Good Day Sunshine

Yesterday was the winter solstice, longest night of the year, first official day of winter. It was blustery and cold. Today the sun dominated the sky, almost like it was reminding me of its gentle return as the days slowly get longer. All the cold of winter is yet to come though. The hats and scarves are out and there is a blanket piled in every corner of the house where I might sit. Knit handwarmer mittens are constant attire. Ah well, 'tis the season and all. Only three and a half months until it starts warming up again. I've also been fighting off a cold for days, but my coughs last night and today make it sound like a losing battle.

The diet and nutrition books I want are currently checked out of the library. I have already started making shifts in my meals, back to my pre-diagnosis very healthy diet with some tweaks toward vegan. There is no good scientific data yet that this will make much of a difference in staving off recurrence or tumor growth rate. There are websites and books written by all sorts of folks (including some doctors) that say it will help, but there is no certainty or data to back it up. Regardless, it can't hurt and I enjoy these foods so I'm not feeling all that deprived. And I'm not concerned about splurging occasionally. Food and its enjoyment is important to me, so I'll treat myself when needed.

One downside is that I've already dropped a couple of pounds since making the changes over the last week and a half. I'm pretty near my personal "bottom" for a still-healthy weight, so I'm keeping a close eye on the scale. I'm looking forward to returning to regular work outs after a couple of more weeks when I no longer have to worry about weight limitations or continued soreness from the last surgery. It will be good to put on some muscle weight. It's been many months since I have done any regular exercise, so I will be starting slow and letting my body tell me how far to go.

Still another week to go before my next appointment with my oncologist. I suspect he will set me up for another CT or PET scan. Looking forward to finding out what the next step is in this. All these months and I am still struggling with my relationship with patience. Might be a bit easier if she weren't so gosh darned slow.