Week 4 - It's Breast Cancer

Yes, breast cancer but stage 1 and just a 3mm (1/12 of an inch) cluster of cells. After a bit of surgery and radiation, the oncologist says I'll be 100% cured. I'm going to hold her to that.

The start of the week was lovely with and I spent time avoiding TV, which meant lot of knitting, streaming and yarny things. Wednesday was a Lincoln day and I had a nice lunch with my work peeps, thrifted and ran errands but was home in time for tea and reading in the sun. Then the phone rang Thursday morning at 8:10.

It was my doctor, who has never called me in all the years I've been her patient so I know it was bad. They'd found cancer in the biopsied samples and within hours I had an appointment for the next day with an oncologist in Lincoln. Helen went with me and the doctor was lovely. She explained that they'd take out the cells and a few lymph nodes then a month after that I'd start radiation and would take hormone blockers. She really did use the words "100% cured" so I left feeling pretty positive. They set up an MRI and an appointment with a surgeon then Helen and I left for a yummy lunch at Copal. After a quick stop for kitty litter, I headed home so I could get busy.

Anne, Rene and I were leaving for Palm Springs first thing Monday so I had things to do. I ran errands in Wahoo on Saturday then got busy with laundry, packing and changing litter boxes, interspersed with lots of reading and talking to friends and family to tell them my news. I did some knitting and crocheting (!) too, finishing my January challenge socks too. Aren't they fun? The bright colors were a new year's gift from my friend Lori at the start of 2024.

By the end of the day Sunday, I was ready to go and was looking forward to a week in the sun not focused on cancer. I was bolstered by my oncologist's words (there's something I never thought I'd say - "my oncologist") and would deal with next steps after enjoying a week of fun with friends.

Week 3 - Fun vs. Biopsy

It started out as a quiet winter week, which works for me, but got busy later. I got some stuff done in the house and got out of town 3 days before the cold set in on Sunday. And a biopsy - no biggie.

I made some progress in the laundry room, finally getting the culled Christmas stuff back under the stairs where it belongs rather than in middle of the room where it's been for years. With all that put away, I went through the totes that weren't Christmas related, which were mostly ebay linens that I moved into the the ebay room. There was a tote of pictures from my mother's trips with the church group over the years. Since she took the pictures and so isn't in them, can I throw them out? Time to check in with my sisters.

In clearing out the laundry room mode, I brought up all my amaryllis bulbs that I'd put down there in the fall. I gave them a little love and put them in front of my slider so hopefully will have some flowers soon.

Between all this laundry room work, I did a bunch of cooking. I made my cousin's apricot jello mold (took that to knitting), Lacey's sausage/potato soup and cheddar biscuits. Most of these last 2 and a small container of the jello mold went to Darla, whose husband broke his leg and is awaiting surgery. 

Darla's office was my first stop on Wednesday when I went to Lincoln for lunch with Dodie. Afterwards I went into the office to visit but the accountants were leaving so I had a long catch up with Layton, which was nice and killed time until meeting Rene and Anne at Granite City for Rene's birthday dinner, which was my 2nd yummy meal of the day. I had a nutrition program at the hospital at 6:00 and when I realized I'd be there super early, I opted to park at the Danish cemetery that's on my way home and knit while the sun set. How pretty is this! I can't say I learned much that I didn't know about nutrition and I took the boxed lunch they provided home to eat later. It was a long but fun day.

There was more fun in store on Thursday. Anne is a big fan of cone yarn and after both of us having failed to hear back repeatedly from a woman in Fremont who had some, I'd found someone else and we were meeting her in way north Omaha to buy some. We started with breakfast at a new to me place I'd seen on Facebook - AJ's Cafe. They're known for their pancakes and they were huge and delish. We then met the woman only to find out that she'd bought all the yarn from the woman in Fremont, who had repeatedly not responded to her too but finally did. What are the chances? Anne bought a bunch and I bought a few too (why?) plus some non-cone acrylic for my sister. I was back home in time to eat my boxed lunch from the hospital program and be back there for a biopsy at 2:00.

