the tiramisu recipe she'd been promising. Here it is in the original French followed by the English translation)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe when I have the last chemo I will make it and we will celebrate with this and champagne.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Good idea, <i>n'est pas</i>????? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>RECIPE</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Temps d préparation: 25 mins.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ingrédients pour six personnes</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3 gros oeufs (4 si petits)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">100 g + 30 g de sucre roux </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">1 sachet de sucre vanilléà la cuiller</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Un peu de lait</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">24 biscuits </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">500 g de framboises (fraîches ou surgelées)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dans le fond d'un plat, disposer des biscuits cuillère trempès dans du lait (cette étape n'est pas obligatoire car ils absorberont le jus des framboises)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Dans un saladier, écraser les framboises avec 30 g de sucre avec un fourchette ou presse-pure. Les répartir sur le fond de biscuit et mettre au réfrigérateur. En garder quelques-uns entières pour la décoration.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Pendant ce temps, séparer les blancs des jaunes d'oeufs.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Battre les jaunes avec le sucre et le sucre vanillé jusqu'à blanchiment du méange. Rajouter le mascarpone au fouet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Monter les blancs en niege bien ferme et les incorporer délicatement au mélange précédent avec une cullière en bois.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Verser a preparation sur les framboise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mette au réfrigéraeur 24 heures avant de servir.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>ENGLISH</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">25 mins. preparation time, but 24 hours in the fridge.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">1 packet of sugar spoon vanillé<br />
Some milk<br />
24 cookies<br />
500 g raspberries (fresh or frozen)<br /> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In the bottom of a dish, arrange biscuits soaked in milk (this step are not
mandatory as they absorb raspberry juice)<br /> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In a bowl, mash the raspberries with 30 g of sugar with fork or press-pure.
Distribute the biscuit base and refrigerate. Keep some whole for décoration.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Add
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Pour a preparation on raspberry.<br /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Put in refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-39356926514145910832015-11-16T10:33:00.000-08:002015-11-16T10:33:13.608-08:00Beating Cancer Together <div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX144233256">
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX144233256">
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">This is a guest blog from my husband, Rick.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIthimxwWi82ZKiSea80qxZCWvOGx7bsxfH1MRUJD24PK0JEsHecanCLZnlTw3nSh_8bsW5QhfshOYW72rENRdTtzzRGvSaIZUk_XC8bAVBgLSbRRkKODo7HVy7AP_m23m90_mRGUoxLEG/s1600/ca.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIthimxwWi82ZKiSea80qxZCWvOGx7bsxfH1MRUJD24PK0JEsHecanCLZnlTw3nSh_8bsW5QhfshOYW72rENRdTtzzRGvSaIZUk_XC8bAVBgLSbRRkKODo7HVy7AP_m23m90_mRGUoxLEG/s320/ca.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX144233256">
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">It’s probably a good thing Donna-Lane taught me a few cooking tips when we were first married, because lately I have been doing much of the meal preparation for both of us. I say ‘probably,’ as my cooking repertoire is still rather limited compared to hers, and not only do we like different things we prefer them cooked differently (she leans to rare, I like my meat </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">moyen</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">bien</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">ou</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">bien</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">cuisin</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">é</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">)</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCX144233256">
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Cooking, clean up, and grocery shopping are perhaps the most time-consuming unanticipated aspects of dealing with D-L’s cancer. Before her diagnosis / operations / chemotherapy, we had established a rhythm in which we shared kitchen duties – one cooked, the other cleaned up, and we alternated days of the week. </span></span></b></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Sometimes (okay, oftentimes) when it was my time to cook and I didn’t think I had the time for shopping & cooking, we’d go out to eat. The restaurant owners </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">knew of our routine and would ask, “Rick’s day to cook</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">?</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">” when we showed up for lunch.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCX144233256" style="background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI",Tahoma,Verdana,"Sans-Serif"; font-size: 6pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">But since summer, and especially this fall during her chemo treatments, there are many days when D-L simply doesn’t have the energy to stand in the kitchen for an hour, slicing veggies, cleaning and boiling potatoes, monitoring meat or s</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">oups</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">. So I’ve taken on much of the food responsibility, except for a few d</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">ays we spent in </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Arg</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">é</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">les</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">-sur-</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">mer</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> when she was feeling strong</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">er-</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">ish</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> and I was swamped with writing deadlines.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">The other unexpected time factor has been trips to the hospital. Not just the now-weekly chemo treatments, which last 2 ½ - 3 hours, plus the 30-60 minutes driving </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">each way</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> (depending on time of day traffic) but also the prior day trips so she can give a blood sample. Mercifully, for the next three weeks, they’ve scheduled the blood draw and chemo drip the same day of the week.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">For the longer visits, I </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">sometimes</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> take my computer with me, find a place where I can sit and work, and check on D-L’s progress every hour or so. She says I could go home and return to pick her up, but I’d rather be close by. Not that I can do anything, but I want her to know I’m there just in case. I’d say perhaps </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">half</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> the women we see</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> in the waiting room have companions with them</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">; about one-third of the companions are male</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> I feel sad for the women who are unaccompanied and facing their trauma alone.