new plan

OK, so I realized that these posts were ... boring? When I came up with the blog-a-day idea, I had a lot in my head, and as soon as I sat down to type, it all dissipated. So I will save blogging for days when I have something to say or something to share :)

Year 3, Day 7

I'm attempting to blog every day in my third year of remission with info, news, or on a person front, what's in my head, how I'm keeping my body healthy, etc.

One of the things I've gotten much better about is taking care of myself in small ways. I'm getting better at saying "no" which is a huge help. I'm better about going to bed early when I'm super-tired, even if that makes me a big dork. As I've come to be a healthier eater, I crave sweets much less frequently — close to never. I'm better about not letting other people's food issues influence me. For example, if I'm at a small social gathering and there are cookies and I don't want one, I won't eat one. Yes, that sounds simple enough, but have you ever declined a cookie in a group of cookie-eaters? You know what happens :)

Anyway, small things. Yesterday I slept in. Mid-afternoon, I was sleepy again, so I took a nap instead of arguing with myself that I shouldn't be sleepy since I slept in and staying up anyway.

Tonight, I am sleepy again. I am going to bed here shortly, even though it's barely 7:00.

(I'm not worried about all of this sleepiness right now: hubby's been sick and I'm sure I'm fighting his germs. Also have my period which often makes me sleepier.)

If there's anything you'd like me to write about, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Year 3, Day 6

I'm attempting to blog every day in my third year of remission with info, news, or on a person front, what's in my head, how I'm keeping my body healthy, etc.


If you're unfamiliar with them, I'm Too Young For This is a resource for young adults with cancer, and Voices of Survivors is a compilation of the voices of many and varied survivors on what it means to be a survivor.

Year 3, Day 5

I'm attempting to blog every day in my third year of remission with info, news, or on a person front, what's in my head, how I'm keeping my body healthy, etc.

For Thanksgiving, I am thankful

• for good health
• for fun in-laws
• for self-control

My cancer was diagnosed in May. My treatment ended one week before Thanksgiving. It was a matter of sheer luck that I spent no major holidays in the hospital or in bed.

My treatment ended just over two years ago. That incites a bit of thoughtfulness in itself. Plus it's Thanksgiving, which also incites thoughtfulness.

So very many people helped to carry me to where I am right now.

Thank you to all. As if thank you is enough.

Year 3, Day 4

I'm attempting to blog every day in my third year of remission with info, news, or on a person front, what's in my head, how I'm keeping my body healthy, etc.

It is harder to blog every day than I expected it to be. Some days I just don't have much to say.

So I will just say that today, on Thanksgiving Eve, I am grateful to be alive, to be healthy, to have good friends and family, to have a roof over my head and food in the fridge and a million other things that I have but don't deserve (any more than any of us deserve them).

While tomorrow will not be a day of great (read: healthy) eating, I will honor my body and not stuff it until it hurts. I'll have a little of everything (well, everything not meat), and it will be super-tasty

If nothing else, pounds go on way faster and easier than they come off, and I'm tired of losing these five pounds. Easiest way not to need to lose them is not to gain them. That starts tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Year 3, Day 3

I'm attempting to blog every day in my third year of remission with info, news, or on a person front, what's in my head, how I'm keeping my body healthy, etc.

Not directly related to cancer, but in my adult life, I have become much better about taking care of myself. I go to the dentist twice a year (this morning checked that off the list for another six months), I brush and floss, I eat healthy food in healthy quantities most of the time, I exercise on a regular basis, I stretch. While not everything that goes wrong in our bodies is preventable, a lot of it is. So I might not prevent any bad thing from ever invading my body again, but if I can keep systems in good working order, fewer things are likely to malfunction. And I feel better, have more energy, am generally more positive when my body feels good.

Recently, to complement my physical health endeavors, I have been working on mental health: working through/getting over crap that has happened at various points in my life, working on being less ignite-able (being angry all the time isn't healthy), working on having healthy relationships with people, working on setting boundaries for people who can't/won't have a healthy relationship, being kind and patient to people whether they "deserve" it or not. I'm trying to remember that people who I bump into in the grocery store don't know my life story any more than I know theirs. I hate it when people judge me based on not enough information, and so I am trying not to judge others. (By the same token, having a bad day is not a good reason to be an asshole.)

Am I living and breathing this in such a way that y'all should model yourselves after me? No. But I'm working on it. And as I work on it, I get better at it.

I already feel better much of the time at work, I feel much better when I'm driving, and when those two things are feeling pretty good, the rest of life is often not far behind.

Year 3, Day 2

I celebrated two years cancer-free on Saturday! It is fabulous and amazing.

I have been having very significant memory problems recently. I'm not sure it's entirely chemo-brain — why would it suddenly nosedive this far out of treatment? — but I'm sure that's where it's rooted. Even before this recent episode of "What's your name again?" my memory has certainly not been at the same strength that it was pre-chemo. It drives me mad.

I have decided, memory-permitting (haha?), that I am going to attempt to post here every day with something that I'm doing to take care of my body or with news I've come across.

Of course, I was going to start this yesterday and forgot :(

So today's installment is a link to a blog post regarding cancer-related memory issues: click here