Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

This year marks 5-years since my cancer diagnosis and I currently show no evidence of disease. 5 is a big number in cancer years. My husband and I wanted to thank the people who supported us over the years and also to show our friends how much we appreciated them. (I assumed my family already know this!). I talked about the celebrations in my 8-month update. Thank you to all who came and all who donated to the Breast Cancer Resource Center . If you have not donated, please consider doing so now . But on to the invitations! 2 months have passed since the party, but I thought I would share a little bit about what the responses to my  invitation taught me about my friends. 1.  It's a culture thing. I think. First of all, about me. (Isn't is always?) Growing up, if we received an invitation labelled "Mr. X" or "Mrs. Y" , then the invitation was not for anyone else but them. No partner/guest or child unless explicitly stated. If children wer

I had a bilateral mastectomy.    Pink Shoelaces. See p.s. for the note about them.   It was traumatic. I have not written a whole lot about how emotional the cancer journey has been for me, I tend to keep that kind of thing under wraps. In fact, this is what I wrote 5 years ago Week 21 - Surgery . I don't have any pictures of my scars or the tubes or anything but there are some memories and feelings that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I had steeled myself on the first visit to the oncologist, so even "Stage III" did not make me break down. I took it like a woman. I didn't breakdown when my hair started to fall out or when I stared back at my bald self with no eyebrows nor eyelashes. I didn't collapse under the weight of the chemo and what it did to me, but I'll tell you what broke me: The first time I unwrapped those bandages and looked at myself, and looked at the scars and the hollowed out spaces in my chest and the draini

My last update was in May , and I thought it would be good to give another update now that it is September, on how I've been doing on my list of 50 . It has been a very rough summer so my plans have been completely derailed (See my Father's Day post.)  Instead of recapping the entire list, I'll just highlight the ones I've done these past few months - Items 6-10. The various celebrations, and these were huge, so I thought I'd share some pictures. I wanted to celebrate my 5-year cancerversary. 5 years is a big number in cancer survivorship years and I am very grateful for these past 5 years that I've had with my family and friends. We had a celebration/thank you dinner for friends I've made through my husband's work. They supported us, but especially him during the rough first year of diagnosis and treatment...and waiting. These are just a few of the food pictures from Buenos Aires Cafe Este @BuenosAiresCafe I was too busy eating and ta

Designed by Freepik Our older son just started high school and it is a whole new world for us, including the language. I should mention that neither my husband nor myself went to high school in the U.S, so it really is a whole new world for us. Here are excerpts of some of the messages I've received: " All AISD high schools have the same bell schedule and 8 classes: 1,2,3,4 on A days and 2,4,6,8 on B days. A days are M/W and alternating F." "[ SchoolName ] wants to start and end earlier, so we have a 0 period both A and B days (0A and 0B) and we don't have 4th or 8th period." Some days are "late start" days, where the school doesn't start until, well, later and there is a different bus and location for pickup. The school schedule also changes on late start days. Maybe this is to keep the kids on their toes? One message goes on to say that, "The kids have this all figured out." Say whaaa???!! Fabulous if yo

My just-turned-9 year old son and I had a very earnest conversation about how to guarantee that you get the best cards from Pokémon booster packs. But first, a little background. Before there was Pokémon Go, there was just the Pokémon cards. You can buy individual cards, packs, or sets in tins. You can play the card game or trade. The tins usually have sealed packs with about 10 cards in each packet. My little one has recently had a renewed interest in Pokémon and as a parent, I celebrate any non-digit al engagement. Over the summer, with too much time on his hands and too little supervision, (clearly), the little one started watching Pokémon-related YouTube videos and one genre of these videos are videos fans have made of themselves opening these booster packs and tins. But back to our conversation. My little one is looking up at me with his big brown eyes and explaining to me how he can guarantee he gets the most awesome cards ("pulls") in a booster pack by fo

The boys sleeping under a mosquito net, Trinidad, July 2016. This is just a short post about an epiphany I had coming back from my recent trip to Trinidad. Prior to going to Trinidad with my sons, and in planning the trip and the schedule, I'd been concerned about the length of time we would stay and how the boys would adapt. The longest they'd ever been there was 10 days. This trip was considerably longer. I felt I could adapt, after all, I grew up there, but them? How would the boys handle the heat? (There was no central air conditioning where we would be staying, only air-conditioning in the bedrooms.) What would they be able to eat? (Food was typically spicy and rich, full of fat, salt and sugar and unfamiliar in general.) What about the schedule? Irregular bedtimes, wakeup and activities. The constant rotation of visitors and visiting. Would they sleep comfortably? The mosquitoes! And Zika! And Chikungunya! And on and on. 2 weeks of disruption I felt they

