Me, Kojak?
Writing this blog is an interesting experience. You never know who is going to read it and what connections they are going to make with whatever I dish out. Take the bald picture in the last blog, for example. I finally decided to share that, because I got tired of pretending how wonderful I look and wanted to share what I see in the mirror when the blinds are down. So, what's the first thing that comes to mind? 'Kojak!' - Lucy Steinitz said. Why didn't I think of that?
I guess it could have been worse and, as I told Lucy, Tally Savalas and I have more in common than a bald head. I believe he started his brilliant career at the Voice of America Greek service and his brother was still working at USIA when I was. I guess that's where the similarity ends though, because my stint at the Hungarian Service of the Voice of America (1970-1972) was definitely not followed by a brilliant Hollywood career, and by now it looks like I have missed THAT boat altogether.
Be that as it may........
The respite between the chemo and radiation is not as smooth as I thought it would be, or as I wished it. More than two weeks after the last Taxol, my legs still buckle periodically, I have profound fatigue in most afternoons and I still can't feel the ground under my feet, because it feels like I have an air pad between me and the ground. Yes, I am complaining! Brrrrrrr!
On Wednesday I was finally coaxed into attending a cancer support group session at the hospital. There were just four of us. Two of the women were really young - one had just married not long before being diagnosed with breast cancer. I believe she had a mastectomy, and the other one was still waiting to hear the doctors' decision after she finishes her chemo.
Both were extremely thin and said they had lost a lot of weight since their diagnosis. The fourth person was a 70 year old mother of five, an old womens' rights warrior who, like me, has piled on the pounds. So, that common experience made me feel a little better. Also, the fact that I was told that my symptoms were absolutely normal, as the effects of the Taxol is cumulative and it will take a while before the body settles down.
We were watching a video about breast reconstruction and it was an encouraging eye opener about how many women must be out there who have gone through this experience and now live normal lives, wear outrageously low necked clothes with nobody being the wiser. Modern medicine is truly amazing! I will never, ever think badly of plastic surgery again! About 10 years ago, when I was medical writer for Australian Slimming magazine, I did a story about liposuction. The woman I followed into the operating room was a 'rich bitch' who did it basically because she didn't fit into the dress she wanted to wear for an important party (no, I am NOT kidding). That experience and some others, inprinted a fairly negative attitude towards plastic surgery, but after this video and my cancer experience, I am eating crow and saying mea culpa. It's amazing what they can do! Maybe I will have that breast reduction, after all. (OK, I'll wait on that a bit......)
In any case, my enthusiasm for writing and getting on with things have thus been tempered with the realisation that my energy is limited, so I have deflated my ego to writing this blog and not enter publicly into the really interesting discussion currently under way in the Australian Jewish community about independent Jewish voices. I was itching to do it, but for now common sense must prevail.
So, instead of getting into philosophical and political arguments, I am getting ready to enjoy the French film festival that's on now in a cinema near me. I am going to see four movies this coming week! And the cross stitch project is coming along nicely too. On Wednesday Joy and I are filming the fishes again (for a 3 minute hee hee, haa, haa film), if my energy holds out. One day I will learn how to do this stuff electronically! Now, I am tired again, so I'll have a little siesta.
I guess it could have been worse and, as I told Lucy, Tally Savalas and I have more in common than a bald head. I believe he started his brilliant career at the Voice of America Greek service and his brother was still working at USIA when I was. I guess that's where the similarity ends though, because my stint at the Hungarian Service of the Voice of America (1970-1972) was definitely not followed by a brilliant Hollywood career, and by now it looks like I have missed THAT boat altogether.
Be that as it may........
The respite between the chemo and radiation is not as smooth as I thought it would be, or as I wished it. More than two weeks after the last Taxol, my legs still buckle periodically, I have profound fatigue in most afternoons and I still can't feel the ground under my feet, because it feels like I have an air pad between me and the ground. Yes, I am complaining! Brrrrrrr!
On Wednesday I was finally coaxed into attending a cancer support group session at the hospital. There were just four of us. Two of the women were really young - one had just married not long before being diagnosed with breast cancer. I believe she had a mastectomy, and the other one was still waiting to hear the doctors' decision after she finishes her chemo.
Both were extremely thin and said they had lost a lot of weight since their diagnosis. The fourth person was a 70 year old mother of five, an old womens' rights warrior who, like me, has piled on the pounds. So, that common experience made me feel a little better. Also, the fact that I was told that my symptoms were absolutely normal, as the effects of the Taxol is cumulative and it will take a while before the body settles down.
We were watching a video about breast reconstruction and it was an encouraging eye opener about how many women must be out there who have gone through this experience and now live normal lives, wear outrageously low necked clothes with nobody being the wiser. Modern medicine is truly amazing! I will never, ever think badly of plastic surgery again! About 10 years ago, when I was medical writer for Australian Slimming magazine, I did a story about liposuction. The woman I followed into the operating room was a 'rich bitch' who did it basically because she didn't fit into the dress she wanted to wear for an important party (no, I am NOT kidding). That experience and some others, inprinted a fairly negative attitude towards plastic surgery, but after this video and my cancer experience, I am eating crow and saying mea culpa. It's amazing what they can do! Maybe I will have that breast reduction, after all. (OK, I'll wait on that a bit......)
In any case, my enthusiasm for writing and getting on with things have thus been tempered with the realisation that my energy is limited, so I have deflated my ego to writing this blog and not enter publicly into the really interesting discussion currently under way in the Australian Jewish community about independent Jewish voices. I was itching to do it, but for now common sense must prevail.
So, instead of getting into philosophical and political arguments, I am getting ready to enjoy the French film festival that's on now in a cinema near me. I am going to see four movies this coming week! And the cross stitch project is coming along nicely too. On Wednesday Joy and I are filming the fishes again (for a 3 minute hee hee, haa, haa film), if my energy holds out. One day I will learn how to do this stuff electronically! Now, I am tired again, so I'll have a little siesta.
Labels: breast cancer
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