Breast Cancer Update--December 2020

It has been a while since my last breast cancer update. Until the holiday break, I was pretty busy catching up with work and friends and frankly just recovering. So I finally have a moment to sit down and catch you up a bit.

• SURGERY--December 2nd, I had a lumpectomy. They also took a lymph node. It has been 3 weeks and I am healing well. My energy level is good. My surgical wounds are healing, although not quite all the way yet. I met with my surgeon last week and he said all was healing well. I have some fluid in my breast at the sight of the lumpectomy but he said that will go away naturally and is rather normal for this type of surgery. My pain has gone way down, so I stopped taking the prescription pain meds.
• PATHOLOGY REPORT--the pathology report was good. The tissue they took from the margins around the lump was negative--no cancer. The lymph node they took out was negative--no cancer. The lump had shrunk considerably but not all the way. All of this was good news to me. I am excited to have it all out of me and leave that tumor behind in 2020.
• RADIATION TREATMENTS--even with all the good news, they are recommending radiation treatments because radiation can kill things they can't see. so I'll be doing those in January. I will be having 20 treatments, Monday through Friday, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. The radiologist says that the main side effect is fatigue with also some redness on the skin which can be treated with creams. Skin is pretty good a rejuvinating so that shouldn't be too bad. It will certainly be a lot less trouble than the chemotherapy has been.
• STILL RECOVERING FROM CHEMOTHERAPY--I continue to have a pretty bad case of neuropathy in both my feet (toes plus foot pads) and fingertips. So far it doesn't seem to be getting better but I am reassured that it sometimes takes up to a year for this to get better. Please pray for this healing. I would love to get my feeling back and have more control and not be so clutsy.

Meantime, I am so grateful for this holiday break without treatments and time to heal. Tomorrow, we will be foolish or brave and celebrate Christmas with our children and grandchildren, who happen to be our COVID bubble. I honestly haven't seen anyone else in person since I was diagnosed at the end of June and some people I haven't seen since February or March. 

I am also grateful for all the friends and family supporting me with prayer and phone calls or Zoom calls. I am so grateful for this support and wouldn't have survived this far without it. Thank you all for that!

I pray you have a healthy holiday celebration filled with PEACE and SURPRISES OF JOY! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! 

with love and prayers,

Jules

The "Christmas Star"--Solstice 2020

 So this year's Solstice had a very special astronomical event---on solstice, Saturn and Jupiter crossed paths in the night sky creating the illusion of a big star which was affectionately called "the Christmas Star." It is believed that what the wise men saw was a similar convergence of planets, hence the nickname. The last time these two planets crossed paths in our night sky was 800 years ago so I really wanted to see this event. 

Like many other things in 2020, this didn't come out great for us. For the last 2 weeks, no matter how the day started, the evenings have been cloudy right at the time the two planets would be visible until last night. They had already crossed path and had separated again but at least we could see them. So Pete and I drove up to cemetery hill for a better view. It was worth it. I finally saw them! and I got a couple of photos that, if not great, at least show the event. 

I wonder if the wisemen ever lost track of the "star" due to cloud nights. Or was it just easy for them. And did they travel only at night so they could follow it better? It's interesting to me that for many, many years, people used the stars to find their direction. And even I, when I was growing up in Madagascar, used to lie on the ground at night with friends and watch the movements of the stars and planets. And now, we don't do that much anymore. I miss that simpler time. I miss being able to see the stars move. I miss wishing upon the stars.

Anyway, here are my photos. You might have to click on them to enlarge. If you look on the internet, you can find much better ones but I thought I'd share here anyway. I am wishing on this event a chance for a better and healthier year for everyone next year. Here's to 2021 and finding a way to control the chaos and the pandemic!

Blessings on you!

Jules

Mom's Other Legacy

When Camilla, my mother, moved to assisted living and then the nursing home, I took her remaining house plants to my home. Among these were two Christmas cactuses. Not wanting to disturb them, I left them in their original containers and just watered them. I don’t know exactly what year this was but it is likely 15 years ago. Mom died in 2007, 13 years, ago. And here they are, her two Christmas cactuses, still in their original containers, never having been repotted. Here they are still blooming every year, twice a year, for 15 years plus all the years that she had them. They are part of mom’s legacy and gift to me. These sweet little house plants whisper each year, “Don’t give up! Just let yourself bloom and grow! It will be enough.”

The other plants I inherited from mom were her African Violets. As they aged, I took their leaves, as mom always had and put them in soil. After 15 years I have her African Violet great  or great-great grandchildren! And they also bloom at this time of year, right alongside the Christmas cactus. Naturally this is a coincidence but for me, it is a full on season of reminding me of all the gifts Mom gave me. 

Her legacy included tending quite a number of  houseplants, knowing that these would brighten her world through the year, no matter what was happening. Like catus, the violets keep reminding me that blooming is possible. I love that they both blossom during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays and as the dark days approach. It doesn’t make sense but for some reason they find the dark days just the perfect time to bloom.

I am so grateful to my mother for teaching me about the houseplants.  What a legacy! She was right. They bring a lot of joy into the house, especially as the weather turns cold and the days get short. This room with the most houseplants, is my favorite room in the house. How lucky I am to get to sit here and eat my meals! May their green energy and Mom's sweet legacy continue to bloom for years to come!