Category: The Cielem’el Survival & Growth Journal

This is cool . . . since the first biopsy in mid-April, well over two months ago, last night was the first relatively pain-free milonga I’ve had, and Jiminey, I had forgotten how much fun dancing is when you’re not in pain and fear of pain while doing it! And the longer I danced without the twinges of pain becoming […]

OK, if you read my blog on Tuesday, you’ll know how funny this is . . . The doorbell just rang. Mark popped up from his desk, saying “flowers!” But it was a Jehova’s Witness, selling him Jesus. Ach, the irony!!!

It’s interesting, I find myself behaving a little differently in this than in any other relationship I’ve ever had. Not really acting differently, so much as, well, reacting a little less to things that normally bother me in a relationship. I’m starting to think the difference is in part because of the known or expected duration we’ve already committed to […]

So I’m at Mark’s, it’s a normal work day albeit it I’m a little slow today after a long day and evening last night getting the draft report finished and sent out, but anyway we’re both working in our little office rooms at the back of the house today. It’s late morning, and the doorbell rings. Not an especially common […]

ohmygodohmygodohmygodtwo phone calls in the last hour . . . 1) adoption search agency – my biological aunt had breast cancer, so I do have some biological history of cancer 2) Dr. Lombardi’s office – the oncotype dx result won’t be ready until July 7th, two more weeks from now This is more information/emotional overload than I can process on […]

Now THAT was cool! This is a side of Mark I haven’t seen before, and he seems to be in his element. My new aquarium didn’t come with a pump, and the pump (another story altogether, involving some quality time on my hammock listening to the wind in the trees) didn’t come with plumbing for it to be connected to […]

I have this red dress. Well, I have several red dresses, and most of them are admittedly pretty sexy. Then again, what red dress isn’t? But last night I wore the one that I know, from past experience in salsa, well, it has an effect. I didn’t know if the milonga was casual or dressy, and this dress works either […]

Wow, I was so busy with conference calls and work, my Friday was over before you knew it, and we went to the SF Tango Exchange milonga and had a great time dancing until two in the morning.

I noticed two failings in my personality this week, things that I know about and I think I’m improving on, but I’m far from actually having it down. One is that I find it incredibly difficult to ask for favors or to ask someone to do something for me. I was raised to keep an eye about always looking for […]

I’m working tonight because I spent the afternoon doing more cancer stuff. It’s kind of demoralizing to always have some medical thing superseding the importance of everything else in your life. There’s just this constant stress I can’t seem to escape. So, this afternoon. Well, actually it started last week when I talked to my parents about the new possibly-no-chemo […]

OK, the instant messaging widget on my blog is just toooooo cool! Two people have already messaged me from it, and it’s so neat that the IMs go straight to my instant messenger instead of me having to log in somewhere else or look for a posting. Busy busy busy work day, pounding out these report sections to be written. […]

This is neat, we found a “widget” tool to add to my blog so that if I’m online people can instant message me from my blog site, how cool is that? I don’t want to clutter up my blog page with lots of junk, but that one was fun to find and add on. Now people who are reading my […]

It’s getting into this weird phase where a daily cancer journal doesn’t really make sense to me right now. There are almost two weeks now where there isn’t going to be anything going on in terms of treatment or doctor’s appointments, and I hope to have a little time for my old simple during-the-week life of work and quiet. So […]

Wow, 50 days. Still less than two months. That’s so wild, it feels like it’s been more like six months since this all started. It’s been a relief to unexpectedly have at least a couple more weeks post-surgery before treatments and stuff get going. And I’m pretty much not sick anymore with that nasty cold, so now it’s like I […]

Friday the 13th. 😉 The usual, I was up at 5:30AM, well, 2:30AM really, but I finally got out of bed at 5:30AM. I do like the quiet of the early morning, but I’d still rather be sleeping until the sun has actually risen. After a busy morning of conference calls, with my back sore from sitting at the dining […]