solitude

 I've been back at the villetta since Monday afternoon enjoying some solitude and visits with my Mom. The days have been lazy (for me) with a few walks with the dogs, lots of naps, and slogging through the latest book I've been reading. It's been restorative :-) There's nothing like some time in the villetta to recentre and recover.

The weather has been ‘variable’... from beautiful mornings, rain, cold and windy days, and more rain… no worries about watering the plants :-/ I've been in the pool several times, but not yesterday as it was barely 20C with a wind chill! This morning I squeezed into my new bikini and took a quick dip after walking the dogs! It's not hot and the water was bracing and oh so refreshing :-)

The dogs have been good and are enjoying their 3km walks twice a day! They are getting better at walking on their leashes, not so much criss-crossing now! My left arm is now fully functional which helps with excited dogs on leashes - the doctor gave me the go ahead for normal use on Monday.

Back to Monday, I had the followup appointment with the surgeon. She was pleased with my recovery and said that it was fine to go back to normal activities… including planks (which I have not started up again yet…). I've had no trouble hefting hay nets or buckets of water :-) Dr. Davey has referred me to the Cancer Centre for the next round of care.

The hospital called me Wednesday, (2 days after the referral!) to set up 2 appointments - the first with the medical oncologist - that will be on July 8th. The second is with the radiation oncologist on the 16th of July. I'm looking forward to getting the next stage of treatment going.

Oh! We booked a Caribbean cruise for November! I've been dithering but decided that I really want a few formal nights so that I can wear my newly fitting sequin dress and golden gown :-) And Carm will fit into his suit… It's a crazy reason for going on a cruise, but I suppose any reason is a bit nuts. 

Yesterday, in time for supper, Olaf, Steph, and Freya arrived to stay for a few nights.

I've been eating like a horse and am scared to step onto the scale tomorrow… it will be back to salads and beans tomorrow!

Awesome!

“getting a good result at the doctor's - no second surgery required”

“a few good nights of sleep”

“walking on the road with the dogs”

“music on a lazy afternoon with rain pitter pattering on the roof”

“time with my Mom”

victoria quilts

 Just as the heavens unleashed a torrent of rain there was a soft knock at the front door… Yikes - it had totally slipped my mind that a lovely lady was dropping off a special gift for me. We ushered Anne into the house, dragging the dogs back, inviting her and her chauffeur in for tea.

Anne brought a beautiful quilt that Jo Ellen arranged for me to receive, hand-made by the Russell chapter of Victoria's Quilts. I don't really feel worthy, but will enjoy the comfort that it will bring me through the next stages of my treatment (which aren't yet known! Will know more on Monday.)

The heat dome is still baking us with unbearable heat and humidity - with the humidex it was 111F/44C yesterday! I drove to Kirsten's in the afternoon to spend a girls night - when I got there the villetta was at a balmy 94F/35C! I got the fans running but it was slow to cool down… after a few hours it had cooled to 88F… I couldn't get the AC running (bad switch on the thermostat), but Kirsten had the magic touch and got it running by bedtime! It was still a bit of a sauna all night - I was glad that I had left the dogs at home!

Kirsten and I had a sweaty in-person walk this morning - we only managed 40 minutes as it was already sickenly hot… Kirsten could have gone longer but I'm a weakling in the heat!

I remember what a huge sense of accomplishment that I had the first time I drove there by myself - now I've driven it so many times that it's almost like going to the corner store :-)

Awesome!

“first outdoor shower of the year!”

“in person walking”

“supper on the patio by the pool”

“a quilt!”

“scoring some great planters at liquidation”

steam oven

 Yesterday felt like the first day of summer! The air was, and still is, heavy with perfumed air and the heat is almost oppressive but gosh, it feels good! Looking back, it seems like I've been in some sort of cocoon for the last few months, but yesterday, I had a strong 70 minute walk on the treadmill and then wandered around outside with the dogs for a while, actually taking note of my surroundings, breathing in the wonderful scents of summer. There is no commercial air freshener that rivals what Nature herself produces in the summer.

It was also my first day in the pool since mid May! It was an honest 72F/23C when I finally immersed myself and GOSH it felt so good! Then I puttered around setting up the deck for company (Trudie & Leo came for supper - we haven't had them over since mid April - life really got in the way for a few months!). My crazy plant-based anti-cancer diet makes it harder to come up with company ready meals… so I  threw a few sausages into the instant pot and there were lots of leftover salads from the weekend… easy, and I could stick with the healthy stuff ;-)

There was a brisk breeze that kept it from getting oppressive but even still, the sun was strong, but that doesn't keep Adia from lying in the sun - there's lots of shade but she is a sunbather through and through! Kabira was the same - she loved soaking up the heat. Lupa keeps to the shade, mooching around looking for something to do or eat…

Speaking of eating, the dogs tricked me into second breakfast yesterday morning! Carm has been remembering to shut the dogs out of the bedroom when he leaves for golf (I flipped out at him last week, and by flipped out, I mean yelling and screaming F's at him 😱 - I was pretty sleep deprived at that point and it showed!)... anyway, when I got up, they acted like they'd missed breakfast and were starving, it was so late! Ha! More fool me!

This morning the weather is much the same - hot and humid. I did 70 minutes on the treadmill with Kirsten but not at as high an intensity as yesterday - I was boiling - hot flashes and humidity slowed me down. I've ordered a clip-on fan for the treadmill which should ease the heat a bit :-) After the treadmill I dunked into the pool - oh bliss!

Awesome!

“swimming!!!! hurrah!”