Although there has been a bit of turmoil in my life the last few months, I wanted to give a quick update on my list of 50 things. My list of 50 has been derailed somewhat, and I expect to take the next few weeks to settle back down to my routine. Even so, I still do have an update. #27 on my list of 50 is "Open Kimono". What that really means is that while (I think), I am honest in my relationships, for sure there are some things I have chosen not to share. Now I've decided, well, maybe I should let my friends and family see and know a bit more about me. Hopefully you have already seen that in the posts that I've done, and in my social media presence as @AustinTrini . While I have resisted liking Facebook pages, because my FB page is me, I am loosening up on that too. Some of my blog posts include serious topics like issues of Race , my health like Chemo brain , and my latest trials   as well as what some may consider frivolous, like Strike Back and cussing

The eyebrow pencil Just a short post after some very heavy weeks. I recently went into the pharmacy looking for an eyebrow pencil - the kind of thing you would use if you wanted to fill in sparse eyebrows. I do have sparse eyebrows and eyebrow pencil is my friend. The first product I was shown was about $9. I immediately said that was the wrong kind of eyebrow pencil for me. The assistant next suggested that I could use eye shadow to "powder in" my eyebrows. Price $6. I felt I needed to clarify what exactly I needed, some black/dark brown thing I could use to pencil in my eyebrows (like maybe a 6B pencil, but for eyebrows. Would 6B even work?).  She then showed me something else that said "Eyebrow pencil" on the side. It was about 3/4 the length of a pencil and 1/2 the width and the other end of the pencil had a little brush attachment so you could brush your brows after you pencil them in. At $4 it was still too much for me. Finally I saw what I was

This year, my children lost both of their grandfathers. It has been a very sad year for us so far, so on Father's Day this year I wanted to share a little about our fathers. They both went too suddenly. We can hardly believe they are gone. Ich liebe dich Papa. I love you Daddy. Below : a few words, each with a story, to remind us. Below : a few pictures, each with a story,  to remind us. Turning Torso, Sweden The last mango And finally, I learnt this ditty in primary school and would sing for my father. It makes me cry. Oh my Papa* Oh, my Papa, to me he was so wonderful, Oh, my Papa, to me he was so good. No one could be so gentle and so lovable, Oh, my Papa, he always understood. Gone are the days when he could take me on his knee And with a smile he'd change my tears to laughter. Oh, my Papa, so funny, so adorable, Always the clown so funny in his way. Oh, my Papa, to me he was so wonderfu

This end of school is a bit of a milestone: big son will be off to high school. Perhaps an apt post for Independence Day. Big son will be a bit more independent as will little son. I am grateful they are still good buddies despite the age difference and big teenage son still tolerates little son. I took this picture to remind me how well they get on, (even though they are not holding hands like they usually do),  and also because this may be the last time big son gets to walk little one into school. Ever. Sweet memories. Have an enjoyable 4th of July. Follow me on Twitter @AustinTrini and Instagram @AustinTrini . **This site uses cookies **

Short Post. Sad to say, life with the aging P is no more. He fought very hard to stay with us. Aging parent. October 2015, Austin, Texas. The last mango I shared with him. May 2016, San Fernando, Trinidad. He was a wonderful father and an example to me. He lives on in his grandchildren. So much more to say, but this will do for now. Follow me on Twitter @AustinTrini and Instagram @AustinTrini . **This site uses cookies **

A short, late, Mother's Day post. Red Rose Tea (my fave!) This year for Mother's Day I was in Trinidad, so instead of treating myself to high tea, I decided to treat some of my female relatives (my Dad and brother were exceptions). They do not have the opportunity to be treated like this very often, so I was very happy to be able to do this.  I've blogged before about how much I enjoy doing this here . Mini quiches - cheese, spinach My nieces had never had cucumber sandwiches, so it was fun to make it for them. ("So that is what they taste like?!") It was also the first time they'd had goat cheese - we tried out some cranberry goat cheese with crackers. Cranberry goat cheese While moms should be spoiled all year, there is nothing wrong with an excuse for an extra-special spoil up! Maybe because my mom is not alive any more, I find joy in celebrating other moms, maybe it's the feeling I get that makes me feel close to my

