Family Ties: Navigating cancers together

This one is not a song reference, but rather a TV show reference. And not the 2017 remake that lasted only 3 seasons which I had no idea was even done because, quite frankly, in 2017, I was busy advancing my career, being a hockey trainer/manager/mom, helping my kids get their resumes written and distributed, and worrying about them starting to drive!  The " One Day at a Time"  that I am referencing here is the original, 1975-1984 series that starred Valerie Bertinelli.  I only vaguely remember watching some of the later episodes of this show. I imagine that, when it debuted, if my mom had had cable at the time, she might have watched it on our old floor-model TV, after my sister and I were tucked away in our shared bedroom in an apartment in Bayshore.  She might have enjoyed the sit-com about a single mom and her 2 strong-willed daughters without any extended family around for support.  I imagine that, while she must have preferred watching British comedies, that an American

  (buckle up, this is a long one) I'm free, but I'm focused I'm green , but I'm wise I'm hard, but I'm friendly, baby I'm sad, but I'm laughing I'm brave, but I'm chicken shit I'm sick, but I'm pretty, baby These lyrics by Alanis Morissette so describe Faith to me, at this moment in her life, well, except for being chicken shit.  She is the bravest person I know.  So many of you have asked questions about Faith's thyroid cancer, and, like many Gen Z'ers, she lives her life openly, posting on social media about events, activities and life's ups and downs.  She supports my sharing of her story knowing that it might help or inform others.  As many of you know, Faith is passionate about cross-country skiing, having discovered the sport in high school.  Despite her small size, she worked really hard and loved being on both her high shcool and university teams, for a total of 9 years.  While she was at Laurentian, she started guidin

As a Gen X'er, you don't need an introduction to this song, as it was the theme song for what was likely a "Must-See TV" foundation of your university years or early 20s.  I remember watching this with roommates and friends or at Alfie's pub, while I was at Queen's.  I have so many good memories of this show and love that it's reached another generation as well.  A group of friends, finding their way, supporting each other through life's ups and downs, with most issues, neatly and humourously resolved within a 23 minute episode, or rarely a 2-part, season-ending cliff-hanger.   Of course, real life isn't like that.  The big issues aren't resolved quickly.  After my last post, I was feeling so good. That quickly turned and I had a couple of bad nights.  I made the mistake of taking a liquid advil or aleve without a full glass of water and then lying down to get back to sleep.  Recovering from surgery is a balance - needing good sleep to recover

 Yesterday was my surgery day and the day before was my blue day...I'm happy to say that both were better, easier and, so far, more tolerated than I'd expected.           Up, up, up           Can only go up from here           Up, up, up           Where the clouds gonna clear           Up, up           There's no way but up from here          ( Shania Twain, Up - because who doesn't love a little Shania!) First the blue day - that was the day I had radioactive blue dye injected directly into my boob in order for another fancy machine to be able to highlight the sentinel lymph nodes to get removed during surgery.   I was happy to learn, in the moments before the injection, that the blue dye was mixed with lidocaine...oh, sweet relief...so I only felt the bee-sting of the initial injection and not the burning pain that I'd expected from the dye going in.  Then I went into a gamma-xray'ish kind of machine for imaging.  I can tell you that I had my eyes closed the e

Sometimes in our lives We all have pain, we all have sorrow  But, if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow    This is a BIG week and I'm struggling to stay in the moment and not worry about "tomorrow"  with what's up this week: Tuesday - appointment with nuclear medicine where I"ll get a little (?, please, please let this be a a little) injection of blue dye, right into my boob, which will let my surgeon know which lymph nodes are important for the tumour.  Those will be removed during the surgery for analysis.  The side effect of this, for me, is that it will turn my skin and body fluids blue.  With a long blonde wig and a white tennis dress,  I'm imagining that I could be Smurfette!  My imagination might be a bit out of control on this one. Kidding aside, I am really not looking forward to another injection in what has become a really bruised and battered location on my body. Wednesday - surgery day - this one is obvious, though strangely I a

Yesterday was my last day of work for a while. I'm fortunate that I've been healthy throughout my public service career and have a TON of sick days.  Like a really ridiculous amount.  So, I've listened to everyone around me from my doctor, to my therapist, to my friends and my husband, and I decided to take some serious time off to recover from surgery and radiation, and from the physical and mental effects of dealing with my cancer and Faith's cancer at the same time.   It's strange starting sick leave while feeling physically well.  On Tuesday, I had the Molli-seed injection and yesterday morning I removed the bandage, which was a lot more like packing tape than anything I've used before (you should know that my mom called me "the bandaid queen" when I was growing up so I do know a thing or two about bandaids!). All I can say is that it was really not fun to take it off!  Underneath, there's bruising and tenderness where the injection site was bu