Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

It has occurred to me that very frequently life allows us to show our true selves and exactly what we are capable of, if we are sufficiently motivated. And what brought me to such profound thoughts? Well, I was told by the nurse that I need to soak in an astringent solution and use a special cream 4 times/day to help my irradiated skin. If it gets too damaged, they will have to stop my treatments (No way in hell!!) This process takes about 45 mins each time. So last week I found myself sitting in the car between appointments applying this solution to my skin (very surreptitiously), and then trying to let it air-dry discreetly, all the while pretending to read a book so nobody would approach my window to ask what was wrong.  You can imagine the scene. It reminded me of when my last child was a baby. I was so motivated to breast-feed even though I had gone back to work, I would pump in the car on the way to work. The drive time was just right and I would keep a shawl in the car a...

I am well-equipped with war terminology, and able to make appropriate sounds. I am a good lieutenant and can follow orders...most times. I can build Legos (and change batteries on various battery-operated toys). I can trash-talk with my 10-year old. By trash talk I mean, "Prepare to be defeated!", "You will never defeat me!", "The adults will take you kids down!" This last was at my son's school game-day with parents. I wasn't joined by the other parents. I soon shut up. Apparently that kind of talk was not appreciated. I am not too shabby at Time Crisis . I allowed my 4-year old to watch The Princess Bride . All of the adults who recommended it neglected to inform me that they say son-of-a-bitch towards the end of the movie. Nice. I am pretty good at soccer, enough so my kids enjoy playing with me. I am slowly learning to temper discipline with moderate amounts of flexibility. It is a challenge for me. At times I have abandoned discipl...