I'll just get it out of the way - race is a complex issue. Multi-faceted with many, many perspectives. I have no answer to anything, because, well,  race is a complex issue; but here is what I'll tell my son: 1. Form your own opinion. You'll hear arguments and counter-arguments. Some who believe that being "colourblind" is the answer, and those who say that while the idea is noble, it may in fact invalidate racist experiences. And those who started #BlackLivesMatter to highlight violence against blacks, didn't mean that ONLY black lives mattered, but the counter hashtag #AllLivesMatter implied that it did. You may not even be aware of  "white privilege" and the many subtleties of that discussion.  The white person who is struggling to survive, and has no job, may be wondering what exactly is "white privilege".  They can't see it, but it is the privilege of not having to be aware of the colour of their skin - not in housing, in t

Raising children in today's world is incredibly complex. Raising girls seems to me to be even more so. I freely admit I know little about the intricacies of raising girls, but one thing I do know is that fathers play an important role in their daughters' self-esteem . I wanted to share an exchange between one father and his 16-year old daughter in their Swagdad group chat - they were engaged in a "pun-off" of the herb and food variety. Despite the misspellings and the strange herbs like "bandhaniya" common in the Caribbean, you'll get the idea. (Cider is a pun on her sister's name) I think that this "Daddy", my brother, is doing a great job keeping his daughter close.

It is now May and I wanted to give a short update on how I've been doing on my list of 50 things this year. I've been working on a few things, and I've completed a few. I am including the list of 50 in the original post: My list of 50 things to do this year (Partial) Completed In progress Not Started, Recent changes in red Visit Enchanted Rock. Climb Mt. Bonnell steps. Sunset while dining at Oasis. I hear the view is great. Watch Sound of Music with the family. High Tea. Celebrate with friends I've made through work. Celebrate with sister survivors. Celebrate with my mommy and neighbourhood friends. Celebrate with my Zanshin (karate) family. Celebrate with friends I've made through my husband's work. Get some fitness photos-  an exercise photo shoot! Go to a music festival/event for SXSW  or ACL or something (with or without kids). I live in Austin after all! My husband and I went to ReggaeFest 2016! Up my social profile. (I now have a twit

In some dojos, it may be common to break boards, but it is not so common in ours. Recently however, our instructors brought boards for us to break. In the past we've broken "rebreakable" boards - those that can be struck, "break" and then put back together for reuse. This time he brought real boards (almost 1 inch thick) for us to break. I was nervous. These are real boards. Did I mention I was not able to break the harder "rebreakable" boards and had to downgrade to the easier one in a previous session? (Not a big confidence builder.) But I did it! I opted for a front kick and was able to break the board. I was so proud of myself to know that I could actually break that board, I got back to my place and couldn't stand still. So excited about that! So very grateful for my karate family! I did it. Breaking Boards in Karate Follow me on Twitter @AustinTrini and Instagram @AustinTrini . **This site uses co

Gender and Stereotypes I appear to be quite fascinated by gender differences and stereotypes. Why? Well, it is a topic I find myself repeating. The first time I blogged about gender was way back in 2009 when I was trying to figure out how come boys become boys. Then I pointed out the differences between my husband's reading shelf and mine in 2012 and most recently when I talked about the boys' and girls' soccer team names in 2013. More Gender Stereotypes Well, I recently visited my son's class to help with a writing assignment - the assignment was to write a "how-to" report: procedural writing. It is always enjoyable to see how they think, and the things that are top-of-mind for them. Here are some of the topics the kids chose - HTML Tables Topic Gender How to braid your hair Girl How to do the highschool cheer Girl How to do the crow (a yoga) pose Girl How to lace your ice-skates Girl How to tie your laces Girl, but f

Is "chemobrain" real? Yes, yes it is. And the research? Well, there's the thing. But first, what is chemobrain? Cancer patients who have had chemotherapy often report mental fog, inability to think, difficulty focusing and generally increased forgetfulness - cognitive impairment. For a long time, doctors treated patients' claims about chemobrain as a temporary thing, brought on by the stress of cancer diagnosis and treatment. Now, there is growing recognition that the toxicity of chemo drugs may actually cause damage to the brain (of course survivors have known all along we were not crazy). And I'm only now blogging about this? I've taken you into the infusion room , and showed my baldness , but there is a reason I have not blogged about chemobrain before in these past 5 years - I continued to work. I could not have said to my colleagues "Hold on, my brain's not working right. Give me a moment or two or twelve."  Brain on chemo

