I'm going to lose all my hair again I know it

I'm sure you all know how un-enamoured I am with Microsoft Software and their endless random upgrades.

My current rant course? Sharepoint.
Before I went on sick leave I was just learning Sharepoint 2010 so we could create a few sites for the Lab groups and customise them. Now that I'm back we're building a website for one of my research groups and I'm looking after the Sharepoint stuff (work flows and calendars for fee for service analysis). SHarepoint can do amazing things...if you know how to use it properly. It's not in any way intuitive and they just changed a bunch of the functionalities so even what I used to be able to do is hard to do now.
I need some training and a good reference book before I pull all my new hair out. We have a specialist coming but he'll be serving the whole University...I doubt I'll be first in the queue when I need help so I need to figure this stuff out on my own without too much (har har) calamity.

Microsoft can bite my arse...
(doo dahhh, doo daaahhh)

Ranty ranty

After a rather warm fall it's finally winter. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have snow than cold icy rain, but I must admit it's only -14 C out and I'm already whining. There is snow now. I have a little hair this year, so it's a bit warmer (and I actually got it cut a few days ago so it has a funky style) but I could still do without the winter extremes.

I like to go for walks. It's kinda my daily thing...and walking in the stupid cold with asthma isn't that much fun. I can't walk to work anymore or go for a stroll after supper and altho I still hope to get out and walk when I can, being stuck inside gives you cabin fever. I am currently looking for some winter things to make, knit and do to keep occupied. We still have no cable or TV and only a few movies and haven't hooked up netflix yet because J is a videographer who makes sour faces at the thought of watching a movie on the laptop or ipad, so I am feeling squirrely from the cold and it's only november. I'm trying to do some christmas crafting with a friend, but she's only off work every other week and some evenings once I'm done work I don't feel like doing anything. Ah well, I suppose it means we should try and get out more...but being slightly broke now that J is freelancing means we have to pick and choose what we do...and when I stay out late now I pay for it for a few days. Slowly figuring out the new normal...
At least soon I can entertain myself with putting up christmas decorations...I love that. And there's my new ukelele that I still can't play much yet. Truth be told I need to learn how to amuse myself again without a computer or the internet. TIme to do more knitting I think.
At least soon we'll have a new kitteh to play with tho.
That makes me smile.
:)

Break

Well with Remembrance Day being tuesday I took off monday to give me a nice long weekend. On a spur of the moment I decided I'm heading up to visit my dad for the weekend with my brother. J is stuck here at home with obligations but I plan to knit, read and sip wine and tea all weekend.
I find I still get so tired a lot, even with my 8 hours of sleep a night. Last night I accidentally fell asleep on the couch at 8 and then when I woke up went to bed and still slept through all night...guess I DO need a break!
Hope you all have a great weekend.

hippo birdy

Had a great birthday and halloween - Wine, nice supper at my favourite restaurant and a movie (The Crow was in the theatre - yes!) ...then over the weekend there was lots of candy and wine and a bonfire with friends...and more family meals: supper with J's family and a brunch out with my best bud on sunday. Rice pudding too. I guess you could say I have successfully eaten my way through another birthday.

Burp.

And, yes, this one definitely kicked ass in comparison to last years. Hard to believe that last year at this time I met my oncology team on my birthday to decide my treatment options...and a year ago today I'd had my first batch of FEC chemotherapy. Now a year later I'm feeling great and have my hair back about an inch long. 

What a difference a year makes :)

And (yay) I received enough in birthday $$ to apply to adopt a new cat friend which makes me very happy. I  will be sending in my Streetcat Rescue adoption form this week...I'll keep you posted.

Pinktober

"Once again, and I've said this hundreds of times, we do not see tags sewn into boxers reminding men to check for testicular or penile cancer. I suppose that it's because we imagine they are grown ups and will notice if anything is wrong, without having to be told what to do by their clothing.

