Monthly Archives: April 2012

Tickle Torture and Why I’m Deciding to Relax

28 Apr

Sweet, sweet nothingness. After a week of full-steam ahead – I think it’s time for a break. Sure there are things to do, posts to write, chores to attend . . . but once in a while you’ve just got to say: Nope, I’m staying in bed. (Or in my case, I’m getting back in bed).

The other day Zsolt sent me an article about the importance of exercise and eating well. You’ve all seen these articles. Every few months new research shows – surprise! Exercise, vegetables, fish and grains are healthy. It’s not as though I wasn’t aware of all these things before he forwarded the article, but it was nevertheless a nice reminder. This past month has been quite busy with my days scheduled in full, and for some reason exercise consistently gets moved to the back of the priority list.

So we have been walking, and until it gets warmer I guess that will be it. However walking doesn’t really build a sweat so in the back of my mind there is this tickle: exercise more.

And then there’s the work. Last year we upped and moved from England to Canada which mean everything dove into a tailspin. My work mostly comprised of cleaning the house and making meals. Plus, of course, the writing of lovely stories. However we’re adults living in my parent’s house and this has ceased to be cool. (Not that it ever was, but it certainly was convenient). Therefore, as Zsolt hunts for a job in the land of science,  my goal has become: get us out of the house. And bit by bit I’ve picked up freelancing opportunities that will, soon, shortly, enable us to MOVE OUT.

Yay!

So as I lay here in bed I’m totally stoked, and yet, I’m also flat out in need of a nap. This whole ‘work for yourself’ thing is new, and I’m still learning boundaries. And in the back of my mind there’s this little tickle: make more money.

Plus, of course, a well-rounded woman these days is meant to pursue her passion. While blogging is a pleasure, writing fiction is a passion. And yet, because passion can often translate into ‘luxury’ and therefore be saved for only the best of times (i.e. the quietest), I’ve pushed aside all writing activity along with the exercise in favour of other obligations.

But there’s that little tickle: Keep on writing.

And since I’m onto tickles, there’s the relationships tickle: Give time to your husband.

Plus the friend tickle: Make time for your friends.

Along with the family tickle: Spend time with your parents.

Soon enough I’m going to hyperventilate with all this ridiculous tickling. I mean, at what point does tickling cross over into torture? Were there men in black hoods during medieval times who held giant feathers and tickled their victims to death?

This is my proposal: Take a freaking break from worrying about all these obligations and ‘to do’s, and instead, lay in bed and watch reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer while sipping tea and eventually taking a nap.

Just for today – no more tickling. Just for today, I’ve got to cut some slack. And I suggest you do the same. (If you don’t already count reading this blog post as a mini-vacation from the world . . . hey, some people just might!) Forget the obligations, the should-do, the ‘I feel guilty cause I’m not’ . . . and just enjoy as much as possible, even if only for a minute.

Now please excuse me, Buffy is waiting.

The end. :) For today.

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Getting fertility results: our journey continues . . .

20 Apr

Last Monday was our appointment with the fertility doctor. I’ve already had the scans and blood tests, so this meeting was to review the results. Now just about a year ago, I received my AMH results by phone and the news was essentially devastating – so driving to this appointment yesterday, my nerves were on high alert.

All these scenarios were running through my mind as I moved light to light to light across Ottawa.  Zsolt all the while was assuring me everything was fine, and I should calm down. I told him, “I know everything is fine,” but that nevertheless I couldn’t calm down.

Your mind can say one thing, but your body may say another. The anxiety felt like a thickness inside me.

We drive up, we park, we go in. . . we’re directed to a side waiting room and it gives flashbacks of the Southampton Princess Anne Hospital where all the baby-related cases are ushered to these tiny waiting rooms where people generally sit for an hour flipping through year-old magazines of Elle, Seventeen and Cosmo. Oh yeah, that’s also where they put the ladies who have cancer, right before breaking the news. So these stupid memories are clearly doing little for my composure.

However, Zsolt starts talking to me about his family and shopping for televisions, and in listening to his description of this debate between 3D television or 46 inch screens, somehow I’m calmed down. That’s husband-power right there.