I've had  calcifications they've been keeping their eye on for years and have had to go back for extra mammograms a few times. Now it was biopsy time. It was ultrasound guided and I felt nothing. I was home in time for tea and reading on the bench outside because it was in the 50's. I'd finished A Gentleman in Moscow, which I loved, earlier in the week so was back to Atomic Habits, which is a slog. I really want fiction for my reading. Oh well. The sun was gorgeous. When I went back inside, I start Nr. 24 about the Norwegian resistance in WW2. It's worth the watch.

The gorgeous weather held for one more day so I did my laundry and hung it on the line on Friday. I then pulled all the shelves out of my fridge and cleaned it all. Stupidly, I didn't mark where the shelves were and so struggled mightily to get them back in the right places. The back wall of my fridge had iced up and bulged in and there was no pushing it back even after the ice melted so the shelves are wonky. It took many tries to get it all back in correctly and I threw out lots of old food but it's all shiny and clean so it was worth the effort. Cross that off my to do list, where it's been for a long time.

After spending Saturday morning chatting on the phone, it was my 3rd time getting out of town in one week. It was spinning week so we did our regular Fremont run before and after our meeting, which is always fun. The temps plummeted on Sunday so I hunkered down, doing one of my favorite winter things - making homemade Boston baked beans. Unfortunately I over salted the water so they were salty but still better than canned. I had some yarn sorting fun that afternoon and made a delicious dinner of pumpkin ravioli with cream sauce.

That's a busy week for a retiree! Three trips out of town, making a big dent in my project list (I'm calling the laundry room done but there are some book shelves in there yet to go through) and some cooking, reading and streaming. I'm not worried about the biopsy and am hoping for an all clear next week. Cup half full you know.

Week 2 - All Things Medical

With my colonoscopy out of the way, it was time for all the other appointments and getting a few things done between them all.

On Monday, I was done with my Christmas tree, which is earlier than normal but then I had put it up earlier too. It was so tiny that I had it taken down in no time and then was off to my mammogram that afternoon, which was in Wahoo so didn't take long. I was back drinking tea in my front room in time to catch the afternoon sun. After some yummy quiche for dinner, I had fun at Monday Night Knitting.

Appointment #2 was my annual physical on Tuesday morning, which went well. My doctor went over my blood test results, which were skewed by the colonoscopy prep (not really a fasting blood draw), and didn't push a statin. That made me happy. Since I was out I went to The Warehouse and the local thrift shop before going home to make a project bag for Helen. And since nothing is easy, I had to spend time on the phone trying to get my Rx info updated with the online pharmacy. Sheesh!

On Wednesday, I had a 10:15 appointment in Lincoln to get a shot in my left thumb, which is doing the same clicking that my right thumb used to do when I was diagnosed with trigger thumb. It had been clicking since November but I delayed until the new year and new deductible. I had a list of errands and the Goodwill on Vine Street worked best before the appointment but they open at 10:00 and are a few miles from the doctor. Yes, I was waiting at the door when they opened and ran around picking up bags of yarn and was out the door by 10:05 and was 3 minutes early to the ortho doc. I was in and out of there in 10 minutes. It took longer to convince them that my Blue Cross was indeed active than to get the actual shot, which was way more painful than I remembered from my right thumb.

I went to my cousin's after that, where I was giving her her overdue Christmas presents. She needed to get some sleep (she works overnights) so I was not staying for lunch. She had a delicious pecan coffee cake in the oven so I had a piece of that before heading off for errands. I hit a couple more thrifts but needed an oil change and figured I could pick up a few groceries while it was being done if I went to Walmart so that's what I did. By not wasting the waiting time, I was able to get home in time for more tea in the sun while reading, which I'm trying to do every afternoon. Or at least the sunny ones. I was going to a presentation on exercising at Saunders Medical Center that evening, which included a light supper. It was interesting enough and I got to take an extra boxed lunch from some of the empty seats from no shows. Nice.