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">I write this not as a complaint. I don’t care what is </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">required</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> for Donna-Lane to get rid of the cancer and prevent its recurrence; that’s what we’ll do; and I’ll do what I can to </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">ease</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> her through that experience.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Rather</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">,</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> I write this for those husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, family members, close friends who are going through the crisis of cancer with a loved one – to let you know that</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">(1) it can take a surprising amount of time you hadn’t planned on</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">(2) you may end up in temporary, even long-term, roles you didn’t expect, and </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">(3) both are irrelevant because the only thing that matters is that your loved one gets better and suffers as little as possible in the process.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">It</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> can be</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> a long process, too. Prepare for much of your ‘normal’ life to be on hold for several months. Again irrelevant.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">I am fortunate that we</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> have </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">our</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> own business and work from home. I cannot imagine how difficult the process would be for a husband who has an office job or who has to travel frequently.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> Or som</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">eone </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">going through cancer who has </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">to fit chemo treatments around job requirements.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">We have the liberty of setting our own hours, aside from the hospital appointments, so I am able to get my work done around the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">trips downtown, cooking, and, oh yeah, laundry.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Right now, Donna-Lane is sleeping. It’s late afternoon, and we spent the morning at the hospital. As typical, she still has her glasses on because she’s liable to come awake at any time and resume reading a book. I’m about to start a load of wash. Then I’ll start work. After which I’ll switch the clothes</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> to the dryer. And resume work.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> Perhaps past midnight (a habit which long predates the cancer).</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">From time to time, D-L asks me, or one of our friends asks, “How are you holding up?” </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Piffle. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">I’m not going through any of the surgeries, the frequent needles, the toxic cocktails, the anti-nausea meds, dealing with hair loss and itchy wigs. My angst is only that my wife is suffering, and I don’t like that for a second.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">I don’t mind the time- and role-shift that have become a necessary routine. I like doing whatever I can for the woman I love. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">I</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> do mind that Donna-Lane is not 100% her usual vibrant self. She’s still incredibly positive. She’s tuned in to world events and issues. She’s in touch with friends in her very caring way, including </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">women she’s befriended</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> who are going through a similar experience. </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">She just can’t fire on all cylinders all day every day in the way that she has for most of her life. I know that frustrates her, and part of my role is to calm that frustration.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> And not add to it with any petty annoyances that I might have. (Cursing at Microsoft automatic updates is allowed.)</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">We both take great pleasure in simple things. A 5-minute walk to the lake to soak in the sun and laugh at two dogs jostling for the same stick. Taking photos of objects that fit the </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="SpellingError SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">colour</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> scheme of the week of a Facebook group of people as equally silly as we. Watching a current British television mystery or an American drama re-run.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> Sharing a Ben & Jerry’s strawberry cheesecake ice cream cup.</span></span><span class="EOP SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">For us, for now, this is ‘normal.’ Somewhere around April, hopefully, D-L will be back to consistently higher energy levels and we’ll revert back to our previous ‘normal,’ including some of the travel plans that have been on hold.</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> </span></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">Or maybe a new ‘normal’ that we don’t yet know about. Whatever life has </span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">ahead for</span></span><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;"> us, what matters is dealing with it together.</span></span></b><br />
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<i><span class="TextRun SCX144233256" style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 20px;"><span class="NormalTextRun SCX144233256" style="background-color: inherit;">(Note From DL: This is why I adore this man.) </span></span></i><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1226032995833212099.post-86801049395337369162015-11-11T02:06:00.002-08:002015-11-11T02:06:22.359-08:00Moving along<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Five down seven to go.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>What I don't understand is after chemo and the next couple of days I feel wonderful but then as the week goes on, I seem to downgrade into tired and my asthma seem to get worse. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Chemo has helped my pimples. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I don't recommend this as a beauty treatment, but if I have the disadvantages, I might as well take the good stuff.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Nurse C. forgot the raspberry tiramisu recipe but she says next week.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Another nurse asked me to change my 10:30 next week appointment to 8:30...switch with a woman whose has a seriously ill husband and has a temporary caretaker problem.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Of course, not that I like to get up that early and at 10:30 we miss commuter traffic, but I can just imagine how hard this must be for her plus caring for a sick mate.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I look at Rick, writing across the table for me, and am so grateful for his good health. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>We will set two alarms next week. We will finish closer to an early lunch at the restaurant across the street from the hospital where we go each week. Our first fidelity card is almost filled which means one free meal.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>More important the food is good and the owner now greet us friends.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">I mean it 100% when I say, life is good.</span> </b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0