Pathology And Prognosis
I saw my oncologist this morning, and here's what you and I have been waiting to hear: she gives me a 75% chance of NO recurrence. Here's why:I have been hit with both barrels of the shotgun with...
View ArticleThe Last Word
Monday I saw my speech therapist. Wait: let me back up and explain WHY I have a speech therapist. Apparently during mastectomy surgery four weeks ago, the anesthesiologist scarred my right vocal cord...
View ArticleBreathless
I saw my ENT yesterday because my throat was sore in spite of not speaking for a couple of weeks. He worked with my radiation doctor to get me into surgery tomorrow (Thursday). The node that is on my...
View ArticleSpectator
Has it really been that long since I've updated? I'm sorry to keep you in the dark about my progress.When I had to have the throat surgery, I didn't realize what a hit I would take with that news. It...
View ArticleThe Titles I've Inherited
A few months ago, while I was in the midst of chemotherapy, I was driving home with the convertible roof down. I wore a scarf to cover my bald head. As I waited for the light to change, I heard someone...
View ArticleOrdinary Time
Treatment is over. I had the last radiation appointment on Wednesday. Now it's just healing from the effects of radiation—pretty strong in my case—and then follow-up visits here and there. This is...
View ArticleBalanced
Three days ago, my breast prosthesis arrived. It’s not a perfect match, but it’s close enough. I have a balanced appearance now. Honestly, I really didn’t care, but others were uncomfortable seeing me...
View ArticleVerbatim: Cat Instructions
Sheba is living with us until she can get back to school. She brought her cats with her, and they live in her bedroom. She's visiting family in California and left instructions on feeding the kitties....
View ArticleOverheard: Preschool
It's pick-up time at the summer preschool, which meets on the same floor as my office. Two teachers: "So I said to him, 'Give Ben back his tiara.'" Two dads: "She wanted to name him Luke—that's his...
View ArticleSpring Break: New York City
I had only three days in New York City, but it was a total blast. What made it so was meeting up with friends who lived there. (I should have a lot more pictures, but I was having such a good time that...
View ArticleSpring Break: Connecticut
On Thursday morning I took the Megabus to Connecticut, to meet for the first time a friend I’d made through our common experience with breast cancer. A month after I was diagnosed, a friend wrote me to...
View ArticleSpring Break: Asheville
In the thirty years that Abe and I have been in Indiana, we have made almost all our friends at the church where I’m now employed. Of those friends, four couples have become our inner circle. One of...
View ArticleSpring Break: Helen, Georgia
From Asheville we drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, a fantastic two-lane road which runs 500 miles through the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Smoky...
View ArticleI'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr. DeMille
Everyone else was gone, and it just needed to be done.
View ArticleOnce-in-a-lifetime Wedding
Last month I had the great pleasure of attending the wedding of someone I had known since he was little, the child of dear friends who attend the same church. This wedding was different and probably...
View ArticleComing Back Soon
Apologies for my prolonged absence. I am emerging from depression, a period in which reaching out or initiating anything was just impossible to consider. I'm getting better, and I'll be back soon.
View ArticleCatching Up
So, let's see: it's been five months since I last posted. Mea culpa to both of you who keep checking back, and thank you for your patience. :) How do I cover five months as succinctly as possible?...
View ArticleWhat's Your Sign, Part Two
Last Wednesday, Indianapolis was planning a peaceful rally at the Statehouse steps to support marriage equality. It was in the evening, well past the closing of arguments in the Supreme Court in...
View ArticleTales Of Whoa
Consider this a Public Service Announcement. About a month ago, I pulled into my usual gas station to gas up. Just as I was about to pull away, a big black SUV pulled up next to me, and the driver...
View ArticleChemo: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
First, let me say that chemo saved my life. It has also changed my life, and the adjustment is harder than I thought it would be. My "chemo brain" seems to be very slowly but at least improving. My...
View ArticleRemember That Whole "Don't Fall" Thing?
Our 30-year-old Maytag dryer was on the blink for the first time ever. I was carrying a basket of damp laundry to the car so we could take it to the laundromat. On the bottom (four-inch-high) step to...
View ArticleThe Next Step
In my advocacy for equal rights and respect for people who are LGBT, I've done a lot of reading and studying, especially at the intersection of faith and sexuality. I have determined that anti-gay...
View ArticleHigh Five
It almost went by unnoticed. But I just realized I've been blogging—with a brief hiatus—for five years, as of May 1. Let's see how far this goes.
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