I started the day Thursday with a recycling program at the lake, which is part of the NRD's education program. I enjoyed the extra boxed lunch while watching my favorite knitting YouTubers - The Grocery Girls - before heading back to the hospital for another mammogram and ultrasound at 2:30. The radiologist was there and still had some concerns so I have a needle biopsy scheduled for next week. Yet another medical appointment. Will it ever end?

After four days of medical appointments, I took Friday off. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to untangle a skein of yarn my cats had gotten into, chatted with my sister Dottie, who I rarely talk to, and read for hours in the sun. It was a lovely, relaxing day, which I totally needed.

It was Estate Dispersal Store weekend and since I'd missed it last month, I decided to do a Fremont run without Andrea (that felt weird) because she was out of town. I picked up farm fresh eggs on the way out of town (turns out the man I had met at Casey's recently to buy eggs from lives 2 blocks from my house) then hit all the regular stops - Restore, Estate Dispersal, Goodwill, Aldi and HyVee. I bought a few things at each place, including some cheap meat for the freezer, and was home in time for more reading in the sun. I made egg roll in a bowl for supper, which I've been wanting for awhile. Yum!

Sunday was my regular chore day but I started it with a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon and a chat with my other sister. I took down all the rest of the Christmas stuff and so my house was back to normal, which always feels good. After laundry, dishes, neatizing and such, I made a chicken cottage pie and Brussels sprouts for supper. 

So, it was a busy week but I got all kinds of things checked off. Unfortunately I was not done with medical stuff but hopefully the biopsy (my first ever) will be the last for a long time. Wish me luck and enjoy the cute picture of Rosie. It's hard to get a good pic of a black cat. : )

Week 1 - Happy New Year

After fasting on Sunday, 600 calorie days on Monday and Tuesday felt like a feast! It felt good to be eating clean and healthy food to start the week off and since I'd be having a colonoscopy on Friday, I would totally be enjoying having friends over for tea on New Year's Day.

I used to do a big tea with all my knitting friends on New Year's but post-pandemic, it has evolved into just Andrea and Lori. That's much easier and so an enjoyable start the the year without any stress. There was lots of cleaning going on early in the week and then some baking (my mom's lemon squares) that morning to go with stollen and truffles. The sun was shining so we were good to drink tea, knit in the sun and chat.

But I had a mission for them. I had taken all my under-the-bed boxes of workhorse sock yarn out from under the spare bed when looking for the perfect color of yarn and they were still out. I put them all on my bed (5 boxes) and labeled 12 lunch bags with months. I asked if they'd be willing to choose 12 skeins of self-patterning yarn for each month and tape them shut. They were up for it and were laughing the whole time. They even came out to ask for paper and pen to put notes in the bags. So now I have 12 mystery bags for my reading/zoom socks for 2025. How fun is that!

It was a good thing Wednesday was fun and the food was yummy because Thursday was colonoscopy prep. I made jello but never ate it instead drinking black coffee and tea all day. I had to get up at 4:00 am on Friday to drink the 2nd half of the prep, which I mixed with tea instead of gatorade because it was SO sweet. I went for a blood draw on the way to my colonoscopy at 10:00. I was home by noon and happily had a fried bologna sandwich (a childhood favorite) for lunch. Delish! Then I took a nice nap and had a nice dinner. Done with that and 5 years until my next one.

I had planned to keep dieting before a Monday blood draw in Lincoln but they were supposed to get snow so I moved it to before my colonoscopy. This meant I could eat normally, which was a joy. I had a nice, relaxing weekend chatting with friends, knitting in the sun and doing a few chores. 

It's amazing how much you can appreciate normal after a week like this. I had 3 more doctor appointments next week but then hopefully will be all set for the rest of the year. Wish me luck.