This is just another example of a terrible disease that women suffer and die from being treated like a Junior High masturbation game, with themoney going towards nothing that will help a single woman."
~Ann Silberman, But Docter I hate Pink

To know me is to know I really don't like pink. I grew up a tomboy with my mom trying desperately to girl me up from time to time and force pink on me. It didn't work. I'm not as adamantly against it as I used to be, but it still drives me particularly crazy to have gotten the pink cancer. Every october the pink of "awareness" comes to the world, (never mind that it's also ovarian cancer month and they have a purple ribbon...but I guess breasts are hotter than internal eggy organs...) and it drives me nuts. So much wasted work and money for "awareness". So much corporate greed to make money off of cancer. So much sexualization and tackiness. "Save the tatas" and "I like boobies" are two slogans that pop into my head and make me cringe.

Me? I did not want to save my tatas. I wanted to save my life. I am missing a tata now, and they can take the other one too if it means I can have a long and happy life. Many women do not get the mastectomy they need and try for a lumpectomy, or on the other extreme have both of their breasts removed preventatively, only for their cancer to come back...all this pink tata saving reduces women, breast cancer and every horrible emotion, treatment and struggle patients have to endure to try and survive to an insulting pink washing that deludes people into thinking they're helping.

We don't show pictures of men's junk everywhere and remind them to check themselves for testicular cancer, or talk about saving weiners or some other ridiculously inane slogan - I can only imagine: "Dude! Flick your Dick! It saves lives!"... yeah. Sure. Yes my cancer was in my breast...but thankfully only there. What about the metastatic patients? What if, god forbid, it's spread further or comes back? What if there's no cure? Only 5% of cancer research goes into areas of study that will help metastatic patients. They're just trying to live as long as they can...and this whole month of pink is a slap in the face for them. Yes, in the US we need more funding for testing and mammograms (in Canada cancer tests and treatments are covered by health care thank goodness) but we really need more research. The treatments that have been created in the last 10 years saved my life. We need more of that.

Some awareness things that have come up this year are absolutely inane...like the pink coated drill bits an american fracking company is doing to "raise awareness". Things like that make me throw up a little in my mouth. The sad fact is, after over a decade of pinktobers, we as a whole are by and large aware of breast cancer. We've deluded many people to think that early detection means you'll survive. It's a bit of a crap shoot really...you cross your fingers and dive into treatment and hope it works. I have all fingers, toes and related appendages crossed in the hopes that I am healthy again. It doesn't mean I was any braver or stronger than any of the other ladies...so far I'm just lucky. Thank god.

Where am I going with this? I dunno. I could rant for hours, but I ask of you - if you want to make a difference in the fight against breast cancer, donate to charities that help breast cancer patients and directly fund research. I have supported the Run for the Cure here in Canada for many years because they support quality research and patient initiatives. I know that my money and the money I raise is going to help people and fund research...maybe even me. This year I ran the race and through the generous donations of friends and coworkers I raised almost $1600. This will do more than buying a kleenex box with a pink ribbon on it.

My cancer is not for sale.

Zeke (1993-2014)

Yesterday I took the day off to remember my fluffy little Geek. He's been my buddy for over 20 years and I owe him that much. This weekend he left us. J and I wandered outside the city in the woods by the river in the golden leafy sunlight and found a nice spot in the forest at the foot of a big poplar tree to lay him to rest. He's curled up in the roots of that tree now with his favourite ball...and it is exactly right. He is at peace. And mostly so am I.
I admit...miss the little guy so much already. The last month he seemed to be more frail and tired and wasn't hopping as high as he used to. I was keeping an eye on him - if he started to be in pain or suffer I wanted to do the right thing, but he still seemed to be OK. It was unexpected and so very sad to find him curled up on the couch in his last nap. I spent a lot of time last week just sitting with him in my lap and enjoying the time with him. When we left for the weekend to visit Dad I came back again to say goodbye again...not sure why but I'm glad I did.

This morning there was no little furry ball in my lap trying to steal my yogurt. No fuzzy head to pet goodbye at the door.
It's gonna be hard to get used to this.

Turkey time

It's Thanksgiving!

Time for a few days at my Dad's eating turkey and going for hikes in the woods and spending sunday cooking up a big turkey supper for all our friends up there. Should be about 20 people this year. I've got the bird, potatoes and pies and everyone else is bringing salads, veg and buns. Should be tasty!

I can't wait to relax with some wine, some laughs and some fresh northern air. Might even try for a run up there, who knows? I can't wait to finish work and get outta here. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hello? Is this thing on?

Hiya.

Just realized it's been almost a year since I posted over here...and I think I'll start migrating back here again. I've been posting over at my health blog throughout my treatment and recovery...yup, that's right, recovery!