“sleeping in”

“company on a beautiful evening on the deck”

togs

 I haven't fallen off the face of the earth and nor have I been languishing in bed! It's been a busy few weeks with trips away and celebrations here. I'm doing great, almost all healed up, just some discomfort where the missing parts were, but I suspect it will be like that for a while. And not bad enough from stopping me from doing much, in fact I have to remind myself not to be lifting heavy things!

I got the pathology report - some things I can interpret (nothing in the lymph nodes!), but other parts I'm not sure about. My appointment with the surgeon is June 24th so we'll have to wait till then to get the final say. Assuming there is not another surgery I imagine my care will be transferred to the Cancer Centre in the city.

Now I'll do a bit of time travel… way way back on the 8th of June we packed up the car for a trip to Kirsten's. The rally (which we skipped this year) was having the potluck on Sunday, the 9th, so we figured we'd head to Kirsten's a day early to get the dogs settled before we left them in Kirsten's capable hands for our trip to Kingston. The clouds raced across the sky all day, thunderstorms and rain skirting us for the most part, with the radar showing a big line of storms due to hit Kingston just at supper time… but Mother Nature was on our side and we just got a few raindrops :-)

It was so great to see everyone - and we both had a big case of FOMO seeing our site sitting empty! But honestly, as well as I'm doing, at that point it would have been too much to get the trailer ready for a week away, not to mention dealing with the dogs on leashes for a week. But at least we got to have a short visit :-) Everyone was so kind and supportive about my journey!

We stayed at Kirsten's until Tuesday afternoon as we were having some work done on the trailer. George came midday to install a fantastic fan in the vent in the living room - it will be awesome for keeping things cool, and also for pulling air through when we are cooking. It worked out well as Glendale had left wiring in place and since George was a pro, he was able to track down the other end and make the connection to power. It couldn't have worked out better. He's going to return this week one day to re-install the vent cover and do some caulking on the roof - maintenance that needs doing!

By then I was exhausted (oh for a proper night's sleep!), so had a quiet day on Wednesday, but there was no rest for the wicked for the next few days. Dentist, shopping, and Costco filled the day Thursday, then Friday was spent in the kitchen making food for our family celebration on Saturday. Oh yes, I did a major tidy - so much stuff had migrated from the trailer and was distributed around making the place look like a mess!

Yesterday the family came to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday! The weather cooperated, letting us spend part of the day outside. Aunt Kristine is visiting from Alberta - she ordered a gorgeous cake which made a lovely centerpiece. 😍  Everyone seemed to have a good time but we were certainly missing a few family members… 

Today will be a day of rest, but unfortunately the nights have been cool so the pool is at a frosty 66F! No swimming for the next few days - I haven't been in the pool since the day before I got the magnetic seed which was May 21st! 

Awesome!

“surgical strips off - I'll definitely have scars but they won't be as bad as I thought”

“a bath!”

“family gathering”

“first costco hotdog in years”

“feeling stronger on the treadmill”

“seeing friends at the rally”

“croissant with egg salad”

getting there

 Saturday was a bit too busy so yesterday I was in resting mode again. My day had started with 50 minutes on the treadmill, then we were off to Quebec to pick up dog food - a two hour journey. Once home we had to move the contents of the freezer in the hot garage into the smaller one in the cooler basement. Carm did the lion's share of the work, but I did too much lifting and hefting in and out in an effort to make room. A job for later in the summer is to go through the freezers to better organize and purge. My inventory is massively out of date.

By the end of that activity I was sore and tired… it should not have been the day to reduce the antiinflammatories… 

Carm took over making most of supper while I rested… he cooked the salmon with just a few shouted instructions, and of course he already knew how to heat a can of green beans (for some odd reason I love canned green beans but despise fresh ones!). I took care of the rice pilaf - lots of garlic and chili crisp oil and some fennel seeds. I didn't bother with red peppers.

Bill Mayer’s closing monologue Friday night was about the passion of the young protesters, but suggested that another cause was imperative: apartheid for women. Women living under the thumb of men in countries that require them to cover themselves completely or get stoned to death need the world to get together to make changes. These are the rights we should be protesting for. The right to not be a child bride, the right to live without permission from men, the right to not be killed for having their own thoughts and views. The right to be a person, not just a piece of worthless property.

Instead of protesting for these men to have more rights we should be up in arms about the rights they don't allow women to have. We have to get loud about it but I don't know who will listen. What chance of making change do we have over countries with only men in power? What can we do?

I relaxed for much of the day yesterday, dozing in my cosy bed and stretched out on the outdoor sofa, all while Carm toiled vacuuming, cutting grass, and running errands for me. It was the life of luxury! But I was starving all day - no salad for lunch for me, instead I noshed on a big bowl of porridge with cocoa powder and strawberries, a poor substitute for the DQ Blizzard that was in my head - but so many fewer calories and sugar! A small Skor blizzard has 85g of sugar!!!!!

Kirsten mentioned having egg salad sandwiches which got my starving brain swirling with cravings - a quick change to supper menu from healthy beans & cabbage to creamy egg salad on thick slices of homemade whole grain bread. Yum! Sometimes cravings must be indulged!

This morning Carm has abandoned me for golf, leaving me to putter on the deck in this glorious morning. My favourite music is playing and ‘peaceful, easy feeling’ is making me relaxed, content, and even a bit languid. Oh the joys! I skipped walking again this morning (but chatted with Kirsten while she did hers), as the little strips under my arm are starting to fray and peel off - they are supposed to stay on for 7 to 10 days and I'm just at 6 days today - no sweating or abrasion for me today! It is impossible to keep an armpit still!

I've been starving since last Tuesday! And I've been sleeping better although waking up super early which is okay in the summer 😀 

Awesome!

“hot air balloon in the distance”

“peaceful morning”

“glorious summer day”

“freezer full of meat for the dogs”

“egg salad”

“a good night’s sleep”