Just One Word - 2025

It's time for a new year and a new word to focus on. As usual, I struggled on what to pick. Several sounded good until I checked back and I'd already used them. I spent some time with a thesaurus and asked friends for input and this is what I came up with:

This is my first full year of retirement and I had grand plans like go through my entire house, purging 25 years of stuff before the end of the 2024. Right. That wasn't doable. I did make a dent in things and donated 3 carloads of stuff to the Stuff for Strays sales but I still have a long way to go. My retirement plan also included starting to add in all kinds of things since my house would be done. These included starting an exercise plan, volunteering, selling on ebay, quilting, having a perfectly maintained yard and garden.... that kind of thing. On top of reading, knitting, thrifting, travel and all the other things I enjoyed while working. Now it's already halfway through January and I've yet to get going on most of that. Clearly I need to find my retirement groove.

Week 52 - A Happy Christmas

Another good week is in the books. It was good for lots of reasons but Christmas was nice too.

I started the week with a rude awakening. Darla and I had an Omaha day planned and she was supposed to arrive at 7:30. Well, she was at the door at 7:00 and I was still in my jammies and the cats were out. I slammed to get ready and Darla went out to her car so I could get the cats inside. Goodie didn't come but I found her staring at something in the compost bins. Mice maybe? I threw her inside and off we went.

The goal for the day was to find Darla some dresses to take on her cruise so we were going to hit some thrifts plus I needed to pick up a gift card at Imagiknit and go to World Market for some tea. We started at Vidlak's for a big chicken fried steak breakfast. Yum! Darla did find some dresses and I got my gift card then we stopped at Winchell's, which is across the street from the yarn shop, for a fritter. Darla took one bite and was done for the day. We did hit Aldi on the way out of town and then The Warehouse in town, where we found hamburger for $2.50 a pound. Score! Darla headed home and I made a cup of tea to enjoy with my fritter while reading in the sun in the front room. Bliss.

I woke up to fog and clouds on Tuesday but it didn't matter because I'd be spending the day in the kitchen. I made lasagna after lunch, which starts with homemade sauce so takes some time. I also made a meatloaf for Anne, which is what she wanted for Christmas dinner and I flat out refused. Of course I felt guilty but meatloaf is not festive so I was giving her a raw one for her to cook later. I had thought about making a nice dinner for Christmas Eve but with the lasagna and meatloaf done, I ran out of steam and so just used the remains of the lasagna sauce and made pasta. I cast on a new pair of socks, which is a thing - Christmas Eve cast ons - with Christmas yarn from a few years ago. I watched Die Hard and opened my present from Deanne and called Christmas Eve done.

I had a lovely time opening my stockings and then chatted with Ginny. I left for Anne's at 11:00 and put the lasagna right into the preheated oven when I arrived. Anne had a nice fire going and we chatted and opened our presents waiting for the lasagna to be done. We had a nice meal, chatted for hours and watched Martha on Netflix. I was home in time to watch the Call the Midwife special before going to bed. A perfectly pleasant Christmas.

My only plan for Thursday was to clean up the kitchen so when Lorri called and asked if I wanted to do lunch, I heartily agreed. I cleaned up the kitchen then met her at Mocha C's, which is where I got my grab and go lunch for years but haven't since retiring since I have all the time in the world to make my own lunch. It was yummy and we had a nice catch up. Of course I gave her socks. I stopped at The Warehouse and got more cheap hamburger on the way home then relaxed all afternoon before having lasagna for supper.

When I was out with Darla on Monday, my cousin Richard called. He and his wife had recently moved to Omaha to join their daughter and her family. His sister was in town for the holidays so I had 2 cousins to visit. I called him Friday morning and he invited me over for supper so I made a blueberry crumb pie and headed to Omaha after lunch. I had not seen Richard and Diane, his wife, since my dad's funeral in 2006 and probably didn't say 2 words to them then. I hadn't seen Peggy in even longer. We had a lovely afternoon and I got to meet his daughter and her family when they came for supper. Peggy and I talked for hours and as I said to her in a text later, I think it's the first conversation we've had as adults.