The doctor calls us in, we go in. Her office is bright and comfortable. She has a computer that I’d love to own (those big screens on the desk).

And she basically dives in. It’s not so bad.  While my AMH test was abysmally low – other tests give reason to hope. My progesterone is tickity-boo;  my follicle count is low, but a high type of low;  some hormone is a bit higher than it should be (the hormone that tells the eggs to release, which causes ovulation), however not too high . . .

Essentially, yeah, my fertility has taken a hit. My eggs are low. I’m not where the average 30 year old woman would be in terms of baby-making goodies.

However, it’s not bad.

She says, “you’re nowhere near menopause.” And that is totally awesome, because I’ve had enough of hot flashes and anxiety attacks for a while.

But she cannot say how my fertility will be in a year, or two years, or five years . . . which is why I’m thinking of trying to extract some eggs sooner, and then actually have a baby later. However we’ll see. Before you’re allowed to do anything, they need to get permission from your oncologist – which kinda frustrates me simply because I hate people telling me what to do. Suggesting what to do is fine. But telling me? No. No. No. However, Dr Canada is excellent and understanding. If I keep an open mind to his suggestions, I’m sure he’ll keep an open mind to mine as well.

And that’s my baby story. Not too much to say. Zsolt is ship-shape. My uterus is looking lovely. And apart from all of this, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Hmm, that’s a concept that never seems to lose relevance. Wait and See. See and Wait. Wait See.

End of story. :)

Can you relate to this post? Well, maybe you could relate to these too – fumble along with me at bumpyboobs.wordpress.com, or even better, say hello on Twitter or hang out on Facebook for some like-minded fun. :)

Posted in breast cancer, chemotherapy, fertility, healing, life after cancer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Where do you draw your line? Getting honest online.

14 Apr

It’s a funny thing to write a blog – particularly a blog that contains your real name and discusses real circumstances. It’s tricky because firstly, who is reading your public memoir? Secondly, should you be spilling your guts to this virtual world? And thirdly, at what point do you draw the line in terms of sharing information?

Actually, these are great questions for being online in general. When you go onto Facebook – do you post updates on hair re-growth, have you switched your status to: “cancer fighter?”  What about on this forum – should you post a picture or use your real name?

This week Riding Shot Gun and Both Sides posted some frank writing about hard topics – and I know they held reservations about being so open with their readers. As Riding Shot Gun questioned, how wide should we open the kimono?

Well in my case, I’ve opened my kimono pretty darn tootin’ wide. But there’s a reason for that, and it’s largely about you.

(And partially because I can’t keep my virtual mouth shut)

This is how I see things: we go online because there are times when we need to shout our feelings, and that calls for a different sort of support. It’s not anyone’s fault. Despite loving us, sometimes others can’t cope or simply haven’t walked in these specific shoes of life (thank goodness). So we come here to places like FacingCancer.ca to vent and ask questions from people who have worn the same shoes.

Also, when it comes to venting and asking questions, the beauty of being online is that you can read quietly, you can register a false name or, alternatively, you can post a photo of your beautiful self and forget the alias. Either way, you get supported. Isn’t that kinda liberating?

And then – for me – one of the biggest reasons I’ve discussed topics like sexuality, loss of loved ones, and fertiliy struggles with this online community (plus so much more) is because you are real, and we all really experiencing these issues.  Doesn’t matter if you lurk, doesn’t matter if your username is ‘hotpotatoe65’, doesn’t matter  . . . because you are a real person, and you’re here because we’re all dealing with a very real problem.

So when you go on the forum and write that hard question that’s almost too painful to admit beyond your own head (and that warm, inviting keyboard), or you post an article that almost crosses the line in terms of its honesty toward the emotions and difficulties of the situations . . .

. . . and you’re quite ready to delete the post or erase the message. Just take a moment to remember that beyond the usernames we’re people who have been there, worn the same shoes, and have the greatest compassion toward your story.

That’s what I tell myself before hitting the ‘publish’ button on my rawest of posts.

We all have our line in the sand. Mine generally involves not divulging too much information that involves other people’s problems (even if they are mixed with mine, with the exception of the sexuality post).

