Tidbits

Just a reminder to those of you who like to play the odds and collect the fancy prizes, the time is coming to a close to get in on the B.C. Lifestyle Lottery.
The tickets are expensive. On the other hand, it’s probably the only way anyone I know will ever live in the British Properties, so that alone makes it worthwhile.
More info can be found here.

More local goings-on…
If you live in Vancouver and you like to read, you have to go to this.

We went to the library book sale yesterday. It wasn’t a planned thing, but before you knew it, the E’s and I were heading downtown to the booksale.
It’s a great, great sale. I didn’t really expect to be able to go this year, what with being sick and all, but it worked out and the big E and I were much more moderate than normal.
See, the library fills a whole room with books they have taken out of circulation and the most they charge for any book is 2 bucks.
And historically, the g-f and I show up with rolling luggage and load up.
We were really quite conservative for us.
But you should go and check it yourself.

Other news around town, well, I decided after how hard the last round of chemo was that I would try accupuncture this time.
The guy I am seeing comes highly recommended and I already knew he was a nice guy because we used to live in the same co-op together.
At this point, I can say that *something* seems different, though it is still a little early to tell.
The accupuncture may be a big chunk of it.
I am also getting way more fussy about the meds I am willing to take and how long I am willing to take them for after each round.
And the other thing is, I am resting more this time than I did last round.
I think last time I just became aware of how easily I get worn out and now that it’s 4 weeks later and the weather is crappier, I am less tempted to go for a walk. Maybe in December, but right now, I don’t want to get stuck in the rain without enough steam in the engine to get myself home.

On other fronts, my waist continues to blossom.
I know there are some folks who think it’s kind of funny that my formerly svelte self is now squishing myself into sweatpants and whatever else I can find that fits today.
Me, I am kind of hating it.
Basically, I look like a shoe box on top of two spindley little legs.
Oh, and don’t forget the great bald head on top of the shoe box.
That’s a pretty hot image, no?
Anyway, I know my body is taking on water, just like a little row boat, and I know that in a couple of months I will have my life back and I will be able to go to the gym again and get myself feeling like myself again, but right now, it’s kind of annoying.
Any locals with old 34″ waist jeans that they can lend out for a month or two, do give me a shout.

The other thing that has been going on lately is I am having some strange feelings about the chemo actually ending.
Okay, I don’t actually mean I am apprehensive about the chemo ending.
I am nervous that I have to make the decisions now about how I live my life and how to make sure I don’t have a recurrence.

See, I guess you have to start with a basic willingness to believe that the doctors and their poison have actually done the job and wiped the bad cancer shite away.
Then the question becomes, “What do I need to do to keep it away?”, because I am here to tell you, if I can avoid the encore in this performance, I would be more happy than you could know.
And, clearly if I have been doing all these organic modifications to my diet, then I believe that diet matters.
So… what kind of diet is going to do the trick here?
On one hand, I could be macrobiotic.
Okay, I probably couldn’t, but one could make a good argument for a macrobiotic diet being a good idea to rebound after this treatment.
On the other hand, I could make a significant reduction in the fat I have in my diet.
I am kind of keen on that.
Not like I eat a lot of greasy foods, but I eat a lot of cheese and other dairy foods, and I could cut down on the meat as well.
My acupunturist says I should stay away from spicy foods because they make my body run ‘too hot’.
Oh, okay…

Then someone told me I need to figure out how I want to eat in a way that makes sense to me and in a way I will enjoy and then just forget the rest of it, because otherwise I will be miserable and I will make myself nuts.
So, I can’t see having any Hastings Steak for the remainder of this lifetime, but I don’t have to exist on wild yams and kombu.
Whew!

Aside from that, I have been spending the day teaching myself how to make carrot bisque.
It’s quite nice, actually. I am on my 3rd pot.
It was sort of an accident how I came to make so much soup, but it will keep really well and soup is a nice comfort on a rainy day like today.

I am sure I have lots more to tell you. In fact, I probably owe you an e-mail, that seems to be the current trend.
If I am behind on answering you, please be patient. I will probably answer soon, and if I don’t, feel free to nudge me.

I want to say thanks to everyone again.
This has been awfully weird and hard and awful, but I know some spectacular people who have made it so much better.
There are also those spectacular people who I don’t know who have made it way better too. To all those kind strangers from Alberta, thanks so much.

All right, it’s late, it’s cold, and it’s time for a fire in the fireplace and some Buffy reruns.

Keep the faith.