See what I did there? I just pulled you in with a sensational headline.    Sensationalism. It seems all too common now. A friend was talking about the dramatic headline some time ago regarding batteries that could cause a house fire. So instead of immediately saying in the headline, that  "Batteries improperly stored could cause a house fire",  the news lead with the headline that something everybody has in their home could cause a fire. It's the way news works now and even unfortunately in medical reporting. It's called sensationalism. I am sure that if you did not know that before, the ongoing political coverage has helped you to understand that  term very well. For example, Women's Health Magazine ran an article "The Scary Mental Health Risks of Going Meatless" based on 2 studies and some anecdotal evidence. According to the Health Letter from the Center for Science in the Public Health (April 2016), one study couldn't be foun

  Information Overload Oh My God! On my list of 50 things to do this year , I decided I would experiment with social media (#13). Oh My God!! There is a flood of tweets coming my way and I have no clue what to do with them! I am only following about 40 people, but I know some who are following thousands, THOUSANDS! What tools and how many assistants do they have? 9 things I've learnt about Twitter People follow you based on what you list as interests in your profile and you may or may not follow them back. It is used as a marketing and promotions tool by many people (for example, authors promote their books, giveaways, and good reviews on Amazon or Goodreads) . It is a great way for people to communicate with fans and any others who share their interests. Rick Riordan who tweets @camphalfblood has great interaction with his fans. You can choose to have Twitter promote specific tweets for you. You get some useful analytics, for example my top tweet showed up more t

My Cholesterol Numbers When last I blogged about diet I was very optimistic about impacting my vitiligo with my new diet, and talked about it here .  However, on a recent trip to the doctor, I've realized I have to defer working on my vitiligo yet again for a bit. Last year, my cholesterol was high, so I made some dietary changes (reduced the red meat, cut the amount of eggs, etc.). My cholesterol dropped 33 points. For the last 3 months I've made even more changes. I've cut dairy, bread and pasta and I've had maybe 3 servings of cheese and red meat in as many months, increased fish and lean quality meat; gave up added sugar so dessert was fresh or dried fruit. However, despite all of this a recent retest showed my cholesterol has dropped only 2 more points and is still high. I don't often vent and rant, but I feel defeated. I even gave up chocolate, 85% (cocoa) dark chocolate!  It took a lot out of me to be disciplined about this, so after I got the results,

Teatime! I enjoy teas. I grew up going with my mom to various bazaars in Trinidad where one attraction was always a tent with afternoon tea for the ladies, although men could drink tea too!  In Trinidad a bazaar is usually an open air event with games, concession stands, and... tea. I get a feeling of warmth, camaraderie and friendship when I have tea and it is a throwback to times I've spent with friends and family back in Trinidad. Late last year I decided to spend my last pay cheque on a proper tea set and then kicked off a series of teas with my friends. This is a picture from March tea. I hope the afternoons of friendship, laughter have filled you with warmth and joy, as they have me.

Fire Flames from Public Domain Image We do fire drills to practice what to do in case of a fire, so we are not floundering around in the event a fire does break out. I got the idea for this post when I did the STOP blog post. In my experience many people don't have the language tools in their toolbox that they can readily pull out when the situation arises. So from my STOP post, it is easy to say, "de-personalize it" but how exactly to do that? What words to use? What does it mean to ask for data? Set boundaries? Wouldn't it be great if we had a script or sample scripts that we could pull out as the situation demands? I am sure you all are familiar with "I should have said..". I know I have done quite a bit of that "hindsight" discussion as I thought through all the possible responses I could have made to something someone said, and my actual (lacking) response. If only I had more time to think it through or a chance to practice! Scri

This year marks 5 years since I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer AND I have the opportunity to stay home with my kids for a bit. I am grateful to be alive and I have enjoyed making memories with my family and friends these past few years. I've decided that maybe I should get around to doing some of the things that I've been thinking about doing, and if you know me, you know it starts with a list. This year is about: Being purposeful Experimenting. Why 50? Well 100 seemed to be setting myself up for failure (I mean, there must be a reason I haven't gotten around to the list before, and now I want to put 100 of them together? In one year?), and 40 seemed to be a little wimpy. Hence, my list of 50. These are not really bucket list items. My bucket list items are bigger and longer term, but some on my 50-list represent a step towards a bucket list item. For example, writing a draft of a story this year is on my list of 50, and the bucket list item is