As someone who looks online for community (and you must be, otherwise how did you come to read this post?) – what’s your line in the sand? And have you ever told a hard story online, only to realize that soooo many people relate?

This post is terribly reflective. But it’s been on my mind, and now it’s out I can get on with my day. Speaking of which, it’s Friday the 13th here and I’m at a B&B named Kirkman House in Arnprior, Ontario – it was built before 1900 by the local lumber baron, and this room is totally gorgeous!  If you live in Ottawa (though I realize readers are worldwide) – get yourself to Arnprior. You can eat Wes’ chips by the waterfront, rent a canoe, enjoy a truck stop breakfast, and take a walk in an old growth forest.

Lovely bunch of loveliness.

And now, if you don’t mind, I’ll depart. My husband just arrived back home yesterday, and we have some work to catch up on . . .

Posted in cancer, facingcancer.ca, finding support, healing, life after cancer | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Blame it on the BRAIN FOG

6 Apr

Funny story, yesterday my father lost the car keys. So I’m in the kitchen minding my business (mixing brownies, boiling eggs and prepping some curry) as he runs around the house huffing and puffing over ‘where the heck are the keys’.

And I think to myself, Should I help him? And I answer myself, “Don’t worry about it.” Because I know 100% that they will turn up. Key always turn up, hardly anything ever gets lost, and ‘misplaced’ is not a reason to stop what I’m doing.

Except my Dad feels differently, and he’s pulling up the bed sheets and remaking the bed; he’s going through the newspapers and shaking them for that ‘jingle’ sound; he’s going back to the car and retracing his steps; he’s checking the kitchen (and I am mostly ignoring him, except for suggesting he leave it alone for a while so the memory can float up in his brain) and having no luck.

So I slip into my little pre-Easter world. There’s loads to do, plus I have all kinds of side work I ought to be focusing more on . . . this whole ‘multi-tasking without over loading’ thing is posing a bit of a challenge. I have work to do. I do it. But then sometimes I can’t calm down, and photo booking isn’t always the answer.

Today I had to walk away from my computer because it was making this ‘whirring’ sound so loudly I thought it might crash. Crashing computers suck. So do crashing brains (like my brain last Tuesday after two meetings and a nerve-wracking viewing of the Hunger Games, which was good, but not exactly the post-exertion cool down I should have followed.), which means this upcoming Easter weekend in general is going to be awesome. Family, food, and chocolate – hello, heaven on earth!

But thank goodness for the weekend . . . and yet there’s still so much to do . . . and the brownies aren’t looking their best because I overcooked them by about five minutes. . . but the curry looks divine.

“ARE THESE THE KEYS?” my dad declares, heading into the kitchen and waving them around.

“Yep,” I reply, still lost in my world and trying to be Zen with my food.

“They were in your coat pocket!” he tells me

(Now he wasn’t furious or anything like that, actually he was relatively cool headed considering he’d spend a good deal of time thinking he’d gone crazy, searching the house and getting nowhere.)

And all I can say is:  “Hun?” Because I didn’t drive the car today, and I sure can’t remember picking up those keys.

But there you have it – totally my fault. Apparently I’m the one with too much on my mind and absent-mindedly picking things up and placing them elsewhere. But like the title says, we could just blame it all on the brain-fog, except that it’ one year post chemotherapy, and I believe that chemo-brain is meant to have worn off. (Though I know others who would certainly argue othewise.)

Once I put a container of milk in the cupboard with the dishes, but I was distracted by a boy so maybe that’s okay.

So Dad, I apologize. You are not crazy. I’m crazy. Poor man was put through the ringer and all along I was totally nonchalant, and all along it was totally my fault.

But at least the curry is delicious. And he seems pretty happy eating it right now, so I guess all is forgiven.

Moral of this story . . . Sometimes it’s better just to stop and help others, despite being wrapped in ourselves . . . next time he loses his keys (and he will – and it will not be my fault), I’ll help discover where they were mislaid. It’s basically the least I can do!

Happy Easter!!

Can you relate to this post? Well, maybe you could relate to these too – fumble along with me at bumpyboobs.wordpress.com, or even better, say hello on Twitter or hang out on Facebook for some like-minded fun. :)

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