It was freakishly warm again on Saturday but the temps would be plummeting with highs in the teens in the forecast so you guessed it - I went outside to work in the yard. Actually it wasn't my yard but rather my neighbor's, who do the bare minimum in their yard. My goal was to cut all the weed trees that were growing through the fence to my side but had to be cut from theirs. I got them all cut, including some that weren't on the fence that borders my yard but would shade my veg beds. Oops. I just piled them by the alley and they will wait until spring to go to the burn pile. I mean it this time - this is my last gardening until spring. I also washed the quilt and comforter from my bed and hung them on the line. Had to take advantage of the last warm day. How festive to see my Christmas socks drying in the sun.

Like many people who have eaten too many sweets over Christmas, I started a diet on Sunday. My plan is to do some 600 calorie days before New Year's Day, which will be followed by colonoscopy prep on Thursday and the procedure on Friday. So to start off with a bang, I fasted on Sunday. I had nothing to eat until an egg sandwich and orange for supper. Let's see if I can drop a few pounds before my annual physical that's coming up.

So another good week with yummy food, visits galore, very late yard work and Christmas to boot. This is my last post in 2024 and I'm happy to say that overall it's been a good year, despite losing Hazel in February. I hope you've had a good year too. May 2025 be even better.

Week 51 - Perfect Retirement Week

It was a great week full of friends, getting things done and lots of knitting.

I started the week going to a program at the lake about winter feeding of backyard birds. It was interesting and I even won a prize - a suet cake and feeder. I rushed home because Windstream was due to come and if you're not there, they charge you $50 for a missed appointment. They did come but couldn't fix it so had to put in a service order for someone to check the line beyond my house. They'd be coming Tuesday so it was a good thing it was only my landline that was toast. I made some chocolate cookies with pastel mint chips for knitting and to give to friends. Delish!

Windstream did fix it Tuesday morning and after they were done, I ran my Wahoo errands. I had to pick up money at the library and stupidly bought a box of Christmas stuff at the bag sale. Like I needed more Christmas stuff. I did get every single candle they had, taking them out of the candle holders and leaving the holders there. After making the deposit at the bank, I went to the thrift shop and Warehouse so was gone for quite awhile. I made a cup of tea then went to the eye doctor before supper. I call that a good day.

Wednesday was a fun day with lunch at Honest Abe's with my work friends. I gave them all socks and cookies and they seemed to like them. Since I was in town, of course I did some thrifting and scored 2 lots of sock yarn. Then I stopped at Anne's and left loaded up with cookies, scones and snack mix. Yarn and treats. Merry Christmas to me! The Survivor finale rounded out another good day.

Thursday was another good day of an entirely different kind. It was almost 60 degrees so I went outside to the garden. I keep thinking I've done the last thing but I planted some garlic, which is a first for me and it might be too late but not much to lose since I just planted cloves from super market garlic. I then took the morning glory vines out of the trash, carefully put them into a big Ikea bag so as not to trash my newly vacuumed and ran them to the burn pile, getting back just in time for my favorite knitting YouTubers - the Grocery Girls. I made a nice supper of scalloped potatoes and ham and stashed a bunch of yarn on Ravelry. See? Another good day.

After the one warm day, it turned pretty chilly so I hunkered down for the rest of the week. I got a bunch of flex receipts entered, changed litter boxes, did some cleaning and got my laundry done, which was enough to not feel guilty about the serious relaxation I enjoyed the rest of the time. I chatted with friends who were on their last day of work before break and spent lots of time reading in the sun, moving from the front room to my desk after the sun went down to finish Death at the Sign of the Rook, which is the newest Jackson Brody book but not my favorite. There was lots of knitting too, of course, including a charity hat to drop in Omaha on Monday and I finished my monthly challenge socks, which I think are beautiful. I was also opening my advent sock yarn everyday with the last one on Sunday. And I organized all my unfinished sock projects so I could finish a few before casting on more. That's the plan anyway.

As far as I'm concerned, this was a perfect week. I got stuff done, had some fun with friends, found sock yarn while thrifting and had plenty of time to relax and read in the sun. Sign me up for more weeks like this please. Just a few more days until Christmas too. Life is good.