I'm going to start this post by saying I am no graceful ballerina. As a child I toe-walked so much that I was seen by a neurologist. I had zero athletic ability-- in fact, I distinctly remember thinking that I could run faster if I held my arms straight behind me and ran half bent …
Category: oligodendroglioma
Joining Team Consano
Some of you may have seen me announce on social media recently that I have joined the board of a local non-profit organization called Consano. When I first started talking to people about my intention to raise money to fund Oligodendroglioma research, to find new treatments and hopefully a cure-- my colleagues and friends in …
Making it work- going to a concert at the Zoo.
For months I had been looking forward to going to a concert at the Oregon Zoo. The concert series at the Zoo is one of the highlights of summer in the Pacific Northwest. The stage is set up right next to the elephant exhibit, and you are able to sit on lawn chairs and blankets, …
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Learning to go-with-the-flow when plans change
I have a Type A personality. I always have a plan, and a back-up plan. I keep 2 paper calendars up to date -- one has the kids' schedules, and one with our whole family's plan laid out for months at a time. Usually this is full with potential conflicts-- my husband and I may …
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The absurdity of conspiring against the intruders in my head
I used to joke that my surgery was my tumors' "eviction day." I was scheduling their removal, their destruction-- they were NOT welcome to stay one second longer. The planning was constantly on my mind, I was aiming all of my energy towards the ultimate goal of evicting these... tenants from hell. But-- my mind …
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My Real-Life Riddle
After surgery, I was given 2 treatment options. Option 1 would allow me to live longer without recurrence of my cancer. The cancer would recur, but it would be kept at bay for maybe 2-3 years longer than option 2. However, option 1 would leave me with side effects that would develop over time. The …
Birthday Bittersweet
I love celebrating other people's birthdays, but I like to have mine pass without much fanfare. Yesterday was my 37th birthday, and I honestly went back and forth on deciding to celebrate in a bigger way than I normally do this year. YOLO, right? Why NOT have a huge party every year that I'm alive!? …
Knitting on the round, and so many knots.
After my last knitting post I jumped straight in. I went to a local yarn shop and walked around like I knew what I was doing. I picked out some beautiful blue sport-weight wool yarn, and then told the shop-keepers that I was brand new and wanted to try knitting some socks on a round …
Chemo, Round 2
Thankfully my chemotherapy is a pill, so I can take it at home. The routine is set so that I take 3-4 pills every night before bed for 5 nights in a row. Then have 23 days off, and start again. This round was delayed by 1 day because my platelets were too low (side …
the This is Some Big Bullsh*t list
I'm not much of a complainer. On the scale of 0 to complains-a-lot I'm probably a 1 or a 2. I know that complaining doesn't help anything, and just wastes time that could be spent fixing the problem I'm complaining about to begin with. So instead of complaining, my response usually is to just get …
between the busy 