Yup, as of mid-July I'm done all my treatments (8 rounds of chemo, 25 days of radiation and a mastectomy. Whew!) and I'm jumping back into my life again. I've had a complete pathological response to my treatments and healed up well from everything. I've had time to rest and get my strength back and even took the time to go down and experience the insanity of Burning Man with my J before heading back to my life again. As of mid-September I've started back to work now and I am settling into life. I'm hoping to work on my fitness and start to regain all the muscles I lost. But all in good time.
It's great to be back.  I'm so grateful for each and every day and all the goodness to come. I'm so grateful for having my hair and tastebuds back again! Oh yes. Looking forward to my upcoming birthday and the winter to come.
I'll be posting here more again now, so hope you'll all be coming by here again.
:)

Movin on over....

Hello everybody.
I don't know if you know but I have a few blogs. They just sort of developed...and, I am not really good at keeping them all up to date because...well...I'm not very verbose. It's silly to just cross post the same things on all three. I have a blog to track my fitness/workouts besides this one, as well as a sadly neglected recipe blog with my friend Magnus. And now, I admit, I am finding it recently a lot to keep up with...

So - if you find I'm not here much posting, do not worry. I am fine...I am dealing with my newly diagnosed breast cancer chemo and smiling and living my life with my lovely J and my 2 old cats. I am finding that I don't want to split up my thoughts right now and so I have decided that, at least until I'm done chemo, I'll begin to keep all my posts together in one blog for a while.

Sooooooooo...If you want to know how life is here at Casa Geo - please head on over to my other blog Uberfrau and see my posts there. Since I will be working hard to stay fit and healthy during my breast cancer treatments I will likely will be posting there regularly. Hope to see you over there :)

Much Luv,
Geo

Goo goo cachoo

I am waiting for my hair to fall out. I'm so curious...the 3 chemo drugs I started receiving on the 1st for my breast cancer all cause hair loss so I'm guaranteed to be bald...and it could happen at any time. I'mm so very curious as to when. I feel like I should shave my head as a preemptive strike to avoid shedding all over (ew), but I have no idea *when* it will fall out. They say anywhere from 8-10 days on...which is now.
I have wonderful friends and family who are making me hats to wear and I've found a few pretty headscarves and hats online that are in the mail to me now...so now I just wait. Soon I will be the eggman.
But when?
Inquiring minds want to know.

That's right I'm the eggman
Driving around king of the town

Why Wear a Poppy

-Don Crawford

"Please wear a poppy," the lady said,

And held one forth, but I shook my head.

Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,

And her face was old and lined with care;

But beneath the scars the years had made

There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street,

Bouncing along on care-free feet.

His smile was full of joy and fun,

"Lady," said he, "may I have one?"

When she'd pinned it on, he turned to say;

"Why do we wear a poppy today?"

The lady smiled in her wistful way

And answered; "This is Remembrance Day.

And the poppy there is a symbol for

The gallant men who died in war.

And because they did, you and I are free - 

That's why we wear a poppy, you see.

I had a boy about your size,

With golden hair and big blue eyes.

He loved to play and jump and shout,

Free as a bird, he would race about.

As the years went by, he learned and grew,

And became a man - as you will, too.

He was fine and strong, with a boyish smile,

But he'd seemed with us such a little while

When war broke out and he went away.

I still remember his face that day.

When he smiled at me and said, 'Goodbye,

I'll be back soon, Mum, please don't cry.'

But the war went on and he had to stay,

And all I could do was wait and pray.

His letters told of the awful fight

(I can see it still in my dreams at night),

With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,

And the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire.

Till at last, at last, the war was won - 

And that's why we wear a poppy, son."

The small boy turned as if to go,

Then said, "Thanks, lady, I'm glad to know.

That sure did sound like an awful fight

But your son - did he come back all right?"

A tear rolled down each faded cheek;

She shook her head, but didn't speak

I slunk away in a sort of shame, 

And if you were me, you'd have done the same:

For our thanks, in giving, if oft delayed,

Though our freedom was bought - and thousands paid!

And so, when we see a poppy worn,

Let us reflect on the burden borne

By those who gave their very all

When asked to answer their country's call

That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy! Remember - and Give!